Shocking! Italian footballer and model Giovanni Padovani sentenced to life imprisonment for beating his ex-girlfriend to death

In a shocking turn of events, 28-year-old

Italian footballer

and model

Giovanni Padovani

has been sentenced to

life imprisonment

for

stalking

and beating his 56-year-old

ex-girlfriend

to death on August 23, 2022.
Giovanni Padovani, 28, and his ex-girlfriend

Alessandra Matteuzzi

, 56, dated for less than a year. Theirs was majorly a long-distance relationship as Padovani worked in Sicily and Matteuzzi lived in Bologna, Italy.

In January 2022, the couple had had a huge fight after which they broke up. However, as per reports, Padovani bombarded Matteuzzi with text messages and calls for which his ex-girlfriend had reported him to the police for stalking.
On the fateful day, Padovani- who played for Sancataldese- was told by his team to stay away from a training session. After this, he flew to Bologna and waited outside his ex-girlfriend's house. When Alessandra Matteuzzi arrived, Giovanni Padovani attacked her first with his fist, then a baseball and a hammer in a garden near her house, reported Mirror UK.
At the time of the attack, Alessandra Matteuzzi was on the phone with her sister Stefania, who heard her scream on being attacked by Padovani.

While Matteuzzi initially survived the brutal attack, she later succumbed to her injuries in a hospital where she was undergoing treatment.
During the court proceedings, Padovani tried to claim that he was not in the right state of mind when he attacked his ex-girlfriend. "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. 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," Padovani told the court, reported Mirror UK.

However, the judge at the Bologna court--Domenico Pasquariell-- took only two hours to sentence Giovanni Padovani to life imprisonment considering the severity of his actions and the brutal attack. The judged cited Padovani's stalking, predatory behaviour, and the premeditated nature of his attack, as aggravating factors for the severe punishment.
After Padovani's sentence to be jailed for life, Alessandra's sister Stefania burst into tears, as per reports.
This gruesome incident is a reminder of how sometimes being in a

toxic relationship

can cost one their life. It also highlights the importance of speaking up against

domestic violence

and abuse in relationships and taking severe actions against perpetrators for their heinous crimes.