A young man has confessed to the police to killing his older sister who was found in a remote area with her throat slashed, but has refused to reveal the motive.

Giovanni Francesco Di Prima, 22, reportedly confessed to killing his sister Lucrezia Di Prima, 37, and packing her body in bin bags, which he dumped in an area of countryside in the comune of Nicolosi in the Italian region of Sicily on Saturday, 16th October.

The siblings’ parents filed a missing person report on the same day after having not heard from their daughter since the previous Friday.

The police questioned Lucrezia’s boyfriend, who also said he was unable to reach her and was unaware of her whereabouts.

On the Saturday evening, Giovanni, accompanied by a lawyer, reportedly confessed to the police to killing his sister on the previous night.

Local media said he told the officers where he hid his sister’s corpse, which was later found with a slashed throat and several cuts all over her body. The police concluded she had been killed with some kind of knife.

The police believe the siblings got into a fight at the home where they lived with their parents – with their parents presumably not at home at the time – which ended with Giovanni killing his sister and then hiding her body.

Despite confessing to the crime, Giovanni did not say why he carried it out and refused to answer further questions, according to the police.

The police suspect the motive for the crime may have been economic, though no definitive conclusions have yet been drawn.

Following the young man’s confession, he was remanded in custody for aggravated murder and concealment of a corpse as the police investigation continues.