Woman Decapitated, Head Set On Fire In Horrifying Murder Near Italian Tourist Town

Last Updated:June 07, 2025, 13:56 IST

Maria Denisa Paun, 30, was found beheaded and stuffed in a suitcase near Florence, a popular tourist spot in Italy. She was killed by a local security guard, Vasile Frumuzache.

Maria Denisa Paun, 30, was found beheaded and stuffed in a suitcase near Florence | Representative image

In a shocking incident, the body of a missing woman was found beheaded and stuffed in a suitcase in a famous Italian tourist spot, three weeks after her disappearance, according to authorities.

The deceased woman was identified as Maria Denisa Paun, 30, who worked as an escort and had disappeared from her home on May 15. Her remains were found on Wednesday near an abandoned farmhouse in Montecatini Terme, about 25 miles west of Florence, the New York Post reported, citing local media.

A local security guard has reportedly admitted murdering Paun, cutting off her head with a knife and then setting fire to it with gasoline, after the victim reportedly threatened to tell the man’s wife if he did not pay her after having sex.

Vasile Frumuzache, 32, also a Romanian national, faces charges of murder and suppression of a corpse. He is married and a father of two children. Frumuzache told police he met Paun on a dating app before visiting her at a hotel the same night she was murdered.

After spending an intimate night, Paun allegedly threatened to go to his wife unless he paid her the equivalent of around $11,450, he told police. “She was blackmailing me, that’s why I killed her," he was quoted as saying in local media.

“When I told her that I was a security guard and that I was married, she told me that she was able to reach my wife," he added. Frumuzache then strangled Paun, dismembered her corpse, stuffed it in a garbage bad and put the remains in a suitcase.

Hotel security footage shows Frumuzache arrive outside on May 15 with a black bag, and he was seen leaving the hotel with a white suitcase belonging to Paun two hours later. Prosecutors said Paun’s remains were inside that suitcase.

Rumours floated that Paun might have been abducted by criminal gangs after leaving Rome last month. Investigators used a GPS installed in Frumuzache’s car by his insurance company to trace his movements after Paun’s disappearance, and tracked him to the abandoned farmhouse on Wednesday morning, when they found Paun’s headless body, along with the white suitcase.

Rome, Italy

News world Woman Decapitated, Head Set On Fire In Horrifying Murder Near Italian Tourist Town