Dhaka, June 27 -- A year before the killing of three members of a family from Noakhali's Companiganj Upazila in the Italian capital of Rome, relatives say their village home received a death threat from a gang of robbers.

The letter demanded gold ornaments and money from the family, saying if the demands were not met, they would kill the expatriate son and grandson of the patriarch and torture the women. The family had reported the matter to the local police.

The brutal killings in Rome have not only shaken the family, but also the entire expatriate community, said Companiganj Upazila administrator (UNO) Md Masudur Rahman.

The killings took place late on Friday night inside a residential flat on Via Montilio Road, near Pineta Sacchetti...