Ex-Italian policeman hammers children to death before committing suicide

A former policeman allegedly killed his two-year-old and four-year-old children with a hammer at their home in this northern Italian city on Monday before hurling himself to his death, police said.

A former policeman allegedly killed his two-year-old and four-year-old children with a hammer at their home in this northern Italian city on Monday before hurling himself to his death, police said.

A former policeman allegedly killed his two-year-old and four-year-old children with a hammer at their home. (Reuters File Photo)

The man’s wife had left the children with her 45-year-old husband while she went out on an errand and found the them dead in the blood-splattered living-room on her return, police said.

The man, named as Gabriele Sorrentino, was later found dead at the foot of a nearby cliff. His car was parked at the beauty spot and investigators said they did not find a suicide note.

The couple’s 13-year-old daughter was away on a school trip at the time of the tragedy.

Sorrentino may have had economic worries linked to a new house the couple was due to buy and had become depressed, according to investigators.

He had been working from home as a financial consultant and regularly looked after the children while his wife, a local vet, was out, investigators said.