Stabbed U.S. Student in Rome “Awake, Talking”

A 19-year-old American student allegedly stabbed by a friend after a night of partying in Rome is awake and talking, officials said Saturday, NBC News reported. Fabio Malpeso, 19, a New Jersey-born student at John Cabot University, an American college in the Italian capital, underwent surgery for stab wounds to his lungs and other parts of his body. Malpeso is "doing much better and is awake and has already spoken to his parents and sibling,” Police Chief Lorenzo Suraci told NBC News. “Doctors are more confident on his recovery now." The accused attacker was identified as Alexander Shepis Reid, 20, also a student at John Cabot, Italian police said. The incident took place early Thursday morning after Malpeso, Reid, Malpeso’s sister, Federica and her boyfriend, Andrea Rinaldi, returned to an apartment overlooking Rome’s famous Colosseum after a night of partying, police said. The motive of the attack is still unclear but police suspect that "drug- and alcohol-related delirium" played a role. Thursday marked the fifth anniversary of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in the Italian city of Perugia, which led to the arrest, trial and eventual acquittal of American student Amanda Knox.

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