Deaf-mute man kills his wife and confesses by leaving a note in front of the police station

Michele Spagnuolo, a 77-year-old from Trepuzzi, confessed in a note to killing his wife. The victim was Teresa Russo, a 57-year-old from Novoli, who was stabbed in the couple's home in Trepuzzi. The piece of paper was found by Carabinieri officers in the early afternoon on the doorstep of the station and led to the discovery of the crime. "I killed my wife": with this note, left outside the Carabinieri station, the husband of Teresa Russo, who was stabbed to the throat, accused himself of the crime. The man, Michele Spagnuolo, 77, who, like his wife, is deaf, had announced his decision to commit "a crazy act" in a video message sent yesterday to a friend. The couple was separating. The murder took place in the kitchen of number 8 Via Papadia, in the ground-floor apartment of the building. The woman was lying lifeless in the kitchen of the family home. The couple were both deaf and mute and were separating. Their violent argument that early afternoon, which allegedly ended with a loud noise, was likely linked to their ongoing separation. Some neighbors reported the incident to investigators. After the murder, Spagnuolo left home and was tracked down at the train station. Taken to the police station, he was interrogated with the help of a sign language interpreter. A few days earlier, he had expressed his exasperation to a friend, but without suggesting he would commit such an extreme act. That afternoon, the prosecutor on duty, Luigi Mastroniani, the coroner Alberto Tortorella, and the Carabinieri forensic investigations arrived at the family home and conducted the usual tests. According to initial reconstructions, Teresa Russo was killed with multiple stab wounds to the throat. Some of the woman's friends confirmed to the police that she was afraid her husband would hurt her.