A mother has been jailed for murdering her eight-year-old son after the child allegedly found out she was having an affair with his grandfather.
Veronica Panarello choked Loris Stival with electrical cables and dumped his body in a ditch in Santa Croce, Sicily.
The 28-year-old was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the premeditated crime, La Stampa reported.
Some Italian media outlets reported the murder occurred after Loris walked in on his mother having sex with her father-in-law.
Sentencing judge Andrea Reale described the murder as being particularly cruel, noting the little boy was still alive, though unconscious when he was disposed of, The Local writes.
Panarello protested her innocence throughout the trial, at one point claiming her son’s paternal grandfather Andrea Stival had killed him in order to keep their affair secret.
She initially told police she believed her son had been abducted after she took him to school, but CCTV did not back up her story.
Stival is being investigated as an accessory to murder and is threatening to sue Panarello for slander.
Panarello’s husband has filed for divorce.