A 17-year-old boy in Milan confessed to killing his parents and younger brother, shocking Italy. The motive behind the brutal attack remains unclear.
Family tragedy in Milan suburb
In a chilling crime that has shaken Italy, a 17-year-old boy in a Milan suburb allegedly stabbed his father, mother, and 12-year-old brother to death during the night leading into Sunday. The boy has confessed to the murders.
The family had reportedly enjoyed a harmonious gathering the previous evening, celebrating the father’s 51st birthday with some relatives in attendance. Now, investigators are left grappling with the question: What led the teenager to become a killer just hours after a seemingly joyous occasion?
The confession and search for a motive
Initial statements from the 17-year-old, quoted by the Italian news agency Ansa, provide some clues. “I felt this discomfort, an existential fear,” the teenager reportedly said. However, he offered no clear explanation for his actions, stating, “I didn’t think I would go so far as to kill. I can’t explain exactly what triggered me that night. Unfortunately, it happened.”
The boy’s lawyer, speaking after a meeting at a Milan juvenile detention center, noted that the young man is becoming increasingly aware of the gravity of his actions. During his initial interrogation, the boy was reportedly less coherent. Psychological and psychiatric tests are now needed to delve deeper into his mental state and understand what ultimately led him to grab a knife.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the “discomfort” the teenager described was not linked to any issues with his family. “He knows that what he has done is irreversible,” said prosecutor Sabrina Ditaranto during a press conference. She added, “It was a thought he had been having for several days, not something that arose impulsively.”
Details of the crime and the impact on the community
Investigators believe that the teenager first stabbed his younger brother in bed, inflicting dozens of wounds. The parents were found in different parts of the house, also with numerous stab wounds. It is suspected that they rushed to their son’s room after hearing his screams and were killed one after the other. The 17-year-old is believed to have used a kitchen knife as the murder weapon.
The father, who worked in construction, and the mother, who ran a costume shop in the city, were described by neighbors as a quiet, well-off family. “It was a fantastic, happy family,” the newspaper Il Messaggero quoted the father of a school friend of the 17-year-old as saying. “It’s impossible; I don’t know what could have happened.”
A friend of the teenager also expressed shock, stating that he was unaware of any family problems. He added that, to his knowledge, his friend did not have any issues with drugs either.
