Italian mother Veronica Panarello has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after murdering her own son.

According to Rai News, the 28-year-old woman strangled 8-year-old Loris Stival in November 2014 before abandoning his body in a pit near the family home. The child's body was found by a hunter in the small town of Santa Croce Camerina, south-east Sicily. He suffered severe wounds. Initially the mother reported that her son had not returned home from school that day and that he must have been playing with electrical cables himself. Throughout the investigations she maintained her innocence and at one point turned investigators to the boys grandfather Andrea Stival. Andrea and Veronica were having an affair and Veronica suggested that Andrea had killed the boy as a cover up. Veronica cried as Judge handed down the guilty verdict, calling her "Selfish, dishonest and manipulative.” She now also faces charges of slander against her father-in-law. Defense laywer Francesco Villardita announced his clients intention to appeal the conviction. Prosecutor Marco Rota said: "There is no 'satisfaction' with the sentence, but the knowledge of having done our duty," according to Rai.