New Forest vet Alberto Fioletti brutally killed girlfriend

Alberto Fioletti, 31, was found guilty of murdering Stephanie Hodgkinson by a jury at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Fioletti fatally stabbed Stephanie, 34, at her Bournemouth home after she broke up with him.

He then called the ambulance service and told a call handler he had ‘killed his girlfriend’, and that he had ‘tried to kill himself’ too.

Emergency services raced to the Alum Chine area and found Stephanie dead at her property.

A post-mortem determined her cause of death to be seven stab wounds to her chest which severely injured her heart and lungs.

Fioletti also stabbed himself in the stomach after the killing, injuring himself so badly that his intestines were left hanging out.

The defendant was arrested and later charged with Stephanie’s murder.

Stephanie Hodgkinson (Image: Dorset Police)

During his police interview, Fioletti told DC Kim Blackmore he was “completely out of control” and did not remember stabbing her on May 12.

He claimed he only realised Stephanie had been fatally injured after seeing her “lying on the floor” and “bleeding”.

Fioletti admitted a charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but denied murder.

The defendant faced a four-week-long trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.

His defence argued that his mental health issues played a significant factor when he stabbed his former partner.

Stephanie was murdered in her Bournemouth home (Image: Daily Echo)

Prosecutors disagreed, and said that the defendant stabbed Stephanie because she had ‘the courage’ to end their relationship of seven months.

According to prosecutor Steven Perian, Fioletti wanted to give the relationship another go and “couldn’t handle the rejection”.

On Friday, December 8, the jury returned with a majority guilty verdict after 20 hours and ten minutes of deliberation.

Detective inspector Mark Jenkins, of MCIT, said: “This was an incredibly sad incident where Stephanie, a young mother of two, lost her life during a brutal and violent attack by a man she had only known for a short time, but that she trusted.

“I can only imagine the devastation his actions have caused to Stephanie’s young children, her parents, family and friends who have suffered immeasurable loss.

“My thoughts and those of the whole investigation team remain with them at this extremely difficult time. My hope is that the outcome today brings some small comfort that justice has been served.”