Alessio Ghirlanda
AN Italian entrepreneur who awoke to find his girlfriend dead in his Formentera apartment has been cleared of suspicion – but the woman’s death remains shrouded in mystery.
Holiday letting agent Ivan Sauna, 51, told authorities he discovered the battered body of 45-year-old Luisa Asteggiano, also Italian, lying on the floor of his El Pujols flat around 7.30am on Sunday.
Sauna, who immediately alerted authorities, was arrested after police noted Asteggiano’s body was covered in bruises – but an autopsy report has ruled out violent trauma as the cause of death, and Sauna has since been released.
Michele Tortorici, Sauna’s lawyer, told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: “Ivan could not have killed her.
“He was the one who took her in when she had nowhere else to go.”
The Guardia Civil said they are no longer treating the case as a murder, adding that further tests are required to determine the cause of death.
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Locals described the couple’s relationship as volatile and confirmed they had previously seen bruises on Asteggiano.
But Tortorici insisted the marks were the result of pre-existing health issues.
“The bruises were old,” he said. “She suffered from a condition where even minor bumps would leave significant marks.”
Originally from Bra in northern Italy, Asteggiano had moved to Ibiza 10 years ago following the death of her parents.
She was the mother of a 15-year-old son from a previous relationship, who lived with her on the island.
Shortly after Asteggiano met Sauna around 18 months ago, her ex-husband returned to live with her in Ibiza.
She had developed a drinking habit, and her husband eventually kicked her out of her flat, barring her from seeing her son. Heartbroken, Asteggiano went to live with Sauna in Formentera.
“From there, she spiralled,” Tortorici said. “She became depressed, lost weight, and struggled to move.”
According to her brother Christian, a terrifying incident roughly a year and a half ago marked a turning point in Luisa’s life.
He said Luisa was severely injured after an unknown assailant knocked her down in the street, causing her to hit her head so hard on the pavement that “cerebral fluid” spilt out.
“From that day on, Luisa was no longer the same,” her brother added. “She lost hearing in one ear, struggled with balance, and often showed me the bruises from her falls. She could no longer stand unaided. It’s easy to believe that what happened was the result of an accident.”
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