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The detention of Issam Chlih—a 29-year-old homeless Moroccan national and the sole suspect in the murder of Silke Sauer—has been upheld, and a pre-trial detention order (remand in prison) has been issued. Sauer, also homeless, was a 44-year-old German woman found decapitated near an abandoned farmhouse in the park of the former CNR site in Scandicci.
The detention order was ratified by Preliminary Investigations Judge (GIP) Roberta Di Maria due to the risk that Chlih might flee or reoffend. As reported by ANSA, the “brutal” nature of the murder and the suspect’s personality led the judge to believe he might turn to contacts in his home country to escape. Furthermore, the judge noted that the circumstances of the crime and the attempt to clean up the crime scene demonstrated “an extraordinary level of criminal persistence.”
The matter of the holy book’s verses
According to the Carabinieri’s reconstruction, Issam Chlih and Silke Sauer were together on the evening of February 16 and had stopped at a bar in Florence near the Leopolda station. Witnesses reported that Chlih shouted incoherent phrases and harassed customers. Police arrived at the scene after the bar manager called the emergency number (112).
However, by the time officers arrived, the pair had already left. Around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 17, they returned to Scandicci by tram. Video surveillance cameras captured them walking toward the abandoned farmhouse. They reportedly began arguing right near the building.
Other homeless individuals present in the park at the former CNR site reportedly heard screaming and a male voice reciting verses from the Quran, shouting that the devil had taken possession of the woman. Immediately afterward, a female voice—presumably Silke Sauer’s—was heard shouting “stop” in Italian.
The following day, in a state of agitation, Chlil reportedly drove away anyone approaching the dog park adjacent to the farmhouse. Passersby called emergency services, and the twenty-nine-year-old was admitted to Torregalli Hospital. The next day, Wednesday, February 18, Silke’s body was discovered.
The detention order was ratified by Preliminary Investigations Judge (GIP) Roberta Di Maria due to the risk that Chlih might flee or reoffend. As reported by ANSA, the “brutal” nature of the murder and the suspect’s personality led the judge to believe he might turn to contacts in his home country to escape. Furthermore, the judge noted that the circumstances of the crime and the attempt to clean up the crime scene demonstrated “an extraordinary level of criminal persistence.”
The matter of the holy book’s verses
According to the Carabinieri’s reconstruction, Issam Chlih and Silke Sauer were together on the evening of February 16 and had stopped at a bar in Florence near the Leopolda station. Witnesses reported that Chlih shouted incoherent phrases and harassed customers. Police arrived at the scene after the bar manager called the emergency number (112).
However, by the time officers arrived, the pair had already left. Around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 17, they returned to Scandicci by tram. Video surveillance cameras captured them walking toward the abandoned farmhouse. They reportedly began arguing right near the building.
Other homeless individuals present in the park at the former CNR site reportedly heard screaming and a male voice reciting verses from the Quran, shouting that the devil had taken possession of the woman. Immediately afterward, a female voice—presumably Silke Sauer’s—was heard shouting “stop” in Italian.
The following day, in a state of agitation, Chlil reportedly drove away anyone approaching the dog park adjacent to the farmhouse. Passersby called emergency services, and the twenty-nine-year-old was admitted to Torregalli Hospital. The next day, Wednesday, February 18, Silke’s body was discovered.
