The guest of the RSA in Lana, South Tyrol, killed yesterday during visiting hours with a stab in the heart was called Maria Waschgler and was 78 years old.
Before retirement he had run a grocery shop in the town of the Adige Valley near Merano.
Accused of the crime, his partner, Karl Engelmayr, 87, was arrested.
The Austrian citizen has been living in South Tyrol for some time.
The motive for the moment is not clear.
The crime took place in the late afternoon in the garden of the Lorenzerhof retirement home.
Only a few days ago the visits to the RSA were resumed, after the stop imposed by the pandemic.
Access is allowed to visitors in possession of a green pass, exclusively to the park of the structure.
The victim had received the visit and the two were seated on a park bench, when the man extracted a kitchen knife from his pocket, hitting the woman in the heart.
Some nurses immediately rushed to the scene and tried to save the woman's life.
The emergency doctor has also arrived.
In the meantime, some collaborators of the structure blocked the elderly attacker, who however did not offer resistance, until the arrival of the carabinieri.