Gambian migrant arrested for strangling Filipino house servant to death in Milan

 

An African migrant has been arrested in Milan on suspicion of murdering 61-year-old Filipino house servant Angelito Acob Manansala during a burglary in one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods.

 

Italian media reported on Tuesday how Dawda Bandeh, a 28-year-old Gambian national, allegedly broke into an upmarket villa on Via Giovannia Randaccio on Easter Sunday, where he began ransacking the property in search of valuables.

 

Bandeh is believed to have waited until Manansala left the property to walk the dog. However, upon the domestic worker’s return, the burglar was confronted, and a fatal struggle ensued.

 

Investigators believe that Bandeh strangled his victim to death.

 

The shocking crime unfolded just hours after Bandeh had been released by police for attempting to steal an umbrella and a pair of jeans from a balcony in another part of the city. Despite previous run-ins with law enforcement for minor thefts and a record of drunk driving, Bandeh had not been detained due to the low severity of the offenses.

 

Il Giornale reported that CCTV footage captured Bandeh scaling the villa’s boundary wall before the murder, and he remained in the house for hours afterward, even with the victim’s body inside. The villa’s owner, a 52-year-old man who had just returned from vacation, discovered the scene and discreetly alerted police while avoiding detection by the suspect.

 

When officers arrived, Bandeh tried to attack them and had to be subdued with a taser. At the time of his arrest, he was carrying around €80 euros and some food.

 

Manansala, a long-time resident of Milan, had been planning to marry his partner Laurelia Arriola in the Philippines later this year, according to Corriere Della Sera. The couple had been together for six years.

 

On the day of the murder, they had planned to attend mass and then have lunch together to celebrate Easter, but when he stopped answering his phone, Arriola became alarmed. She arrived at the villa only to find police at the scene and quickly understood what had happened.

 

The Consul General of the Philippines has met with the victim’s family to offer condolences and confirmed that the consulate would assist with repatriating the body, in accordance with the wishes of Manansala’s partner.

 

In a post on social media, the consulate asked “the Filipino community to pray for the eternal rest of our deceased compatriot.”

 

Authorities are continuing to investigate Bandeh’s behavior and state of mind, particularly why he remained in the house for such an extended period after the killing.

 

 

 

Source:    Remix News