The family of Celeste Manno, who was found dead in her home, claim she was being harassed online by an obsessed former co-worker.
Celeste Manno’s devastated family claim a former co-worker was infatuated with her and sent her disturbing messages before her death.
Her brother Alessandro said the 23-year-old, who was found dead at her home in Mernda, to the city’s northeast, about 4.10am on Monday, was harassed online for months by the man.
Mr Manno said the man previously worked at the same call centre she did.
“She wasn’t close with him at all but just to give him some support she just walked him out the door and ever since that day he’s just been obsessed with her and harassing her over social media for months and months with vulgar and disgusting messages,” he told reporters today.
A 35-year-old man, believed to be known to Ms Manno, was arrested and taken to hospital where he remains under police guard. No charges have been laid.
Alessandro said the man had created multiple social media accounts after Ms Manno blocked him.
“It started at the start of the year, contacting her on Instagram … At first, she was nice to him and said she was not interested, and then he kept getting obsessive and eventually she had to block him and he created about a million other accounts,” he said.
“I hope justice does get served.”
Alessandro said his sister had gone to police with her concerns.
Ms Manno’s father said the system had let her down.
“It’s got to be changed,” he said, as mourners continued to lay bouquets of flowers outside on the nature strip of the house.
“Too many of these scenarios have happened. What’s is going to take for the government to listen?”
Police said the exact circumstances surrounding the incident were yet to be determined, and the investigation was continuing.
It’s understood Ms Manno was at home with her mother when an intruder allegedly broke in, smashing her bedroom window and stabbing her, before fleeing by climbing a side fence.
It’s not known how the intruder got the address.
Her older brother Jayden said his sister’s death was “harrowing”.
“Such a senseless, unfathomable, act that should never happen to our family, not to anyone’s family,” he said.
Jayden described the university graduate, who was preparing to celebrate her 24th birthday, as the “most intelligent one of all of us”.
“She was loved by everybody,” he said.
“There wasn’t a soul on this earth who could ever say a bad thing she touched.”
Alessandro said he had never been more than two days apart from her.
“I feel like she‘s going to come home from work any minute and I don’t know how we’re going to get through it, especially with my mum, my dad, everyone close to us,” he said.
CCTV footage captured nearby the incident showed a car believed to have been driven by the intruder leaving the street moments before emergency services arrived on Monday morning.
A blue Peugeot 207 was being forensically examined by police outside Mernda police station on Monday.
