Angelo Cottarelli, 56, was still alive when he was found, but with his throat cut almost to the point of decapitation, in the basement of his home in Brescia, northern Italy, on Monday. Police also found the bodies of his wife, 41, and his son, 17, who had been shot twice in the head as well as having their throats cut.

Investigators, who have spent the past two days combing the house for clues, have established that Signor Cottarelli was forced to watch his family being murdered. They believe it was an “exemplary killing” by a crime syndicate keen to advertise its ruthlessness.

“This was a settling of accounts,” Gaetano Chiusolo, a local police chief, said. “It is organised crime.”

Signor Cottarelli died soon after being found. He managed to say “I know who did it”, but those were his last words.

Three men in jackets and ties were seen arriving at Signor Cottarelli’s home at about 8am. They were carrying briefcases, said a neighbour, who told investigators that the visitors looked like businessmen.

It appears that the briefcases contained knives, .22 calibre pistols, rubber gloves, rubber cords to bind their victims and overalls to protect their clothing.

The motive for the killings is still unclear but police are looking closely at Signor Cottarelli’s recent business dealings and his alleged links to organised crime in southern Calabria. Searches have been carried out at the homes of suspected members of the ’Ndrangheta, the Calabrian Mafia.

Signor Cottarelli had a taste for champagne, nightlife and the badges of success. There were two Mercedes in his garage and a BMW parked outside the smart villa he bought seven years ago with cash. Police had suspected for some time that his wealth did not all come from his small real estate business and interests in two nightclubs.

He was under investigation for allegedly acting as the financial manager for an ’Ndrangheta clan which smuggled young girls from Eastern Europe to work in nightclubs.

In a recent phone conversation recorded by police, he said: “I’m scared. I’ve trodden on the toes of some powerful people that could make me pay.”

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