A Satan-obsessed bricklayer in Italy tortured and murdered his family in order to free them of the devil.
Giovanni Barreca killed his wife gagged his sons with rags, tied them in chains, beat them with a fireplace poker and strangled them to death with electrical wires.
It is believed his 17-year-old daughter, who was found several days later hiding in her bedroom in a state of shock might have been drugged and forced to watch.
Barreca, convinced there was a demon in the house that needed to be expelled, began his sadistic spree by killing his wife Antonella Salamone, 40, burning her body and dumping her charred remains the back garden.
The killings, which happened in Altavilla Milicia, near Palermo are thought to have lasted over several days, with Barreca moving on to his two sons aged five and 16.
Using a fireplace poker and electrical wires, the deranged killer mercilessly pounded and strangled his children and then buried them under a few inches of earth next to their mother.
Giovanni Barreca confessed to killing his wife and two sons a day after he murdered the last one
A day after the brothers are thought to have been killed, on Saturday, Barreca turned himself in to the Carabinieri (Italian police force) reportedly saying: ‘I killed my family, I am waiting for you to come and get me… there was a demon in the house.’
An autopsy on the three victims has been arranged for Saturday to determine the exact causes of death.
Salamone’s body was so badly charred and her killing so brutal that it is thought her exact cause of death might be unable to be determined.
Neighbors of the family have come forward to the police, telling them that Barreca had a complete obsession with Satan and would send them texts about his deluded satanic beliefs.
One of these beliefs was that cats are animals of the devil.
A witness, Salvatore Turco, who runs a private postal agency in the village told reporters at Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera that he has reason to believe Barreca didn’t act alone.
Turco described him as a ‘meek’ person.
He said: ‘He must have been fomented.’
Turco told reporters that given Barreca’s slender build, he could not have done what he is accused of on his own.
A couple, who have been dubbed ‘religious fanatics’ by locals and are believed to be friends of Barreca, has since been accused of acting as his accomplices in the killings.
The pair, Massimo Carandente and Sabrina Fina, which Barreca originally met at an Evangelist church have been arrested on suspicion of being accomplices.
The police were able to track them down using Barreca’s phone.
Carandente’s Facebook profile is awash with religious slogans such as ‘Satan uses corrupt pastors’ and ‘When the people pray, the devil trembles’.
Fina is said to be a ‘self-styled mental coach’.
The couple, both from Palermo, were taken to the prosecutor’s office and are facing multiple murder charges.
Pictures from the scene shows police tape across the road in front of the family home, as well as police gathered outside a number of police vehicles
The killer is said to have believed the house was haunted by a demon and he needed to banish it by murdering his family
Police are looking into whether the teenager was drugged and forced to watch the massacre, La Stampa reports, and have been speaking to the girl.
She told La Stampa Italian newspaper La Stampa: ‘He wanted to free us from the devil.’
‘My father was convinced that the house was haunted by the devil.’
The 17-year-old is currently being looked after in a protected community.