Italian footballer gets life in prison for killing his 56-year-old ex-girlfriend

An Italian footballer has been jailed for life for stalking and beating 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 centre-back who played for Sancataldese, was today handed a life sentence for murdering his ex-girlfriend, 56-year-old Alessandra Matteuzzi, outside her home on August 23 2022.

Alessandra was on the phone to her sister, Stefania, who heard her 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 had picked up 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.

He ambushed her, and started beating her in a sick attack that Stefania heard over the phone.

She previously told a local TV station: 'She got out of her car and started screaming, 'No Giovanni, no, I beg you, help.'

'I was on the phone. I immediately called the [police] who arrived straight away.'

While Alessandra survived the initial attack, she later died in hospital after suffering massive injuries.

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