A MAN who confessed to murdering his parents has inherited their home, the one in which he shot them dead.
Ferdinando Carretta, who was released from mental hospital two years ago, reached an out-of-court settlement on Wednesday with his aunts, who had contested his ownership of the property.
"Seeing as how the flat is rented, I'll take the rent," he told the Gazzetta di Parma. "Then, it's likely that I'll sell it." Under the terms of the settlement, Mr Carretta will inherit the property, valued at €310,000, and some €40,000 in cash.
Mr Carretta was arrested in 1998 in London following a routine traffic check nine years after the killings in his home town of Parma. Soon after, he confessed to murdering his parents - and his brother - in a television interview.
He said he had long hated his father, an accountant, and murdered his mother because she was a witness. He then shot his brother because he was convinced he would turn against him. All three bodies have never been found.
Several of the details Mr Carretta provided during the interview, and later to police and prosecutors, failed to square with the known facts or were highly improbable. However, in 1999, he was acquitted on grounds of not being in his right mind at the time of the offence, and he was sent to a secure psychiatric institution.
He told the newspaper he now wanted a secure job and a steady girlfriend.
- (Guardian service)