In Rome, a man attacked a church minister with a knife after watching the fantastic action movie The Da Vinci Code. Three more people were injured, including a policeman. The priest and one parishioner were hospitalized in serious condition
Police in the Italian capital have detained 25-year-old Marco Luzi, who is suspected of a series of knife attacks on people. The first and main victim of the offender was the 68-year-old priest Canio Canistri, who received stab and cut wounds to his neck and abdomen, writes The Times.
According to eyewitnesses to the tragedy, Luzi himself came to the Church of Santa Marcella in the San Saba area on the Aventine Hill. He stated that he was looking for the pastor, and when he came out to meet him, he hit Canistree with a knife hidden under his clothes. An elderly parishioner, ironically a retired policeman, tried to come to the priest's aid, but was also seriously wounded.
Later, the priest and 78-year-old Antinio Farrache were sent to the hospital, where doctors are now fighting for their lives.
Meanwhile, the perpetrator tried to hide, but while fleeing through a nearby park, he injured two more people. One of them turned out to be 37-year-old nanny Rosemary Sotero Rivera, who came to Italy from Peru. The woman tried to protect a three-year-old girl, past whom a distraught criminal ran with a knife, but she herself was wounded in the shoulder.
The last victim of the maniac was a police officer, who, together with his partner, decided to twist a dangerous intruder in bloody clothes. Initially, they caught up with him on their motorcycles, but in the ensuing fight Luci stabbed 41-year-old Luka Gori in the stomach. Fortunately, the wound was minor.
“We could not use weapons because there were a lot of people around,” the wounded policeman later explained.
According to the investigation launched, Luzi watched the famous motion picture, based on the plot of the bestseller by Dan Brown, just before the attack. Tragically, the scandalous action movie The Da Vinci Code was televised the night before.
Promotional video:
After his arrest, the attacker announced to the police that he was the Antichrist, who fulfilled his mission by attacking the priest. In his pockets, police officers found a rosary and a note with the following content: "This is just the beginning - 666". Note that the combination of three sixes is considered a mystical "number of the beast", which is associated with Satan.
The detainee lived with his mother Paola in an apartment located near the site of the attack. During a search, materials were found there, from which it followed that Luci was interested in information about the Apocalypse and the appearance of the Antichrist. A copy of the Romano L'Osservatore, a Catholic newspaper published by the Vatican, was also found in the house.
Finally, in the same apartment, criminologists saw a large reproduction of the fresco by Leonardo da Vinci "The Last Supper", around which the entire sharp plot of the fantastic action movie is twisted.
It is noteworthy that in one of the film frames it is asserted that the true meaning of Leonardo's painting is hidden under the later additions. It is said that a knife was originally put into one of the hands depicted in the fresco.
During a search in Luzi's house, the detectives came across a box on which it was written: “Here are the keys to the Sixth and Seventh locks, which were closed at the behest of Satan and Jesus Christ. Give it to the Pope."
Finally, a note was found in Luzi's apartment, which said: “Between my death and my resurrection, many important events pass, years, and possibly centuries will pass. Christianity is being transformed into the cult of Jesus and Madonna."
Other records mention Islam, Satanism and robots.
It is known about the suspect that he previously studied to be a doctor and also suffered from mental disorders. Neighbors characterize Luci as an introverted person who nevertheless made violent scandals for his mother.
Now, parishioners of the Church of Santa Marcella recall that Father Canistree had urged them to be vigilant in the past. Padre was unhappy with the constant break-ins, which were accompanied by theft of church utensils.
The Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, congratulated the police on a successful operation to capture a dangerous psychopath. He also noted that the example of this crime shows what a great social threat mental disorders are.