Emanuele De Maria allegedly stabbed a colleague before scaling Milan’s famous Duomo cathedral and hurling himself ‘dozens of metres’ from the Gothic landmark in front of horrified tourists
A convicted murderer on day release stabbed a colleague before plunging to his death from Milan’s iconic Duomo cathedral in front of stunned tourists.
The man, believed to be 35-year-old Emanuele De Maria, allegedly attacked the coworker – then scaled the cathedral’s terraces and hurled himself from the Gothic landmark on Sunday afternoon. Local reports say De Maria fell “dozens of metres” from the north walkway of the Duomo di Milano, landing in the busy square below just after 2pm. Tourists looked on in horror as the man “leapt without hesitation”, according to Italian newspapers Il Mattino and Ansa. He died instantly.
Authorities identified the body using an ID card found in his pocket and distinctive tattoos, reports Corriere della Sera. Officers then swiftly cordoned off the area, closed the cathedral terraces, and ushered shocked visitors away as forensic teams examined the scene.
De Maria, originally from Naples, had been serving a 14-year sentence for the 2016 murder of a 23-year-old woman in Castel Volturno. But for nearly two years, he’d been working part-time at a four-star hotel near Milan’s central train station under a prison work-release scheme from Bollate prison in Milan.
The city’s icnoic Duomo catherdral is one of Europe’s most visited landmarks, drawing over five million visitors each year with its awe-inspiring Gothic architecture and panoramic city views.
Towering above the city with more than 130 spires and 3,400 statues, the landmark is the largest in Italy and took nearly six centuries to complete. At its heart lies the golden Madonnina statue – a symbol of Milan standing proudly above the highest spire.
De Maria’s dramatic death came less than 48 hours after he allegedly stabbed coworker Hani Fouad Abdelghaffar Nasr five times outside the hotel early Saturday morning. The attack sparked a manhunt involving both State Police and Carabinieri.
Police were meanwhile also searching for 50-year-old Chamila Wijesuriya, another hotel worker who vanished on Friday. She told her husband she was heading to the gym – but CCTV later showed her entering the metro with De Maria. Her phone was later discovered dumped in a bin at a subway station.
On Sunday, her body was found in a pond in Parco Nord, a large park in northern Milan. Investigators are now piecing together De Maria’s final hours and working to establish the full sequence of events.