Story By: Sara Zhivkova, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

The Pope has called a grieving mother on the phone to console her after she lost her professional model daughter and football referee son-in-law in a double murder by a killer jealous of their perfect lives.

The victims, an Italian referee and his beautiful fiancee, were tortured at home before being stabbed to death in the landing as they begged for mercy.

They were allegedly killed by an ex-lodger who was jealous of their perfect lives and who is currently in investigative custody on suspected murder charges.

Antonio Giovanni De Marco, 21, confessed to police in the city of Lecce that he stabbed Italian Serie C referee Daniele De Santis, 33, and his model girlfriend Eleonora Manta, 30, to death in their apartment in Via Montello on the night of the 21st of September.

De Marco rented a room in the couple’s apartment where he murdered them, having lived with them for nearly a year up until August.

In the wake of the tragic deaths, Pope Francis contacted Eleonora’s mother, Professor Rossana Carpentieri.

The mother wrote a letter to Pope Francis asking him to help ease her pain after her tremendous loss.

She said: “We talked for seven minutes. I didn’t expect the call. His Holiness was very serene, he said that he is close to me. He thanked me for the letter and he told me that from today on Eleonora and Daniele will be in his prayers.”

The young couple were tortured at home before being stabbed to death for over 10 minutes as they begged for their lives, and were later found in a pool of blood.

The mother said: “From the investigations, it emerged that Eleonora had a lot of courage. She tried to defend herself and Daniele with her bare hands.”

Days after De Marco’s arrest, the accused’s mother wrote an apology letter to Carpentieri, who claims that she never received the letter and in any case believes what happened cannot be overcome with simple excuses.

The grieving mother said she would never forgive the murderer for taking away her daughter and Daniele, who she loved as her own son.

She said: “I want them to become a symbol of non-violence.”

De Marco is currently detained in Borgo San Nicola prison in Lecce and the trial will begin on the 18th February.

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