Woman found beheaded, stuffed in suitcase in murder that has rocked a beloved tourist hotspot
The body of a missing woman was found beheaded and stuffed in a suitcase in a famous tourist region — three weeks after she disappeared, authorities said,
Maria Denisa Paun, 30, a Romanian national, disappeared from her home in the town of Prato, in Tuscany, on May 15.
Her remains were found on Wednesday near an abandoned farmhouse in Montecatini Terme — about 25 miles west of Florence, Italian media reports.
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A local security guard has admitted to murdering Denisa, cutting off her head with a knife, then setting fire to it with gasoline, Corriere Fiorentino reports.
Denisa, who worked an escort, reportedly threatened to tell the man's wife wife if she didn't pay him.
5 The headless body of escort Maria Denisa Paus was found near an abandoned farmhouse in the Tuscan countryside.
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Vasile Frumuzache, 32, who is also a Romanian national, faces charges of murder and suppression of a corpse, according to prosecutors.
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The married father-of-two told police he met Denisa on a dating app before visiting her at a hotel the same night she was murdered, according to prosecutors.
They had sex, but then she threatened to go to his wife unless he paid her the equivalent of around $11,450, he told police, according to Italian media reports..
5 Her alleged killer, wearing blue, claimed she was blackmailing him by threatening to go to his wife.
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'She was blackmailing me, that's why I killed her,' Frumuzache was quoted as saying. 'When I told her that I was a security guard and that I was married, she told me that she was able to reach my wife.'
5 Denisa was last seen alive on May 15 at a hotel in the Tuscan town of Prato.
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He then strangled Denisa, dismembered her corpse and stuffed her body in a garbage bag and put the remains in a suitcase, driving from the hotel to the secluded farmhouse, Corriere Fiorentino reports.
5 Denisa was decapitated and her head set on fire.
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Hotel security footage shows Frumuzache arrive outside at 10:50 p.m. on May 15 with a black bag.
Just over two hours later at around 1 a.m., he is shown on camera leaving the hotel with a white suitcase belonging to Denisa, which he loads into his Volkswagen Golf, according to reports in Italy.
5 Her remains were found inside a suitcase.
Jam Press
Denisa's remains were inside that suitcase, according to prosecutors.
Investigators used a GPS installed in Frumuzache's car by his insurance company to retrace his movements after Denisa's disappearance, and tracked down the search to the abandoned farmhouse on Wednesday morning, where they found Denisa's headless body, along with the white suitcase.
Denisa's case fascinated Italy in recent weeks, following rumors she may have been abducted by criminal gangs after leaving Rome and traveling to Tuscany last month.
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