A 17-year-old boy who was arrested for the brutal murder of his entire family, obsessively listened to the same two lines from a Beatles song.
The teenager, identified only as Riccardo, killed his father Fabio Chiarioni, 51, mother Daniela Albano, 49, and 12-year-old brother Lorenzo in their home near Milan, Italy, on Sunday.
The attack occurred on Chiarioni's 51st birthday. Riccardo reportedly used a 20cm kitchen knife to carry out the killings, which he claimed were motivated by a desire to "live more freely".
According to local media reports, Riccardo first attacked his younger brother Lorenzo as he slept. The boy's screams alerted their parents, who rushed to his room.
The teenager reportedly confessed to killing his mother, father and sibling
Unaware that Riccardo was the attacker, Chiarioni called for his eldest son's help. In a chilling confession, Riccardo told police: "I stabbed Dad while he was yelling at me to call for help."
The teenager said: "I thought one stab would be enough to kill, then I realised it wasn't like that". After the killings, Riccardo called emergency services, saying: "I killed my dad, come."
Riccardo told investigators there was "no real reason" for the killings, but he felt like "a foreign body" in his family. He said: "I thought that by killing them all I would free myself from this discomfort".
The teenager had been obsessively listening to two lines from The Beatles' song "The Long and Winding Road": "Many times I've been alone / And many times I've cried".
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Riccardo also revealed he had been contemplating the murders "for a while" and had even considered going to Ukraine to fight against Russia. Despite his initial claims of witnessing his father kill his mother and brother, the truth emerged during a second police interrogation.
Milan juvenile prosecutor Sabrina Ditaranto stated: "The boy understood that he had done something irreversible, he expressed his own discomfort, not related to the family.
"From a judicial point of view, we do not have a technically valid motive. From a sociological and psychological point of view obviously, the investigations are open."
Mayor Anna Varisco described the family as "normal" and "serene", adding they were not known to social services.
Neighbours and friends expressed disbelief, with one saying: "They were a fantastic, happy family. It's impossible, I don't know what could have happened".
Investigators warn it may take "a long time" to fully explain the tragedy.
