Italy Makes Arrest in American Expat's Murder

Police in Italy say they have made an arrest in the murder of American expatriate Ashley Ann Olsen—and there doesn't appear to be any link to her unsettling Instagram posts. Authorities in Florence announced early Thursday that Tidiane Cheik Diaw, a 25-year-old man from Senegal, was arrested on the basis of DNA evidence found under Olsen's fingernails and on a cigarette butt and a used condom in her apartment, the AP reports. Olsen, 35, was found dead in her Florence apartment on Saturday.

Florence prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo says that based on CCTV footage and other evidence, it appears that Olsen met Diaw for the first time at a nightclub last Friday and they went to her apartment, NBC News reports. He says that after they had what evidence suggests was consensual sex, Diaw apparently "slammed her head against something twice," fracturing her skull, and then strangled her. "We don't believe it was a sex game gone wrong," he says. Creazzo adds that Diaw, who arrived in Italy illegally a few months ago, is also connected to the murder by Olsen's phone, which he apparently stole and used with his own SIM card, the AP reports. (More Italy stories.)