Sicilian shoots dead his wife's lover during row

Catania (Italy), May 25 (IANS/AKI) A 44-year-old man allegedly killed his wife's lover in eastern Sicily with two shotgun blasts during an argument over access to their lovechild, police said on Tuesday.

Police and emergency services called to the married couple's home in Zafferana near Catania late Monday found 43-year-old Alfio Cristaldi's lifeless body slumped on a staircase outside the property. Cristaldi's alleged killer, Sebastiano Leonardi, was sitting silently inside, cradling a shotgun. His wife and sister-in-law were with him according to local reports.

At the time of the killing, Cristaldi had come to the couple's home demanding to see the child he had fathered with Leonardi's wife, and a furious row broke out, local daily La Sicilia reported.

Leonardi's wife had returned to live with him after the child was born and the couple was awarded custody of the infant. But Cristaldi had never accepted the court's custody decision and wanted more access to the child, incensing Leonardi, investigators said.

Leonardi, who has no prior criminal record, is in prison custody and faces murder charges.

--IANS/AKI

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