Florence mourns murdered American

Cheikh Diaw, Olsen's suspected killer, has been arrested

 Florence, A man has been arrested in connection with 35-year old Ashley Ann Olsen's death in Florence, according to police sources. Cheikh Diaw, a 27-year old from Senegal, was arrested on Thursday morning and has confirmed being the man that Olsen went home with after a night out the previous week.

 Diaw admitted under questioning to having had consensual sex with Olsen whilst both under the influence of drugs, but claims that he never meant to kill her.

 According to him they got into a fight after Olsen asked him to leave, saying she was scared her boyfriend would arrive. He became angry, replying that "I am not a dog", and as she was making him leave the house he pushed her, causing her to hit her head. The bruise marks on her neck he claims are a result of his attempts to pick her up and put her on the bed.

 The autopsy carried out confirms that there were fractures found in Olsen's cranium, but that strangling was carried out by a cord or rope-like object. There were no signs of an engagement in any erotic game, said the Florence prosecutor at a press conference on Thursday.

 Diaw was identified by DNA found on a condom and a cigarette at Olsen's apartment, where his fingerprints were also found. His DNA was also found under Olsen's fingernails, the prosecutor said. They are assumed to have met at a bar in the Montecarla district late last Thursday night or early Friday before returning together to her flat and engaging in consensual sex.

 The defence attorney, Antonio Voce, told NBC news that when Diaw left the apartment Olsen was alive and moaning that she was feeling unwell.

 Diaw, reportedly an illegal immigrant unknown to the police, took Olsen's mobile phone and put his SIM card in it, which he was found using at the time of arrest.

 The Associated Press reports that Olsen's funeral is scheduled for Friday afternoon at the Santo Spirito church in Florence.

 

ROME -- Investigations are ongoing into the murder of 35-year old Ashley Ann Olsen, whose body was found naked in her Florence apartment on Saturday. Images of the case's first suspect have been found on CCTV footage from the area where the American lived, of a man who is assumed to have accompanied Olsen home after a night out with friends in Florence's lively Montecarla district, according to Il Messaggero.

 The images show the unidentified man and Olsen walking along a road that leads from Montecarla to her apartment, in via Santa Monaca, at 5.30 am on Friday Jan. 7, just a few hours before the young woman is assumed to have been murdered.

 Signs of consensual sex have been confirmed by the autopsy, suggesting a fight to have broken out only afterwards. Tests are currently being undertaken to determine whether the victim was under the influence of drugs.

 On Thursday evening Olsen had gone out for a drink with female friends, and was seen in various bars in the Montecarla quarter, well known to the police for the multiple incidences of drug dealing and female harassment that have taken place there.

 According to a waitress in one of the local bars, between Olsen and her friends there had been "a bit of friction, a bit of tension...like it is among girls." Her friends left to go home at around 2am, while Olsen remained out.

 The woman's body was found on Saturday by her boyfriend, the 42-year old Florentine painter Federico Fiorentini. He asked the landlady to let him in to the apartment after not hearing from his girlfriend for three days, with whom he had had a small fight. His alibi has been confirmed by the police.

 Upon finding the body Fiorentini was described by the landlady, Claudia Colivicchi, as distraught: "it was as though he had lost his head."

 Marks on Olsen's neck point to strangulation as the cause of death, with the autopsy confirming that bear hands were not used but rather a rope or a cord. A USB cable was found near the bed, possibly the instrument used by the killer.

 Olsen's mobile phone has not been found by the police and is presumed to have been taken by her killer when he left, suggesting there to have been communication or messaging between them. Her laptop has been confiscated by the police for evidence.

 Olsen's apartment was found in disarray, but there are no signs of a break-in. No one in the apartment block reports having heard noises from the room or barks from Olsen's beagle, perhaps the crime's only witness.

 Words of sorrow and condolence have been written on the walls of Olsen's apartment, and messages from friends have shown a wide social network surrounding the American, who moved to Florence some years ago from Summer Haven, Florida to be closer to her father, also linked to the arts world there. Among the messages is one scrawled on the wall, "He is guilty, he will pay."

 Her best friend, Jade, wrote in a letter on the website The Florentine, "Living here will no longer be the same. She has been taken away from us in the most cruel way possible, but no one will ever be able to take away her kind, gentle heart and her delicate soul." She recalls Olsen having said to her some time earlier that "2016 will be our year." 

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"He is guilty, he will pay" reads message on Olsen's apartment door
Ashley Ann Olsen's naked body was found on Saturday, with strangle marks on her neck