A CONVICTED killer has stabbed a hotel co-worker before jumping to his death from the top of Milan Cathedral while horrified tourists watched on.
Emanuele De Maria was under a work release programme from prison when he launched a frenzied knife attack in the early hours of Saturday.
Shortly thereafter, on Sunday afternoon, he is said to have ascended the terraces of the famous Duomo di Milano and then fell 40 meters, resulting in his death as reported by the Italian media.
He reportedly fell just after 2pm as horrified onlookers watched in shock.
The body of a fellow hotel worker, Chamila Wijesuriya, was also found today having last been seen with De Maria.
According to Il Mattino and Ansa, De Maria leapt “without hesitation” in broad daylight from the cathedral’s north walkway and died instantly.
Police identified him by his distinctive tattoos and a photocopy of his ID found in his pocket.
Officers cordoned off the scene as forensic teams examined the body.
Tourists were ushered away and the cathedral terraces were immediately shut down.
De Maria, originally from Naples, had been working at a four-star Hotel Berna in Milan under a work-release programme from Bollate prison.
He had been serving time for murdering a 23-year-old woman in Castel Volturno in 2016.
This tragic event occurred following an incident where he purportedly attacked his colleague Hani Fouad Abdelghaffar Nasr with a knife outside the hotel at approximately 6:20 a.m. the previous day, inflicting five stab wounds.
De Maria had been on the run for less than 48 hours after the hotel stabbing, sparking a manhunt involving State Police and Carabinieri.
Barmaid Chamila Wijesuriya, 50, also had not been seen since De Maria’s attack on Friday.
She told her husband she was heading to the gym — but was later captured on CCTV entering the metro with De Maria.
Her phone was found dumped in a bin at a subway stop.
On Sunday, her body was found in a pond in Parco Nord, located in the northern part of the Italian city.
Investigators are working to retrace his final movements and determine the full timeline of events.
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