Italian footballer and model Giovanni Padovani, 28, is jailed for life for stalking and beating his ex-girlfriend, 56, to death with garden furniture

He was found guilty of murdering his ex Alessandra Matteuzzi, 56, outside her apt in Bologna, northern Italy on August 23, 2022   

Victim’s sister Stefania, who heard her screams as Padovani, also a former model, attacked her, first with a hammer and his fists, then a baseball bat

Finally, he beat her to death with a bench he had picked up from a garden near her apt

Judge, Domenico Pasquariello, in two hours handed down the sentence, listing defendant’s stalking and predatory behaviour, as well as the premeditated nature of the attack, as aggravating factors 

Jailed: Giovanni Padovani, [photo], 28, a 28 former centreback who played for Sancataldese FC, on Monday was sentenced to life in prison for bludgeoning to death his estranged girlfriend, Alessandra Matteuzzi, 56, outside her home while she was on the phone with a witness who heard the assault 

An Italian professional soccer player has been jailed for life for stalking and bludgeoning his ex-girlfriend to death with a hammer, just a few weeks after she reported him for stalking. 
Giovanni Padovani, a 28-year-old former centreback who played for Sancataldese, Monday was sentenced to life behind bars for killing his ex-girlfriend, Alessandra Matteuzzi, 56, outside her home on August 23 2022. 

Victim: Padovani was sentenced to life in prison after his conviction for the murder of his ex, 56-year-old Alessandra Matteuzzi [photo], outside her home in Bologna, northern Italy, in August 2022

Alessandra Matteuzzi was on the phone to her sister when her assailant struck. Stefania heard her sister’s screams as Padovani, also a former model, beat her to death, first with a hammer and his fists, then a baseball bat, and finally a bench he grabbed from a garden near her apartment in Via Dell’Arcoveggio, in Bologna, northern Italy.
He had flown to the city to lie in wait outside her home, after his team told him to stay away from a training session. 
Padovani ambushed Matteuzzi, and started beating her in a sick attack that Stefania heard over the phone. The victim’s sister previously told a local TV station: ‘She got out of her car and started screaming, ‘No Giovanni, no, I beg you, help,’ Stefania said.
‘I was on the phone. I immediately called the [police] who arrived straight away.’

The pair reportedly dated for a year. After they broke up, Padovani [photo] bombarded Matteuzzi with messages and calls. Ultimately she filed a police report, accusing him of stalking

One local resident said: ‘She [Matteuzzi], was very afraid of him because he had become persistent and she didn’t want to let him in the house.’
The judge at the Bologna court, Domenico Pasquariello, who took just two hours to hand down the lifetime sentence, listed the defendant’s stalking and predatory behavior, as well as the premeditated nature of the attack, as aggravating factors. 
The court did not believe Padovani’s insanity plea, as he claimed that he was not in a fit state of mind at the time of the attack.
‘If I was completely lucid and capable I deserve life in prison. But if you consider that there is something abnormal, anomalous, in the conduct, then no,’ he testified in his defense.
‘I wasn’t well, because a person who is well doesn’t kill another human being. I’m in a nightmare, I’m sorry, this is a bigger burden than prison.’

After the breakup Giovanni Padovani, [photo], tried sabotaging Alessandra Matteuzzi’s car , disconnecting her meter from the outside, and even tried to climb up her balcony

While Mattuezzzi survived the initial attack, she later died in hospital after suffering severe trauma. 
The pair were together for about a year, according to local media, but had spent most of their time apart as Alessandra lived in Bologna, while Padovani worked in Sicily. 
Stefania claimed they had a fight in January 2022 in which he smashed dishes and a light at her Bologna home. 
After they broke up, Padovani bombarded her with messages and calls, and she ended up reporting him to the police for stalking. 
But this did not stop him, and her neighbours previously told local media that he tried sabotaging her car, disconnecting her meter from the outside, and even tried to climb up her balcony. 

A local resident said: ‘She was very afraid of Padovani because he had become persistent and she didn’t want to let him in the house.’ At sentencing, the judge noted that his stalking and predatory behaviour, as well as the premeditated nature of the attack, were aggravating factors 

The Matteuzzimurder sparked outrage in Italy, many accused the justice  system of failing to protect women. At sentencing, judge Domenico Pasquariello, listed Padovani’s stalking and predatory behaviour, along with the premeditated nature of the attack as aggravating factors 

Bologna Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Amato was previously forced to deny accusations of judicial negligence, claiming that Matteuzzi’s stalking report did not highlight ‘situations of a concrete risk of violence, it was just the typical conduct of bothersome stalking’

At the time of the murder, the case sparked outrage in Italy, after many people accused the justice system of a failure to protect women from abusers. Bologna Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Amato was previously forced to deny accusations of judicial negligence in the case. 
While a probe into the stalking complaint was launched after Alessandra filed it on August 1 2022, the investigation grinded to a halt as witnesses were on holiday, Amato said. 
‘We did what we could,’ he said at the time, claiming that Matteuzzi’s stalking report did not highlight ‘situations of a concrete risk of violence, it was just the typical conduct of bothersome stalking’.