Murder of Ashley Ann Olsen

Ashley Ann Olsen was an American woman living in Florence, Italy, who was strangled in her apartment in January 2016 by an illegal immigrant from Senegal.

Context

The case drew attention as one of a number of murders committed by migrants during the European migrant crisis.{{cite news|last1=Bever|first1=zlindsey|title=African immigrant says he fought with U.S. woman in Italy but 'she was still alive'|newspaper=Washington Post|date=14 January 2016|id={{ProQuest|1757195900}}}} According to the New York Times, the New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany "resonated in Italy", and the police chief of Florence addressed safety worries, "assuring the public that Florence remained safe" in the wake of the Olsen murder."

=Sexual harassment=

Olsen's murder was discussed as an example of the sexual harassment that women, especially young, foreign women, face in Italian cities, and of the victim blaming of young, attractive female murder victims for their own deaths.{{cite news|last1=Grisafi|first1=Patricia|title=The myth of the good victim: As an American facing street harassment abroad, I wondered what it meant to be a "good victim"|url=http://www.salon.com/2016/03/25/the_myth_of_the_good_victim_as_an_american_facing_street_harassment_abroad_i_wondered_what_it_meant_to_be_a_good_victim/|accessdate=8 January 2017|work=Salon.com|date=25 March 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Nadeau|first1=Barbie Latza|title=Ashley Olsen Didn't Deserve to Die, No Matter How Hard She Partied|publisher=Daily Beast|date=15 January 2016|id={{ProQuest|1779933235}}}}

Olsen was killed at a time of rising public concern about miscommunication regarding consent to sexual activity between migrant men and European women, and international attention was focused on the New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany that took place in a number of cities just days before Olsen was killed. In January, Denmark debated a proposal to ban anyone who could not speak Danish, German or English from entering a bar or nightclub, and news discussion of the proposal included the Ashley Ann Olsen case.{{cite news|last1=Nadeu|first1=Barbie Latza|title=Denmark Bounces Migrants From Nightclubs|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/20/denmark-bounces-migrants-from-nightclubs.html|accessdate=12 February 2016|publisher=Daily Beast|date=20 January 2016}}

Victim

Olsen was the daughter of Walter and Paula Olsen, of Summer Haven, Florida.{{cite news|last1=Kirchgaessner|first1=Stephanie|title=Ashley Olsen's family defend murdered artist's character from 'offensive' media|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/09/ashley-olsens-family-defend-murdered-artists-character-from-offensive-media|accessdate=10 February 2016|work=The Guardian|date=9 February 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Pianigiani|first1=Gaia|title=Italy Arrests Suspect in Death of American Woman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/world/europe/ashley-ann-olsen-italy-arrest.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=5&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F01%2F15%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fashley-ann-olsen-italy-arrest.html&eventName=Watching-article-click|accessdate=15 January 2016|work=New York Times|date=14 January 2015}}{{cite news|title=St. Johns County artist murdered in Italy|url=http://www.news4jax.com/news/international/artist-from-summer-haven-found-murdered-in-italy|accessdate=10 February 2016|agency=AP|publisher=News 4|date=10 January 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Lombardi|first1=Pietro|title=Ashley Olsen death: Family defend slain artist from 'offensive' media coverage|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/10/europe/ashley-olsen-family-letter/index.html|accessdate=10 February 2016|publisher=CNN|date=10 February 2016}} She was a 1999 graduate of St. Joseph Academy. She moved to Florence in 2014 after the breakup of her marriage to South African diver Grant Jankielsohn,{{cite news|last1=Nadeau|first1=Barbie Natza|title=An 'Eat, Pray, Love' Story Ends in Murder|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/12/an-eat-pray-love-story-ends-in-murder.html|accessdate=5 February 2016|publisher=Daily Beast|date=13 January 2016}} and with the intention of studying art and in order to live near her father, who teaches at an American school in Florence.{{cite news|last1=Scamell|first1=Rosie|title=Italian police open murder inquiry into death of American woman|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/10/italian-police-murder-inquiry-ashley-ann-olsen-florence|accessdate=15 January 2016|work=The Guardian|date=10 January 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Passanese|first1=Antonio|title=[Esplora il significato del termine: Ashley, lo sfogo della famiglia "Quante falsità su di lei"] Ashley, lo sfogo della famiglia "Quante falsità su di lei"|url=http://corrierefiorentino.corriere.it/firenze/notizie/cronaca/16_febbraio_09/ashley-sfogo-familiari-quante-falsita-di-lei-320b6d86-cf09-11e5-88f1-516feb7879b3.shtml?refresh_ce-cp|accessdate=11 February 2016|publisher=Corriere della Sera|date=9 February 2016}} She was living in an apartment in the Oltrarno neighborhood of Florence when she was murdered.{{cite news|last1=Capecchi|first1=Michelle|title=Remembering Ashley Olsen one year on|url=http://www.theflorentine.net/news/2017/01/remembering-ashley-olsen-anniversary-death/|accessdate=8 January 2017|publisher=The Florentine|date=8 January 2017}}

