Police say same DNA found in three murders near Florence

Fears that killer active in Tuscan area for as long as 10 years

(ANSA) - Florence, May 7 - DNA from saliva found on tape used to bind victims has been discovered in three separate cases where women were murdered, police in Florence said Wednesday. The most recent case occurred on Monday near Florence, where 26-year-old Romanian prostitute, Andrea Cristina Zamfir, was found dead on the outskirts of the Tuscan capital after being sexually tortured and left to die.

The other cases where DNA was found include an episode in Prato in July 2011 and a killing in February in Calenzano, just outside Florence, said police, who believe the DNA in the saliva came from the killer. Prostitutes in the area have also told police about a particular client who has approached them, describing an erotic game without giving any specifics. In this week's case, police said the victim was probably murdered by a client who immobilised her with an iron bar on her back so as to better torture her.

A year ago, another woman was found in a similar position, with her arms also lashed to an iron bar, but was still alive, police said. The tape used to bind the victims has been identified as the type used in a major regional hospital between 2006 and March 2013. The latest case has raised fears of a second serial killer in the area of the Tuscan city some 30 years after the last of the infamous Monster of Florence murders. Speaking after Monday's murder, police said they thought it was possible that this maniac may have been active for as long as 10 years.

They said there were "six or seven similar cases" to that of Zamfir, including a prostitute who was rescued by police before she died in a nearby spot in March 2013, while another took place outside the city, in a picnic spot where the still-mysterious Monster of Florence in 1981 attacked one of the eight young couples during a 1968-1985 spree. Police said there was a "real possibility that a new serial killer is on the rampage".