Italian 'stabs Irish landlord to death and ate his heart after quarrel during game of chess

Tom O'Gorman (right) was murdered at his home in north Dublin and Saverio Ballante (left) has been arrested

A Sicilian expatriate has allegedly confessed to the brutal murder of his landlord, in an argument over an illegal chess move, before eating part of his body.

Catholic lobbyist Tom O’Gorman’s body was found badly mutilated, with dozens of knife wounds, at his home in Dublin on Sunday.

Police sources said the murder was 'one of the most horrific acts of violence committed against an innocent person in Irish history.’

Mr Bellante, who moved to Ireland from Palermo to work in a pharmaceutical company, allegedly confessed to police, claiming that the pair had fallen out over a late night chess game after his landlord had attempted to move the king in a way that was not allowed, it has been reported.
Worldcrunch.com says O'Gorman then asked him to move out.
The crime scene was said to be so shocking that the two officers who found the body will be sent for trauma counselling.
A police source told the Daily Star: 'It was like walking through the gates of Hell.'

Mr Bellante's face and clothes were said to have been covered in blood when officers arrived shortly before 2am on Sunday.
Pathologists say the victim suffered dozens of knife wounds to his head and chest and officials have confirmed that Mr O'Gorman's lung is missing.
In custody on Sunday night, Bellante told officers that a row stemmed from Mr O’ Gorman engaging in a chess move that was against the rules.
At yesterday’s hearing Mr Bellante said he wanted to represent himself. A policeman testified that, when charged with murder, Bellante replied: 'I am guilty.' 


A Dublin judge ordered Bellante to be held without bail and to receive a psychiatric evaluation.

RULES OF CHESS

In chess, the king is the most important piece on the board.
Capturing the king, "checkmate", will end the game.
Players can move their other pieces in set moves across the board to trap the king, "check".
Both kings start on the back row of the board next to the queen and flanked by bishops.
The king can only move one square in any direction on the board.
A king cannot move onto a space where another piece is already.
The king can make a special move in conjunction with a Rook, called a Castling, which allows it to move two squares and jump over another piece on the board in special circumstances.

Last night, friends of Saverio Bellante were incredulous, saying that of all his friends he was ‘the most sane’.
Vincenzo Lo Nardo, a close friend since infancy, said he couldn’t believe it was true. He told the website Palermo Today: ‘He sacrificed everything to study, to get to where he is now. I can’t believe he would do such a thing.
‘I’ve known him since I was born and we grew up in a rough area. Out of our gang he was always the most sane. He always had a good head on his shoulders, he never had a fight or did anything out of the ordinary.
‘We spoke all the time, mostly on Facebook. Last time I saw him he told me that he was really happy in his job and that finally after sacrificing so much he had got he had begun to settle down.’
Mr Lo Nardo said his friend was not a hard drugs user (although he smoked the occasional cannabis spliff) but that it was the only possible explanation for such an act.
‘The only explanation that comes to me is that he was under the effect of a drug that had caused him to lose his powers of reason.’
Mr Bellante is a customer service representative at Allergan pharmaceuticals, according to his Facebook page. It says he has a masters in business ethics, consumption and social responsibility from the University of Siena – Arezzo.  

Arrested: Saverio Bellante was arrested at the scene. His friends say he was 'the most sane'

Mr O’Gorman, 39, and the man were said to be on ‘very friendly terms’ and were friends on Facebook.
The devout Catholic previously worked as a journalist for the Catholic newspaper The Voice Today, but for the past seven years he worked as a researcher for the Iona Institute, the conservative organisation which promotes religion in society. He also served as a church minister.  
In his most recent article for the Iona Institute published Friday, O'Gorman described ‘the homosexual lobby’ and ‘sexual license’ as major threats to religious freedom.
Institute director David Quinn spoke of the organisation’s ‘total shock and deep sorrow’.
He said: ‘He was a fond and dear friend and we will all miss him. We extend our deepest commiserations to his family and above all to his sister and brother, Catherine and Paul. May Tom rest in peace.’

Quinn said O'Gorman sometimes traveled to Italy to attend retreats run by a Catholic group called the Focolare movement, which seeks to promote Christian unity.
He said O'Gorman loved history, the subject he studied at bachelor's and master's level at University College Dublin, but was most passionate about the fortunes of Ireland's rugby team and the Liverpool soccer club.
‘He had lots of opinions and liked a good argument,’ Quinn wrote in a tribute published Monday, ‘but he was good fun.’
The alleged cannibal has a brother who is a policeman, according to reports in the Italian media. As well as his elder brother Paolo, who is a traffic policeman in Palermo, Bellante also has a younger sister. His father is a pensioner and his mother a housewife.

Culled from DAILY MAIL