Murder, investigation and trial

Olsen, 35, was found dead in her apartment in the Santo Spirito neighborhood of Florence by her boyfriend, Florentine artist Federico Fiorentini, on 9 January 2016.{{cite news|last1=Vogt|first1=Andrea|title=Italian police search for killer after American socialite found strangled in her Florence apartment|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/12091643/Italian-police-search-for-killer-after-American-socialite-found-strangled-in-her-Florence-apartment.html|accessdate=15 January 2016|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 January 2016}} Marks on her neck indicated that she had been strangled to death.{{cite news|last1=Piangianini|first1=Gaia|title=Italy: American Woman Found Dead|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/world/europe/italy-american-woman-found-dead.html|accessdate=15 January 2016|work=New York Times|date=11 January 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Faris|first1=Stephan|title=Online Life of American Murdered in Italy Spurs Theories About Her Death|url=https://time.com/4175876/italy-murder-ashley-olsen-florence/|access-date=11 February 2016|publisher=Time|date=11 January 2016}}

Cheik Tidiane Diaw, a 27-year-old Senegalese national who had recently entered Italy as an illegal immigrant, was arrested for the crime. Witnesses saw the two leave a nightclub in Florence together on 7 January. Security cameras in the street recorded them walking to Olsen's apartment in the early hours of 8 January. After identifying Diaw using security camera footage, police called him in for questioning, arresting him based on DNA evidence.{{cite news|last1=Kington|first1=Tom|title=Ashley Olsen: DNA ruse trapped socialite's 'killer'|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/dna-ruse-trapped-socialites-killer/news-story/8c886fa44a6d0115a12cde13308474c6|accessdate=10 February 2016|publisher=The Australian|date=15 January 2016}} Diaw's attorney, Antonio Voce, said that Diaw and Olsen had consumed cocaine and alcohol.{{cite news|last1=Nadeau|first1=Barbie Latza|title=Ashley Olsen Didn't Deserve to Die|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/15/ashley-olsen-didn-t-deserve-to-die-no-matter-how-hard-she-partied.html|accessdate=12 February 2016|publisher=Daily Beast|date=15 January 2016}}

The lead investigator on the case, Giacinto Profazio, was involved in the Meredith Kercher murder case, a case with which Olsen's murder is frequently compared.{{cite news|last1=Squires|first1=Nick|title=Italian police arrest illegal immigrant over murder of American woman in Florence|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/12097235/Italian-police-reportedly-arrest-man-over-murder-of-American-woman-in-Florence.html|accessdate=10 February 2016|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=14 January 2015}}

On 9 February, reexamination of security tapes by authorities showed that suspect Diaw had returned to the apartment on the night of the murder and spent a period of time inside after his first departure from it.{{cite news|last1=Seranno|first1=Luca|title=Omicidio Ashley, nuove immagini di Cheik che lascia l'appartamento della donna|url=http://firenze.repubblica.it/cronaca/2016/02/09/news/omicidio_ashley_nuove_immagini_di_cheik_che_lascia_l_appartamento_della_donna-133064920/|accessdate=11 February 2016|publisher=La Repubblica|date=9 February 2016}}

Prosecutors asked for a life sentence, the highest penalty available in Italy.{{cite news|title=Life sentence sought in murder of American woman in Italy|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/life-sentence-sought-in-murder-of-american-woman-in-italy/|access-date=8 January 2017|agency=AP|publisher=Fox News|date=19 December 2016}}{{cite news|last1=McKenna|first1=Josephine|title=Ashley Olsen murder: man jailed for 30 years over death of US socialite in Italy|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/22/ashley-olsen-murder-man-jailed-30-years-death-us-socialite-italy/|accessdate=8 January 2017|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=22 December 2016}}

=Perpetrator=

The murderer, Cheik Diaw, is an immigrant who crossed the border illegally from Senegal and who arrived in Italy in 2015.cite news|title=Senegalese man arrested in Ashley Olsen murder case|url=http://www.dw.com/en/senegalese-man-arrested-in-ashley-olsen-murder-case/a-18977783|accessdate=10 February 2016|agency=Reuters, AP, AFP|publisher=DW|date=14 January 2016{{cite news|last1=Scammell|first1=Rosie|title=Ashley Olsen: art community in shock over American's murder in Florence|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/14/ashley-olsen-man-held-suspicion-murder-florence|accessdate=10 February 2016|work=The Guardian|date=14 January 2016}} According to the prosecutor, DNA analysis of a cigarette butt and a condom found by police investigators in Olsen's bathroom led to Diaw's arrest.

Diaw was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.{{cite news|last1=Piangiani|first1=Gaia|title=Italian Court Sentences American's Killer to 30-Year Term|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/world/europe/italy-florence-ashley-ann-olsen.html?_r=0|accessdate=8 January 2017|work=New York Times|date=22 December 2016}}

Attorneys acting for the perpetrator appealed the verdict, but the original 30-year prison sentence was upheld in January 2018.{{cite news |title=Omicidio di Ashley Olsen, confermata la condanna a 30 anni per Diaw |url=https://www.lanazione.it/firenze/cronaca/processo-ashley-olsen-30-anni-1.3655495 |accessdate=19 June 2018 |publisher=La Nazione |date=10 January 2018}}

References

External links

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/italy-arrests-african-migrant-over-murder-of-us-woman/2016/01/14/6e5bb076-bac7-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_video.html Washington Post broadcast of prosecutor announcing arrest of Diaw]
[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/world/europe/ashley-ann-olsen-italy-arrest.html?_r=0 New York Times online broadcast of arrest announcement]

Category:2016 murders in Italy

Category:Deaths by person in Italy

Category:Violence against women in Italy

Category:Incidents of violence against women

Category:Italy–United States relations

Category:January 2016 crimes in Europe

Category:January 2016 in Italy

Category:Murder in Italy