Cosima Serrano broke down and wept Friday during an appeal court hearing into her murder conviction for the death of her niece Sarah Scazzi in August 2010.
Court is now hearing the appeals of the three family members convicted in the case that shocked Italy and dominated headlines.
While Serrano and her daughter Sabrina Misseri were convicted of murder in April 2013, her husband Michele Misseri - who told police he was guilty - was instead sentenced to eight years in prison for hiding the body of the teen who was kidnapped and killed on August 26, 2010.
Serrano denied suggestions she was jealous of her niece and family, and instead told the court that her husband was very violent.
"My husband tried to attack me twice. The first with an ax, the second time in the country with a stone," she said.
When she heard that Scazzi was dead, she said she assumed first that it must have been an accident and later, that it was an act of revenge for something Serrano said the girl's father had done.
Scazzi was found strangled in her southern Italian home near the port city of Taranto. After the teen disappeared, the Misseris made numerous televised appeals for her discovery, Michele crying while announcing he had 'found' her cell phone.
A few days later, as investigators cornered him, Misseri admitted he had killed Sarah in his garage and committed post-mortem rape, only to retract the confession a few days later and accuse his daughter.
The was adjourned to March 13.
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