The body of Denisa Maria Adas Paun, 30, was discovered on Wednesday, June 4, in a suitcase near an abandoned farmhouse in Montecatini Terme, Italy, three weeks after she disappeared from the Tuscan town of Prato. The Romanian national had been decapitated, with her head found burned in a field several miles away from where her body was located.
Vasile Frumuzache, 32, a Romanian-born security guard and married father of two, has been arrested and charged with murder and concealment of a corpse. According to prosecutors, Frumuzache confessed to the crime, stating, “She was blackmailing me, that’s why I killed her.”
Paun, who worked as an escort, disappeared on May 15 from Prato, where she had traveled from Rome for work. She last spoke to her mother between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on May 16, telling her she was calm and would return home on Saturday. Shortly after the call, both of her mobile phones were switched off, which her family found suspicious.
In the days before her disappearance, Paun had expressed fears for her safety to friends, telling them she was afraid of being killed. Her case initially attracted national attention in Italy, with some speculating she may have been abducted by criminal gangs after traveling from Rome to Tuscany.
Investigators used hotel security footage and GPS tracking data to piece together the events of May 15. The footage shows Frumuzache arriving at Paun’s hotel at 10:50 p.m. carrying a black bag. He remained inside for over two hours before leaving around 1 a.m. with a white suitcase that belonged to Paun, which he loaded into his Volkswagen Golf.
According to Frumuzache’s confession to authorities, he met Paun through a dating app and visited her hotel room on the night she was murdered. After they had sexual relations, he told police that Paun threatened to contact his wife unless he paid her 10,000 euros, equivalent to approximately $11,450. He claimed she was able to reach his wife and was blackmailing him for money.
Frumuzache told investigators he strangled Paun in hotel room 101, then decapitated her with a knife. He placed her body in a garbage bag, stuffed the remains in her suitcase, and drove to the secluded farmhouse location. The following day, he set fire to her head in a garden using gasoline.
Police were able to track Frumuzache’s movements after Paun’s disappearance using GPS technology installed in his car by his insurance company. This tracking led investigators to the abandoned farmhouse on Wednesday morning, where they discovered Paun’s headless body along with the white suitcase. The location of her burned head was only revealed after Frumuzache disclosed its whereabouts during police questioning.
The investigation initially treated Paun’s case as a possible voluntary disappearance, as her phones, purse, car keys, two suitcases, and a blanket she never traveled without were all missing from her hotel room. However, suspicious details emerged, including the fact that her room was found unlocked from the inside and a pair of high heels was discovered on top of a wardrobe, despite Paun being only 5 feet 2 inches tall and unable to reach that height.
Paun’s red Fiat Cinquecento was found in a parking area near the accommodation she had booked for the night. Her makeup bag was left behind in the room, which those close to her said she would never have traveled without. Her mother, Maria Christina, with whom she lived in Rome’s Torpignattara neighborhood, reported her missing after becoming concerned about her daughter’s uncharacteristic silence.
The case has attracted significant media attention throughout Italy, with prosecutors Luca Tescaroli leading the investigation alongside the Carabinieri of Florence and Prato. Investigators believe Paun was suffocated, though a post-mortem examination is expected to confirm the exact cause of death. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the relationship between Frumuzache and Paun may have been more complex than initially thought.
Frumuzache later confessed to the 2024 murder of Ana Maria Andrei, another Romanian sex worker, whose remains were found after his disclosure.
Frumuzache was assaulted in prison by a relative of Ana Maria Andrei. Frumuzache had admitted to this crime during questioning the previous day. According to the Prato prosecutor’s office, the attack involved boiling oil being thrown in his face.
In both instances, the killer displayed extreme brutality and cruelty, taking extensive measures to conceal the bodies of the two women and ensure they would not be discovered.
The Prato prosecutor’s office has launched a broad investigation into missing women in every city where the 32-year-old once lived. Investigators cannot rule out the possibility that there may be additional victims—other women potentially killed, possibly connected to prostitution or marginalized communities.