Carpenter, 55, dies after bar stabbing in Cantù; 33-year-old man held on murder suspicion

The fight and the stabbing

A fight broke out on the afternoon of 31 October 2026 inside the Bivio bar on via Montello in Cantù, a town in the province of Como, and continued outside. Investigators say a 55-year-old carpenter was stabbed twice, once in the shoulder and once in the abdomen, and the abdominal wound proved fatal. He was taken to the Sant'Anna hospital in Como and died a few hours after admission. Several other customers were reportedly drawn into the initial argument inside the bar. According to Italian press reports, the victim was a married father of two who worked for a furniture company in Cantù and coached youth football at the San Michele parish oratory.

The suspect's account

Carabinieri from the local station detained a 33-year-old man on suspicion of murder. He has prior police records linked to drug offences and offences against persons. In his account to the officers, he said he had left home already carrying a knife because he feared meeting someone he owed money to. One report puts that debt at 200 euros, while another says a few hundred euros. He told the officers that the victim mocked his Calabrian accent, and that he felt frightened by the victim's large build and reacted out of fear. Investigators are still checking the accent detail, which has not been verified. The suspect is currently at the carabinieri barracks, and his version remains under review.

How the argument escalated

According to early reports, the argument began inside the bar, involving other customers, before moving outside onto the street. La Stampa reported that the suspect had been bothering customers and the bar owner, and that the victim asked him to leave and then followed him to make sure he actually went. At that point the younger man allegedly took out the knife. Investigators describe the trigger as trivial, but the exact sequence depends on witness accounts that differ in parts. The carabinieri are working through those accounts in the hours after the death to establish who did what and when.

Investigation and next steps

The carabinieri are collecting testimony from people who were inside the bar and outside it. The aim is to set the witness accounts against the suspect's version before the case moves forward. The stabbing is the central fact of the case, and the investigators have not yet published a full reconstruction. The suspect remains in custody at the barracks while those checks continue.