Milan interpreter Roberto Guerrino killed with Buddha statue, 19-year-old suspect confesses

The crime

On the evening of 12 June, Roberto Guerrino, a 60-year-old conference interpreter, was found dead in his apartment on via Oxilia in Milan. He had suffered severe facial fractures and head injuries, with at least ten blows to the face from a blunt object. Investigators later determined that a wooden Buddha statuette, found bloodied at the scene, was used as the fatal weapon. Guerrino, who had converted to Buddhism, was semi-dressed when discovered, suggesting the attack occurred during or after a personal encounter.

The investigation

Carabinieri from the Milan Duomo Company and the Investigative Unit quickly focused on a digital trail. The victim's electronic devices, including an iPad Air, two mobile phones, and a MacBook, had been stolen. Video surveillance footage tracked a suspect to Melzo, a town east of Milan. A palm print lifted from furniture in the apartment by the RIS of Parma matched a 19-year-old local man, Jawhar Kadir. On 22 June, officers arrested Kadir at Melzo railway station as he was preparing to board a train with his girlfriend and luggage.

The confession

During a validation hearing on 24 June at San Vittore prison, Kadir admitted to the killing before judge Sonia Mancini. He said he had contacted Guerrino through an online meeting board called "Bakecaincontri" to arrange a paid sexual encounter. Once inside the apartment, he changed his mind.

“I froze and then in anger I started beating him.”

Kadir, an amateur MMA fighter with prior convictions for robbery and assault, described striking Guerrino repeatedly, then hitting him with the statuette while he lay conscious on the floor.

“I threw some punches, I hit him with the statuette when he was lying down and conscious.”

He told the court he had not intended to kill, but needed money.

“I didn't want to kill him, I needed to make some money.”

After the attack, he took €150 in cash from a jar and the electronic devices, gifting the iPad Air to his girlfriend, who was unaware of the crime.

The suspect and accomplice

Kadir, born in Treviglio (Bergamo) to Moroccan parents, lived with his mother in Melzo and worked occasionally as an unregistered pizza chef. He had been reported on 4 June for beating a young man in Melzo. A 17-year-old friend, also of Moroccan origin, accompanied Kadir to the apartment but waited outside. The minor is under investigation by the juvenile prosecutor's office but remains free. Prosecutors suspect he may have been aware of the plan.

Legal proceedings

The arrest was ordered by prosecutor Carlo Scalas, citing flight risk, and validated on 24 June. Kadir faces charges of voluntary homicide and robbery. He is being held at San Vittore prison while the investigation continues. The juvenile's position is still being evaluated.