Italy: Dad kills 7-year-old son in 'one clean strike' on New Year's day

An Italian man described how he had killed his seven-year-old son at the weekend, saying he had tricked his grandfather into leaving the boy alone, stuffed a cloth into the boy's mouth to stop him crying out, and slit his throat in "one clean strike", according to the Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) - the leading wire service in Italy.

"On the pretext of giving him a snack I put him on the chair and gave him a clean blow," the wire quoted the 40-year old father named Davide Paitoni, as he mentioned to the police how he had cut his son's throat. The terrific incident took place on Sunday at Morazzone near Varese north of Milan.

The police arrest warrant informed that the man told his son of playing a trick. Paitoni then "stuffed a piece of cloth in the boy's mouth to stop him crying out, which leads us to think that the youngster was aware that something terrible was about to happen to him", read reports, further stating that after the murder he left to another town to kill his ex - but only managed to injure her, not seriously. He fled the scene but was detained soon after.

Police said while taling to ANSA that he put Daniele's body in a wardrobe with a note confessing to the murder. The man had been twice reported for domestic violence by his wife and had been under house arrest for stabbing a colleague in November but had obtained the green light from a judge to see his son over the New Year holiday.

(with agency reports)