An Italian court has ordered the continued detention of two Nigerians over their alleged role in the killing and disposing of the remains of an 18-year-old Roman woman, Pamela Mastropietro.

Desmond Lucky and Lucky Awelima, aged 22 and 27 respectively, were arrested after another 29-year-old Nigerian, Innocent Oseghale, who lived in the flat where the murder is thought to have taken place, was detained.

According to reports, the trio allegedly stabbed Mastropietro to death on January 30th and cut up her body in the apartment in Macerata’s Via Spalato.

A fourth Nigerian is under investigation in relation to the murder but has not been arrested.

After he was charged to court in February, Oseghale had denied the charges. Reports said he pinned the crime on Lucky and Awelima, with sources saying Oseghale appeared “confused and not very clear” during questioning.

Carabinieri forensic police found bloodstained clothes belonging to the victim and other blood traces at Oseghale’s home. They also found a receipt from a nearby pharmacy where the victim had bought a syringe.

Oseghale, who has a record for drugs offences, was pinned down by CCTV footage of the area where the suitcases were dumped, and by a foreign national who said he saw him carrying the suitcases there.

Mastropietro is believed to have been killed on the morning of January 30, police said.