An American woman has been found strangled to death in her Italian apartment just weeks after expressing her fears that she had a “stalker”.
Ashley Ann Olsen, 35, was found naked in her apartment on Florence’s Arno river on Saturday afternoon. She had bruises and scratches on her neck.
Her boyfriend, an Italian painter, discovered her body after becoming concerned when he had not heard from her. They had argued, he says, but when she still didn’t answer his several days later, he convinced her landlord to let him into her apartment where he found the body before calling police.
Police says there was no sign of forced entry, but there appeared to have been a struggle. Ashley’s beloved dog was found outside.
In the weeks leading up to her death, Ashley had been posting on social media about being stalked.
In late November, she shared several images of herself on Instagram that she suggested had been taken without her consent. She used the hashtags #Ihaveastalker, #creeperpic and #stalkeralert.
In a strange coincidence, the man investigating the death, Giacinto Profazio, led the investigation into the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007.
