Teenage girl murdered in Tuscan hilltop hamlet where Fergie romanced a count and Naomi Campbell stayed

The Tuscan hamlet where Fergie was romanced by her Italian count has been shaken by the brutal murder of a young girl.
The Duchess of York made the hilltop village of Castagneto Carducci her second home when she dated Italian millionaire Count Gaddo della Gherardesca in the 1990s.
His family has presided over the small borgo since Dante’s time.

Murder: The Tuscan hamlet where Fergie was romanced by her Italian count has been shaken by the brutal murder of a young girl

But the normally sleepy hamlet was yesterday in a state of shock after the discovery of the body of nineteen-year-old Ilaria Leone, in a secluded olive grove.
The teen, who lived just a few miles down the road, was found half naked with her trousers and underwear pulled down.
Police suspect ‘a crime of passion’. The teenager, who lived locally, appeared to have been strangled with the killer’s bare hands and her bruised body was covered with marks consistent with a sexual assault.

Past: The Duchess of York made the hilltop village of Castagneto Carducci her second home when she dated Italian millionaire Count Gaddo della Gherardesca in the 1990s

The whole village is said to be ‘traumatised’ by the unprecedented violence.
Fergie loved spending time on the count’s estate and was a frequent visitor to the castle at the borgo’s summit during their five year relationship.
The out-of the-way hamlet, about 80 miles west of Siena, was also popular with the biggest stars of the day including Naomi Campbell and Elle McPherson.
Fergie even hosted the nobleman’s annual Castagneto Day, one of the highlights of the Italian country set’s social calendar, an event which was attended by Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve.

Celebrity haunt: The secluded hamlet, about 80 miles west of Siena, was also popular with the biggest stars of the day including Naomi Campbell, right, and Elle McPherson, left

Until they eventually called the relationship off in 2002, the couple divided their time between the village and his six-bedroom villa in an exclusive section of the Sardinian coast and were photographed passionately kissing on his £500,000 yacht.
On their sojourns they were often accompanied by the young princesess and the Count’s daughter Constanza who is just a year older than Beatrice.
The count always maintained they were no more than good friends, fuelling speculation that she would eventually remarry Andrew.
Restaurants in the village stayed shut yesterday. One restaurant owner told an Italian newspaper: ‘After what has happened I don’t feel like I can work, let alone talk to customers.’
A shopkeeper told La Repubblica: ‘We leave our keys in our doors here, Nothing like this has ever happened before. Now we are frightened.’
Ilaria’s lifeless body was found by a builder on Thursday morning. It appeared to have been dragged into the olive grove.
The 19-year-old, who lived four miles away, on the coast was last seen finishing work at 10pm on Wednesday evening. She had started work in a pizzeria in the hamlet just a few weeks ago.
Her motorino, which she would normally have used traveling to work, was being mended. But on the night she died she mysteriously refused a lift from her brother, saying she would walk. And when friends rang her later that evening to ask her to join them in a local restaurant she said she was busy.
She was passionate about animals and planned to become a cook like her mother. She was already popular with co-workers who described her as ‘sunny’, ‘always happy and smiling, innocent.’
Friends described her as ‘the best of all of us.’
Police are combing through phone records as they believe she was planning to meet the person who eventually killed her. 
She didn’t have a boyfriend, according to her friends.
One theory is that she may have been killed after rejecting the sexual advances of her killer.
An autopsy was due to take place today.
A Senegalese man is being questioned in connection with the killing. His backpack and bicycle have been confiscated.

DAILYMAIL