Italian authorities arrest suspect in death of Wisconsin student found in Tiber River
A Wisconsin man whose body was found in Italy’s Tiber River this week is the third American student enrolled at Rome’s John Cabot University to have died tragically in the last few years.
Authorities were investigating whether 19-year-old Beau Solomon of Spring Green, Wis., was robbed and pushed into the river near Garibaldi Bridge in Rome early Friday. Solomon’s credit card reportedly was used after his disappearance. His body was found Monday.
On Tuesday, a man identified as Massimo Galioto, 40, of Rome was taken into custody “seriously suspected of aggravated homicide,” police said.
Solomon, on his arrival in Rome on Thursday for a five-week trip to study abroad, reportedly joined other students at a bar in the Trastevere neighborhood near the university but disappeared after midnight.
“We don’t know if he had been drinking, but tests will reveal that,” a police source who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly said Tuesday.
Preliminary autopsy results indicated that Solomon had suffered injuries consistent with a fall and with days spent in the water, the ANSA news agency reported. The exact cause of death remains to be determined.
Solomon, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was majoring in personal finance and hoped to enter politics.
He survived a rare form of cancer as a child and met his favorite American football player, Brett Favre, in 2005 through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which enables sick children to realize their dreams.
“In our family, he is the one who does it all right. He’s an incredible athlete. He is the one that keeps us all together,” Solomon’s brother Jake told NBC News before the body was found. “He was driven, career-oriented.”
In 2013, Andrew Keith Carr, 21, an Indiana student enrolled in the study abroad program at John Cabot, died when he fell from a parapet 65 feet above the path that runs beside the Tiber, while he pretended to be a tightrope walker.
Last year, Andrew Mogni, 20, a University of Iowa student also signed up at John Cabot, was fatally injured when he fell from the same parapet hours after his arrival in Rome.
In 2014, American student John Durkin, who was not enrolled at John Cabot, died in a railway tunnel near St. Peter’s Basilica when he was hit by a train.
John Cabot, established in 1972, says on its website that its students can partake of “the extraordinarily rich offerings of a city of culture, history, art, creativity, business and international affairs.”
On Tuesday, university President Franco Pavoncello said that he could keep students safe on campus, but that it was up to Italian authorities to keep them safe on the streets.
“Nightlife is nightlife,” he told the Associated Press. “It’s not up to the president of John Cabot University to do an evaluation of the dangers of Rome’s nightlife; it’s up to judicial authorities.”
Kington is a special correspondent.
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UPDATES:
5:22 p.m.: This article has been updated with Times reporting.
10:03 a.m.: This article has been updated with new information from the suspect’s friend.
This article was originally published at 6:01 a.m.
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