Lorenzo Carbone, a 50-year-old man from the province of Modena, has confessed during a live interview on the talk show Pomeriggio 5 that he killed his mother, 80-year-old Loretta Levrini. The interview aired on Canale 5 on Monday afternoon, shortly before Carbone was arrested.
The day before, Levrini was found dead in her home in Spezzano di Fiorano by her other daughter, who had come to visit her. From the outset, investigators suspected foul play. As the woman’s body was transported to the forensic medicine department for an autopsy, local police and firefighters launched a search for her son, who had gone missing. Carbone and his mother had been living together.
On Monday, a team of journalists from Pomeriggio 5 encountered Carbone outside his mother’s home. A reporter described seeing a “confused” man standing by the door. Upon approaching him and asking for his identity, Carbone replied, “I am Lorenzo.” After some probing questions, he confessed to the murder, explaining that his mother suffered from dementia, which had made their living situation increasingly difficult. He detailed how he initially tried to suffocate her with a pillow, then a pillowcase, and ultimately strangled her “with some cords.” He revealed that afterward, he had gone to Pavullo, in the Modena Apennines, and spent the night there “to get away.”
The interview concluded with the journalists calling the police to report Carbone’s confession, and his arrest was broadcast live. The footage quickly spread across various news outlets and social media, where the decision to press Carbone further on his confession, as well as to showcase his arrest, drew significant criticism. Myrta Merlino, the show’s host, later told Corriere della Sera that she anticipated some backlash: “I received a call from my correspondent just minutes before going live. I had little time to decide. My only concern was that it wouldn’t hinder the investigation. The man was wanted. I immediately called the police, and they authorized me to air the interview footage.”
Merlino also noted that in an effort not to disturb viewers too much, she chose to cut the more graphic details of how the murder occurred from the broadcast.
