Man arrested after partner's rotting corpse found

Rome, June 28 (IANS/AKI) Police on Tuesday arrested a 50-year-old man for his partner's murder after her decomposing corpse was found in the cellar of her apartment building in Modena in northern Italy.

Interrogated by police on Tuesday, Armando Cano confessed to murdering 55-year-old Bernadette Fella, according to media reports. "I strangled her after the umpteenth row," Cano was quoted as telling police.

Firemen found Fella's body inside a fridge in the cellar after neighbours reported a worsening stench in the building, according local media. She was believed to have been murdered several days ago.

Cano was arrested at the home of a female acquaintance in the nearby town of Castelfranco. He had Fella's keys with him and those of the cellar where her corpse was concealed, police said.

The cellar belongs to another woman who lives in an apartment in the building, the Gazzetta di Modena reported without elaborating.

Fella had previously reported Cano to police for assault and wanted to leave him, locals were quoted by media as saying.

Cano, who has a prior criminal record, injured Fella earlier this month when he struck her violently in the face, the Gazzetta di Modena reported.

--IANS/AKI

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