back to article Friends Reunited killer gets life

An Italian who travelled to the UK to kill his wife's lover, after she reconnected with her teenage sweetheart through the Friends Reunited website, was jailed for life last week. Francesco Matta, 56, was sent to prison for a minimum of 11 years after a jury found him guilty of murder at Exeter Crown Court, Sky News reports. …

COMMENTS

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  1. Hollerith

    get over it

    When people walk from the marriage, it's over; they don't belong to you. Sad fokks, but not as sad as actual or intended murder.

  2. Matt

    @Hollerith

    Sorry, I don't agree. Marriage isn't a casual agreement to meet for lunch if both parties are free. Besides which, the affair started before she left.

    If you play with fire, expect to get burnt.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Headline of the month candidate

    Of course, if he'd had one, HM wouldn't have to give it to him...

    Mine's the straight one.

  4. Anonymously Deflowered

    @Matt

    burnt, maybe but not put to death!

  5. gareth

    @Matt

    He didn't say it was casual he said when its over they don't belong to you

    which is of course true

    and either way murdering the lover seems the wrong thing to do

    surly murdering the wife for cheating would be the more appropriate thought still wrong course of action

    and these days marriage is pretty casual its so easy to get a divorce these days the only point in marriage is to secure a widows pention and benifits should your partner die. Its not really a show of commitment any more

  6. ImaGnuber
    Thumb Down

    @Matt

    Jeez Matt, there are more mature ways of handling the problem. There's no excuse for this.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Not what headline meant to me

    When I saw the headline I assumed that someone had just released a social networking site similar to Friends Reunited. I found this unbelievable as I assumed that when ITV purchased FR they killed it there and then.

    Then I read on.

    There are some that would argue that living in Tiverton is some kind of death sentence on its own. But I wouldn't.

    In keeping with the Friends Reunited/ITV angle, my coat is showing crappy drama and re-runs of once-upon-a-time decent gameshows from the 1980s.

  8. Martin Jones
    Unhappy

    Keeping the Regs happy

    Shoulda killed em both with old SCO Unix CD's with sharpened edges.

    Would have got the full support of the El Reg crowd for that one.

    quote: "these days marriage is pretty casual"

    wtf?

    "Hey babe, fancy coming back to mine tonight for a quick marriage ceremony? How do you like your divorce papers served in the morning....?"

    *sigh

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "marriage is pretty casual"

    It can be in Iran, where short term marriages to ladies of negotiable affection are necessary for such commercial liasons to be legal, since *extra-marital* sex is banned.

  10. Chris Walker

    @gareth

    "and either way murdering the lover seems the wrong thing to do"

    Erm, only SEEMS?!

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    "If you play with fire, expect to get burnt."

    Is this supposed to equate to "if you leave your husband, expect him to murder your lover"....?

    And here was me thinking that because Murder is illegal and pretty damn morally reprehensible, that it's not actually ever to be "expected" from rational grownups...

    Surely it's more like "murder someone, expect to go to jail"....?

    I pity this sad man for not being able to let go... but I still want him put away, thanks.

  12. Gordon

    Homicide....

    I never understand why people "get in touch" after 30 years. You've both led different lives, you'll probably be very different people. Maybe it's a way of trying to hang onto the past? But the past IS the past - you have to leave it there. Wistfully wishing you'd made different decisions to what you did is one thing, but it makes about as much sense as regretting getting last weeks lottery numbers completely wrong.

    Your wifie running off with someone else doesn't justify homicide. That said, if she's decided to leave and will claim 60 percent of your worldly possessions, insist you sell your home, your car and all the rest of it to pay for her leaving and setting up with some new chap (who she won't marry, so you keep paying) then you cannot really be surprised if you're looking a bit askance. She just decides after years that she fancies a change, and you can darn well pay for her new life, whilst moving into a rented shoebox yourself, she takes up with her new blokie on 3 incomes in a big pad and hassles your for cash.

    TBH, I think it'd feel like doing much the same myself. I'm not saying it'd do it, but i'd certainly enjoy a few lurid daydreams!

  13. ImaGnuber

    Lonely Guy

    It just occurred to me - I hope Matt tells anyone he is chatting up that he approves of murder as a response to unfaithfulness.

    If he is himself unfaithful will he live up to his standards and commit suicide?

    I wonder if he would find reason to think his own unfaithfulness was justified and his wife/girlfriend/boyfriend whatever should understand?

    Silly thoughts.

  14. Pyros
    Coat

    Sardina

    Let's not forget that some peeps in Sardina seem to have a fetish for knives.

    (Mind you, that could be the rumor-market, but even here we're damned careful around people with a history of collecting knives in general. I only collect high-quality ones. *pats his Wenger steel Swiss Army*)

    Mine's the one with a Woodsman's Pal hanging from it.

  15. Steve Smith
    Paris Hilton

    @Homicide....

    "I never understand why people "get in touch" after 30 years. You've both led different lives, you'll probably be very different people."

    Well, I had a live-in girlfriend 20ish years ago who had a very unusual level of talent with her tongue that helped the relationship last some 4 years. Fortunately, I didn't marry her.

    To those of you whose mind dwells in the gutter, she, um, spoke very pleasantly. That's obviously what I meant.

  16. Andy Bright
    Happy

    No, can't agree

    Death is the only answer. Bring back hanging, six of the best and buggery... with one small provision.

    If I'm the one that gets caught, my wife should remember that not just life, but testicles, are sacred..

  17. Wize

    Why blame the lover?

    I don't understand these folk. Their partner has an affair and they go after the person they have the affair with. Its not the third person thats causing the problem, its the unfaithful partner.

  18. lglethal Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    You all seem to have missed the point

    If your partner is running off to be unfaithful (and i didn't read anything in the article that said anything about her running off pre-divorce or being a golddigger - thats only the previous commentators preconceptions), then something is wrong with your relationship. Full stop, capital letter.

    People who are happy in their marriage, don't leave and don't mess around. If someone leave's then usually there is a BIG problem in the marriage. I think its pretty obvious that this guy has some serious mental problems (regular people dont go halfway across Europe to murder people!), so i think i can see where the problem lay and why the women wanted to get away.

    I feel sorry for her and for the poor bugger that got stabbed. I do NOT feel sympathy for Mr Murderer!

  19. Sceptical Bastard

    Where's the Mafia angle?

    Oh *there* it is: "...Matta, from Cagliari, Sardinia..."

    @Matt. Quote "If you play with fire, expect to get burnt."

    If you're saying don't piss off the Mafia, you might have a point. But as you appear to be sdaying that infidelity should be punishable by murder, I suggest you fuck of to Iran where your mysoginist medievalism will be welcome.

  20. Johnny FireBlade

    Deported?

    Anyone know if he got deported first, or is he yet another statistic in the "UK prisons over crowded" story?

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