Convicted killer on prison release stabs colleague before jumping to his death off cathedral in front of horrified tourists
A convicted murderer on prison release stabbed a colleague before jumping to his death from a Milan cathedral in front of horrified tourists.
The Italian man, believed to be Emanuele De Maria, 35, threw himself from the famed Duomo di Milano cathedral on Sunday after allegedly stabbing a colleague, local news reports said.
News reports said he climbed the terraces of the building before falling 'dozens of metres' from the Gothic cathedral into the square below.
De Maria reportedly fell just after 2pm as horrified onlookers watched in shock.
According to Il Mattino and Ansa, De Maria leapt 'without hesitation' from the cathedral's north walkway and died instantly.
The area surrounding the Duomo, Milan's most famed landmark, is usually teeming with people but news reports did not cite any injuries among passersby.
Television images showed police blocking off the area surrounding one of the sides of the cathedral.
Authorities identified De Maria - who went on television last year to describe his life - from an ID in his pocket and his tattoos, according to several reports, including Milan's Corriere della Sera daily.
Officers cordoned off the scene as forensic teams examined the body.
Tourists were ushered away and the cathedral terraces were immediately shut down.
De Maria, originally from Naples. had been serving a 14-year sentence after being convicted for the 2016 murder of a 23-year-old woman in Castel Volturno, according to reports.
But for nearly two years he had been working part-time at a four-star hotel near Milan's central train station under a work-release programme from Bollate prison.
His shocking death came just a day after he allegedly stabbed coworker Hani Fouad Abdelghaffar Nasr five times outside the hotel around 6.20am on Saturday.
De Maria had been on the run for less than 48 hours after the hotel stabbing, sparking a manhunt involving State Police and Carabinieri.
Meanwhile, officers were also searching for another missing hotel worker, 50-year-old Chamila Wijesuriya, who hadn't been seen since Friday.
She told her husband she was heading to the gym - but was later captured on CCTV entering the metro with De Maria.
Her phone was found dumped in a bin at a subway stop.
On Sunday, her body was found in a pond in Parco Nord, located in the northern part of the Italian city.
Investigators are working to retrace his final movements and determine the full timeline of events.
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