"It was a compatriot of mine".
He was well acquainted with his attacker Andrei Danila, the 53-year-old homeless man, of Romanian origin, who died last night at the hospital in Rivoli, near Turin, a few hours after being beaten to death.
Shortly before his heart stopped beating, the man would also tell the carabinieri his name.
And now the soldiers of the Rivoli company and the Turin Investigative Unit, coordinated by the prosecutor Rossella Salvati of the Turin Public Prosecutor's Office, are chasing him.
A bad story of violence, against the backdrop of lives lived in extreme poverty and hardship, a stone's throw from Ikea and the La Certosa shopping center.
It was here, between four metal sheets under an overpass of the northern ring road, that the victim lived.
A shack, not visible from the road, in Strada Comunale della Viassa, in the industrial area of Collegno.
A refuge of very few square meters, covered by a blue sheet on the roof.
As a light, a light bulb illegally connected to the electricity.
Outside a small table and an old refrigerator that was used as a cabinet.
Inside some plastic chairs, a cot, lots of blankets and a bedside table.
It is not yet clear whether Danila and her assailant met near the shack yesterday morning or if the beating took place elsewhere.
The fact remains that in the late afternoon the 53-year-old began to feel ill and called 112. Confused and in pain, he told the carabinieri who arrived on the spot what had happened.
The ambulance also arrived immediately, but on the way to the nearest hospital, that of Rivoli, the Romanian's heart stopped beating.
Heart massage kept him alive, but his condition was immediately deemed critical.
The homeless man died shortly after being admitted to the emergency room.
The carabinieri, who even today carried out an inspection in the hut, are looking for the suspect, who will have to tell his version of the facts.