'She had a bright future ahead of her, he couldn't handle it': Fresh agony for family of Italian student strangled by boyfriend during lockdown because he thought she gave him Covid - as killer's life sentenced quashed

The family of an Italian student strangled by her boyfriend during lockdown has been left outraged after her killer's life sentence was squashed. 

Calabrian nurse Antonio de Pace was handed the life sentence after he strangled 27-year-old Lorena Quaranta to death in their home in Furci Siculo, in the Sicilian province of Messina, in March 2020. 

Lorena, who was set to graduate with a degree in medicine that year, had been suffering from a sore throat for a week, which de Pace, now 31, was convinced was a symptom of Covid.

He reportedly wanted to return to his home in Calabria but she wanted him to stay, leading to a vicious fight that ended with him beating and strangling her to death - but his life sentence for the murder was overturned last week.

The decision left her family devastated, with her father, Vincenzo Quaranta, telling local media: 'She had always dreamt of becoming a doctor and she did it. She was months away from graduating and had a bright future ahead of her. He could not handle that.'

'Covid has nothing to do with this story. The truth is that he had an inferiority complex,' he added while speaking to reporters with tears in his eyes, alluding ot the fact that his daughter was about to be a doctor while her boyfriend was a nurse.

He said his other daughter, Daniela, also found messages sent by Lorena to her boyfriend, which read: 'You're showing a side of yourself that makes me pity you.

'I don't care if you're a nurse or a doctor. I'd rather say with pride that I'm dating a nurse who acts like a man, rather than a rude doctor.'

Hours after strangling and killing Lorena, de Pace made two failed suicide attempts before handing himself to police. 

He even admitted to killing her 'because she gave me coronavirus' - but he was tested negative.  

De Pace was sentenced him to life in prison for aggravated murder during the trial two years ago. His lawyers appealed the decision and took the case to Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation, the country's highest court of appeal.

There they claimed that de Pace suffered from a lapse of judgement caused by stress and fear of the virus when he killed his girlfriend of three years. 

This is despite a psychiatric consultant finding no signs of psychosis, though they said that de Pace had a personality prone to violence, according to local media. 

The Supreme Court overturned de Pace's life sentence last week.

The court gave the following reasoning for its ruling: 'It should be considered whether the trial judges fully looked into whether the specific context – especially the pandemic and its impact on everyone's lives – might explain why the defendant didn't try harder to manage his distress.

'They need to assess if these factors should affect his level of criminal responsibility.'

Daniela Quaranta, 27, told Italian outlet AgrigentoNotizie: 'We are outraged, we didn't expect it. We are experiencing a completely absurd situation. You don't kill your girlfriend because you are stressed because of Covid. 

'It risks sending a devastating message to all women, that is, you can kill and avoid life imprisonment if you are stressed.'

There will now be a retrial after de Pace's life sentence was squashed, which could see his prison time be reduced to 24 years, which would mean he could be free in 16 years for good behaviour.

The Supreme Court's decision has also caused outrage among the public in Italy, with politicians slamming the ruling. 

The Democratic Party deputy Michela Di Biase wrote on Facebook that she was 'left speechless', adding: 'The pandemic has been widely ignored for its effects on the mental health of girls and boys but is seen as a mitigator for femicide. 

'The news of the decision of the judges of Cassation that annulled the life sentence of Lorena Quaranta's murderer is terrible.'

Another politician, Elisabetta Lancillotta, who is part of the ruling Brothers of Italy party of Giorgia Meloni, said: 'Covid cannot and should not be used as a mitigating factor, especially in cases of femicide.'