A 38-year-old North African man was arrested in Italy on Thursday morning and charged with the double murder of his Italian wife and mother-in-law, stabbing them both to death with a kitchen knife at his family home in the Tuscan city of Arezzo.
Jawad Hicham was detained by authorities after his wife, 35-year-old Sara Ruschi, and her mother, 76-year-old Brunetta Ridolfi, were found dead at the home of the accused.
According to Italian newspaper Il Giornale, the double murder was witnessed by Hicham’s two children, aged 16 and 2, the eldest of whom called and reported the crime to the police.
Investigators are still collecting evidence to ascertain any motive for the murder; however, local reports suggest the mother-in-law’s frequent presence at the property had sparked tensions among the couple, who were reportedly frequently arguing.
“Hicham allegedly at one point grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed his mother-in-law first and then his wife. The old woman died within minutes of the stabbing, collapsing to the ground in a pool of blood,” reports Il Giornale.
The attacker’s wife, however, was treated at the scene by local paramedics; she was transported to the hospital but sadly died of her injuries.
After being reported to the police by his son, Hicham reportedly walked out of the house to meet the authorities, and shouted, “I killed them both” as he was approached by the authorities.
Neither the local police nor the public prosecutor has yet issued a statement on the case.