The gruesome discovery of a decapitated body in a suitcase has shocked the picturesque Italian region of Tuscany. The victim, identified as 30-year-old Romanian national Maria Denisa Paun, had been missing for three weeks from her home in Prato before her remains were found near an abandoned farmhouse in Montecatini Terme, approximately 25 miles west of Florence.
A local security guard has confessed to the brutal murder, admitting to beheading Paun with a knife and subsequently setting her head on fire. The accused, 32-year-old Vasile Frumuzache, also a Romanian national, is now facing charges of murder and suppression of a corpse.
Paun, who worked as an escort, allegedly threatened to expose Frumuzache to his wife if he did not pay her. The two had met on a dating app and had sexual relations on the night of the murder. Frumuzache claimed that Paun demanded payment of around $11,450, threatening to reveal their encounter to his wife if he did not comply.
Frumuzache’s confession detailed the chilling events that followed. After strangling Paun, he dismembered her body, placed the remains in a garbage bag, and then concealed them in a suitcase. He then drove from the hotel to the remote farmhouse where the suitcase was later discovered.
Hotel security footage corroborated Frumuzache’s account. The footage showed him arriving at the hotel with a black bag at 10:50 p.m. on May 15. Approximately two hours later, he was seen leaving the hotel with a white suitcase, later identified as belonging to Paun, which he loaded into his Volkswagen Golf.
Investigators were able to trace Frumuzache’s movements following Paun’s disappearance using a GPS installed in his car by his insurance company. This led them to the abandoned farmhouse where they discovered Paun’s decapitated body and the white suitcase.
Paun’s case has captivated Italy in recent weeks, with speculation rife that she may have been kidnapped by criminal gangs after leaving Rome and traveling to Tuscany last month.