Former Roommate Allegedly Kills Croupier at Grosvenor Casino from Envy
A dealer from Italy, working in the UK, is suspected to have murdered a colleague and his fiancée out of jealousy, according to a previous roommate.
Andrea Cardinale, aged 22, is accused of brutally killing Antonio "Nino" Calabro, 26, and Francesca Di Dio with a knife and a sledgehammer weeks before Christmas in 2022. Cardinale and Calabro were close friends and had met at dealer school in their native Sicily. They decided to work together at the Grosvenor Casino in Stockton-on-Tees and shared an apartment.
However, a former colleague who also lived with the two men revealed there were some issues in their friendship. "The ladies adored Nino's big personality," the former roommate revealed anonymously. "But Andrea was shy and had difficulty in social situations. There was a lot of jealousy there. Nino was popular, and he had a girlfriend. His family often sent him food and coffee. Andrea didn't like English food."
The source also mentioned that Cardinale had been let go from the casino earlier in 2022 due to his unusual behavior.
On the night of the killing, Cardinale stormed into Calabro's room while his friend and his fiancée slept. Cardinale violently attacked Calabro with a sledgehammer and a knife. Di Dio, who was visiting from Sicily for Christmas, woke up and escaped to the upstairs room, but was lured back and killed with the sledgehammer, as per prosecution claims. After the crime, Cardinale went to a gas station and purchased fuel to set the property on fire, but never ignited it.
The victims' bodies were found by Cardinale's father the following day. He had flown to England, worried about his son's bizarre behavior and was staying in a nearby hotel.
Medical experts concluded that Cardinale was suffering from severe schizophrenia at the time of the murders. His mental health was so compromised that "his culpability for the killing was minimal," the court heard in October.
Cardinale confessed to killing Calabro and Di Dio and pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility. He was placed in a psychiatric hospital and will only be released when psychiatrists confirm that he no longer poses a danger to the public.
His former roommate, on the other hand, feels Cardinale was fortunate. "My girlfriend says she saved my life," he said. "If I hadn't started dating her, I would never have moved out of that flat."
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Source: www.casino.org
