RAGUSA, Italy, July 17 (UPI) -- A blind Italian man was burned to death after he refused to give his unemployed stepson money, police in the southern Italian town of Ragusa said.

Mirko Bottari, 21, told authorities he set fire to Vincenzo Arcidiacono after the two fought over money, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Wednesday.


"During questioning the young man confirmed he acted because his stepfather refused to give him money the previous day," a prosecutor investigating the case said.

Bottari was hospitalized with first and second-degree burns on his hands and legs at the same local hospital where his stepfather worked as a phone operator.

Police did not provide the age of the stepfather nor any details on what Bottari used to set his stepfather on fire.