Family of murdered pregnant woman 'feared worst from outset'

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 5 - The parents of 29-year-old Giulia Tramontano, the seven-month pregnant woman stabbed to death by her partner Alessandro Impagnatiello on May 27, feared she had been murdered as soon as they learned she was missing, their lawyer said on Monday.
    "Giulia's family feared this tragic outcome from the very beginning as it was difficult (for them) to believe that their expecting daughter had left home voluntarily, despite the shipwreck of her romantic relationship" with 30-year-old Impagnatiello, said lawyer Giovanni Cacciapuoti, appointed to attend forensic investigations on Tuesday at the couple's apartment near Milan where Tramontano was killed and the autopsy on Friday.
    Meanwhile, case documents made public on Sunday reveal that Impagnatiello's lover, who has not been named, met with Tramontano on May 27 shortly before she was murdered.
    "We chatted peacefully," said the woman.
    "We were together for about an hour, after which she left. Our meeting was really cordial, so much so that as soon as we saw each other we embraced in female solidarity," she continued, adding that they were "both victims of a liar".
    "When Giulia disappeared, he (Impagniatello) wanted to see me. I was scared and asked a colleague to drive me home," she told investigators, saying that she didn't want to see him as she didn't know "what he was capable of doing".
    The murder - the latest in a long string of femicides in Italy - has grabbed headlines.
    The barman at a luxury hotel in Milan confessed on Wednesday to murdering his seven-month pregnant partner and unsuccessfully trying to burn her body to conceal the evidence before reporting her missing, claiming to have acted out of stress in relation to having two parallel relationships and the fact that "others had become aware of the situation".
    Tramontano's sister Chiara told investigators on May 29 Impagnatiello had told his partner he was having an affair in January and that when she learned of the infidelity, she told her sister "that she would not forgive Alessandro but would return to (their home in) Senago" until she found "another housing solution or returned home to her parents".
    Impagniatello has described her son as a "monster". (ANSA).