Italian woman stabbed to death by son of African migrant who had a ‘sudden fit of rage’

The brutal murder of an Italian woman by the son of an African migrant has sent shockwaves throughout the country and reignited the migration debate in Italy.

Moussa Sangare, 31, is accused of stabbing Sharon Verzeni to death on July 29 as she took a late-night walk in the small town of Terno d'Isola, near the northern city of Bergamo.

“I saw her and killed her”

Police said Sangare, who was born in Milan to African parents, confessed to the crime after his arrest on Friday. But he said he did not know the victim and had no apparent motive for the woman's murder.

“I had a sudden fit of rage,” Sangare told police after his arrest, according to Italian media reports. “I can't explain why this happened. I saw her and I killed her.”

Sangare, who was unemployed and described as an aspiring rapper, lived in Suisio, just 3 miles from the town where 33-year-old Ms. Verzeni was killed.

Sangare told police he left home to stab everyone he met

Sangare told police he left home on his bicycle about an hour before the murder, armed with a knife and intent on stabbing anyone he saw. Before he encountered Ms Verzeni, he said he threatened two teenage girls.

He told investigators that he caught Ms Verzeni staring at the stars, apologized for what he was about to do, and stabbed her several times in the back while she repeatedly asked him, “Why?”

It took authorities 30 days to track down Sangare. During an intensive investigation, police took DNA samples from 40 residents and analyzed surveillance camera footage from the town of 8,000 to identify the killer.