A vet who stabbed his former partner to death at her seaside home after she ended their relationship has been jailed for life and told he will serve at least 15 years before being considered for parole.
Alberto Fioletti, 31, went to veterinary nurse Stephanie Hodgkinson’s flat with flowers and a card apparently hoping to salvage their relationship.
But when Hodgkinson, a mother of two, told him it was definitely over he snapped and stabbed her six times in the chest and once in the back with a kitchen knife. Fioletti then stabbed himself in the stomach before calling 999 and telling the operator: “I killed my girlfriend.”
Police and paramedics found 34-year-old Hodgkinson on the kitchen floor at her flat in Bournemouth, Dorset, on 12 May last year. She had suffered severe injuries to her heart and lungs.
The court heard Fioletti, an Italian national, developed a narcissistic personality disorder and had sex with many women to “validate” himself as he had inferiority issues because of the size of his penis. He had manipulated previous girlfriends by threatening to kill himself to gain their sympathy.
Hodgkinson met Fioletti through a dating website and they started a relationship in October 2022. On 5 May last year he and Hodgkinson had an argument that resulted in her making him leave her home.
Before he left he told her: “I hope you’re happy with yourself. You’re gonna have a death on your hands now.” They agreed to meet and talk on 12 May.
The court heard the day before the meeting Fioletti texted a doctor saying: “If I had to definitely lose her tomorrow night, this time I will have to put an end to it once and for all.”
Fioletti, from Fordingbridge, Hampshire, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but denied murder. A jury found him guilty of murder after a three-week trial at Bournemouth crown court.
At his sentencing on Monday, the victim’s mother, Sally Lloyd, asked him: “How could you be so cruel and do a horrific act when all Stephanie was trying to do was to let you down gently?”
Lloyd recalled picking up her grandchild from Hodgkinson’s home shortly before her daughter was murdered. She added: “Never ever, as I saw her waving us off and blowing kisses on the doorstep, did I think that she would never come out of her home alive, that we would never see her again and those blown kisses would have so much meaning. I am tortured by the fact that as we played in the park, Stephanie’s life was taken.”
Hodgkinson’s sister, Natalie Powell, told Fioletti: “What you did to my sister was pure evil. What did she ever do to you?”
Nicholas Haggan KC, defending, said Fioletti was of previous good character and had shown genuine remorse. He said: “When the defendant set out that morning his intention was to effect a reconciliation.”
Judge Evans told Fioletti: “Your horrific and senseless act led to the loss of Stephanie. She was a kind, caring and compassionate person who always put her children first. She was plainly an amazing mum and her children miss her so much.”
The judge said she believed Fioletti called the ambulance to save himself, not Hodgkinson.
