Saverio Bellante, 34, appeared in a Dublin court on Monday morning, accused of murdering 39-year-old Tom O’Gorman.

The victim was stabbed to death and beaten over the head with a dumbbell on Sunday after the pair got into an argument over a game of chess, the Irish Independent reported.

According to local press reports, Bellante then confessed to police by phone and told authorities that he had eaten his landlord’s heart. A source told the Irish Independent that O’Gorman’s heart was found intact, but that one of the man’s lungs was missing.

READ MORE: Italian man due in court over Irish 'chess murder'

When contacted by The Local, police and court authorities in Dublin were unable to confirm the details of the crime.

Bellante, originally from the Sicilian capital Palermo, was working for Allergan pharmaceutical company before his arrest in Dublin. He was described as being a “serious and coherent person” by a former school friend.

“I have known [Bellante] since I was a boy and he was always a person most serious and coherent with everyone. I am unable to imagine what is being said,” Simone Scelta said in a Facebook post. “I am destroyed with pain,” he added.

Bellante is being held in police custody, while the murder trial is not likely to take place for another year, a spokesman for the Dublin court told The Local.

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