Investigators are focusing their attention on the unpaid rents of Fabrizio Congiu , the 52-year-old who ended up in prison on charges of having killed the landlord, Venerato Sardu , 75, found on Friday night at his home in via Ogliastra in Cagliari with his head smashed and in a pool of blood.
The possible reason for what happened in the apartment of the elderly man, a former radio technician who now lived precisely from the rents he collected for the housing units of the building at number 21, would be the monthly payments that have not been paid for over a year and an imminent eviction.
The discussions and quarrels with various tenants would have been different: Congiu, on Friday, probably went to Sardu, the tones were immediately raised and the 52-year-old hit the man on the head several times with a tool, perhaps a pincer, killing him.
The carabinieri of the provincial investigative nucleus and the colleagues of the Cagliari company immediately closed the circle, arriving at Congiu from some testimonies and above all from the images of the cameras present in the building, in the entrance of the door of Sardu's apartment and also inside the home.
The Ris seized various objects and also a knife. Further elements useful for the investigation could also emerge from the victim's mobile phone.
The robbery hypothesis has not yet been ruled out: many knew that the 75-year-old kept the monthly rent at home and the money could have triggered Congiu's action which ended in murder.
Now the man, known for being a beggar in the shopping streets taking his little dog with him, is in prison as ordered by prosecutor Andrea Massidda.
On Monday, defended by the lawyer Stefano Pisano, he will appear before the judge for the guarantee questioning. He will therefore be able to tell his truth, even if he will probably avail himself of the right not to answer. Also in the next few hours, an autopsy on the body of the elderly is expected.
Meanwhile, the children of the victim ask that "the memory of their father be respected" but also "that justice be done".
In the Palazzo Sardu is remembered as "a good man", also available to accompany the tenants to medical examinations. The problems started when someone didn't pay the rent. A few weeks ago, right at the end of an argument with another tenant, he had been attacked: he had even filed a complaint.