Massimo Bottura, 19, was arrested on Tuesday over the murder of his 48-year-old uncle Fausto Bottura.

The Italian teenager has since claimed that he attacked his uncle “to teach him a lesson” and had no intention of killing the man, Ansa reported.

Fausto Bottura died on the night of December 3rd after being hit over the head with a metal baseball bat in Mantua, northern Italy, before his body was dumped in the river Po.

His nephew was arrested along with two friends, 19-year-old Armando Esposito and Alessio Magnani, 18, after the body was discovered four days later.

Massimo Bottura reportedly told his lawyer that the three were hanging out in a garage when his uncle returned home and parked in a different garage close by.

Seeing the men Fausto Bottura was said to have shouted at them to go home, at which point they decided to attack him. The trio allegedly hit him and left him on the ground before going back to the garage to smoke a joint.

The victim’s nephew has not revealed who swung the baseball bat. He said they assumed his uncle, who was disabled, would get back up but returned later and found him lying dead on the ground.

The three are being held for premeditated murder and concealing the man’s body, Ansa reported.