Murder inquiry launched after Anthony Collinssplatt, 77, who had one leg and one arm, found at his home near Modena

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Italian police have launched a murder investigation after the body of an elderly British man who had only one leg and one arm was found in the boot of his car.

Anthony Collinssplatt, who had lived in Italy for more than 35 years, was found with a deep cut to his throat in the back of a Nissan Micra in the garage of his home in Pavullo, near Modena, on 10 March. His artificial leg and arm were missing and his right hand was covered in blood.

The discovery was made by Collinssplatt’s cleaner and a friend. Police initially thought the 77-year-old, who managed an English language school in the 1970s and 80s, may have cut his own throat before climbing into the boot, but they now suspect he could have been murdered.

Local media reported that traces of blood had been found in his kitchen.

“In complex cases like this, we always start with the position that it could be murder, but the outcome could be very different,” a police officer working on the case said, declining to give more information.

Collinssplatt, who lost his leg in a car accident while studying at Exeter University then lost his arm in a horse-riding accident, moved to Italy after getting a job at the Cambridge Institute language school.

His best friend, Tim Keates, who lived nearby in Pavullo, said he did not believe his friend of more than 35 years had killed himself.

“I just don’t think so, nobody really thinks so,” Keates told the Guardian.

“The police are baffled; obviously they’re keeping an open mind about it, which they have to. But I think they are investigating the possibility of there having been an intruder.

“Nothing was broken [in his home], but he did used to leave his door open because of his dog.”

Keates said Collinssplatt was reserved, but very jovial and personable.



While awaiting the autopsy results, police are questioning his former students and examining his bank accounts.



Collinssplatt, who visited family in England each year, had never married but lived with an Italian woman for several years and had a good relationship with her son, Keates said.

“He loved his life in Italy very much,” he said. “He came to teach at the language school and when the boss of that school went back to the UK and never returned, he got the job of managing it.”

Vincenzo Vitiello said he had lived opposite Collinssplatt for 15 years.

“He was very quiet and friendly, and would often stop to play with my son,” Vitiello told the local Gazzetta di Modena. “They say he killed himself, but I don’t think so.”