Man arrested over Verzeni murder 'has confessed'

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 30 - Police in the night between Thursday and Friday arrested a 31-year-old Italian man suspected of murdering Sharon Verzeni near Bergamo on the night of 29-30 July.
    Bergamo prosecutor Maria Cristina Rota probing the murder said Friday that the man has confessed to committing the murder.
    "Tonight, at the end of a very intense investigation, we were able to identify the man on the bicycle" portrayed by security cameras near the crime scene as he was rushing away from the area.
    The suspect. "when questioned, fully confessed" the murder of Sharon Verzeni, said Rota.
    According to investigative sources, the arrested suspect, identified as Moussa Sangare, who was born in Italy to parents from the Ivory Coast, said he had a "sudden raptus" and killed Verzeni, whom he apparently didn't know.
    "I can't explain why it happened, I saw her and killed her", he is reported to have told the police.
    Born in Milan, Sangare, 31, is unemployed and lives in Suisio, a town just a few kilometres away from Terno d'Isola where the murder was committed.
    Prosecutors requested his arrest over fears he might reiterate the crime, hide evidence or run away.
    Carabinieri police investigating the fatal stabbing of Verzeni had examined images of surveillance cameras in the area in efforts to identify him.
    He allegedly committed the murder without an apparent motive.
    The stabbing was not connected to a rape attempt, a robbery nor was it drug-related or had anything to do with the Scientology courses the victim allegedly attended, investigators said.
    Prior to the arrest, police questioned Verzeni's boyfriend Sergio Ruocco on several occasions but he was not placed under investigation.
    Ruocco is now living with Verzeni's family who have always insisted she was murdered by a stranger.
    On Friday, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party, commented the arrest in a post on social media: "Moussa Sangare detained, North African origins and Italian citizenship, suspected of having killed poor Sharon.
    "I hope light will be shed as soon as possible and, in case he is guilty, an exemplary sentence, without leniency.
    Congratulations to the Carabinieri!", concluded Salvini. (ANSA).