Ashley Olsen, the American found strangled and naked in her Florence flat, was killed by an illegal immigrant from Senegal she met in a nightclub, the prosecutor in charge of the case said Thursday.
Tidiane Cheik Diaw, 27, was arrested overnight after his DNA was matched to traces recovered from Olsen's corpse and fingernails and from a condom and a cigarette butt found in the flat, prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo told a press conference in the historic Tuscan city.
Creazzo said CCTV recordings and witness statements indicated the suspect had met Olsen in the Montecarla nightclub in the early hours of Friday and accompanied her back to her nearby studio flat just before dawn.
Olsen, an artist and event organiser who had lived in Florence for several years, had been drinking at the club with female friends but stayed on alone after they left.
The 35-year-old blonde had sex with Diaw but there was no indication that her death resulted from an erotic asphyxiation game which went wrong, as Italian media have speculated, Creazzo said.
A postmortem examination concluded that Olsen had died as a result of strangling but the prosecutor revealed that she had also suffered a double fracture of the skull.
Investigators suspect this points to the couple having had a fight at some point after the sex.
Creazzo said Diaw, who had entered Italy illegally a few months ago, had "largely admitted" his role in the killing.
But, Creazzo added, the investigation would continue to tie up all the loose ends.
He said it was possible that neither Olsen or the alleged killer "were entirely clear-headed" at the time of the murder but that would not be clear until toxicology tests had established if either of them had taken drugs.
The Montecarla club is infamous in Florence as a venue frequented by dealers and has been temporarily closed down several times in recent years for that reason.
Diaw left the flat at some point after Olsen died, taking her mobile phone, into which he inserted his own SIM card.
- Vivacious and fun loving -
Olsen's body was found in the early afternoon of Saturday by her boyfriend Federico Fiorentini, an Italian artist, and her landlady.
Fiorentini raised the alarm after becoming concerned he had not heard from her for three days after the pair had rowed. He was never considered a suspect in the case.
Olsen was a well-known figure in the large American expatriate community in Florence.
She had moved from her native Florida to be close to her art teacher father Walter Olsen and was regularly seen around the city's historic centre with her pet beagle, Scout.
Friends depict a vivacious and fun-loving character while her father this week described "a beautiful and creative young woman with a happy, exuberant and generous soul, who loved her life in Florence."
Olsen's killing generated headlines around the world with the sexual and mystery elements leading to comparisons to the lengthy investigation and legal process arising from the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia.
American student Amanda Knox, Kercher's flatmate, and Knox's boyfriend served four years in prison for taking part in the murder before being released on appeal and finally definitively acquitted last year.
The Knox case was characterised by serial bungling by police, particularly in relation to DNA evidence.
In contrast, Creazzo said the speedy detention of the suspect in Olsen's case had been the result of exemplary work by the detectives and forensic officers involved.
They had got the DNA tests done "in record time" and tracked down a suspect who was likely to flee the country at any time given his illegal status and the huge media attention surrounding the case.
Ashley Olsen, the American found strangled and naked in her Florence flat, was killed by an illegal immigrant from Senegal she met in a nightclub, the prosecutor in charge of the case said Thursday.
Tidiane Cheik Diaw, 27, was arrested overnight after his DNA was matched to traces recovered from Olsen’s corpse and fingernails and from a condom and a cigarette butt found in the flat, prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo told a press conference in the historic Tuscan city.
Creazzo said CCTV recordings and witness statements indicated the suspect had met Olsen in the Montecarla nightclub in the early hours of Friday and accompanied her back to her nearby studio flat just before dawn.
Olsen, an artist and event organiser who had lived in Florence for several years, had been drinking at the club with female friends but stayed on alone after they left.
The 35-year-old blonde had sex with Diaw but there was no indication that her death resulted from an erotic asphyxiation game which went wrong, as Italian media have speculated, Creazzo said.
A postmortem examination concluded that Olsen had died as a result of strangling but the prosecutor revealed that she had also suffered a double fracture of the skull.
Investigators suspect this points to the couple having had a fight at some point after the sex.
Creazzo said Diaw, who had entered Italy illegally a few months ago, had “largely admitted” his role in the killing.
But, Creazzo added, the investigation would continue to tie up all the loose ends.
He said it was possible that neither Olsen or the alleged killer “were entirely clear-headed” at the time of the murder but that would not be clear until toxicology tests had established if either of them had taken drugs.
The Montecarla club is infamous in Florence as a venue frequented by dealers and has been temporarily closed down several times in recent years for that reason.
Diaw left the flat at some point after Olsen died, taking her mobile phone, into which he inserted his own SIM card.
– Vivacious and fun loving –
Olsen’s body was found in the early afternoon of Saturday by her boyfriend Federico Fiorentini, an Italian artist, and her landlady.
Fiorentini raised the alarm after becoming concerned he had not heard from her for three days after the pair had rowed. He was never considered a suspect in the case.
Olsen was a well-known figure in the large American expatriate community in Florence.
She had moved from her native Florida to be close to her art teacher father Walter Olsen and was regularly seen around the city’s historic centre with her pet beagle, Scout.
Friends depict a vivacious and fun-loving character while her father this week described “a beautiful and creative young woman with a happy, exuberant and generous soul, who loved her life in Florence.”
Olsen’s killing generated headlines around the world with the sexual and mystery elements leading to comparisons to the lengthy investigation and legal process arising from the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia.
American student Amanda Knox, Kercher’s flatmate, and Knox’s boyfriend served four years in prison for taking part in the murder before being released on appeal and finally definitively acquitted last year.
The Knox case was characterised by serial bungling by police, particularly in relation to DNA evidence.
In contrast, Creazzo said the speedy detention of the suspect in Olsen’s case had been the result of exemplary work by the detectives and forensic officers involved.
They had got the DNA tests done “in record time” and tracked down a suspect who was likely to flee the country at any time given his illegal status and the huge media attention surrounding the case.
