The Italian authorities have arrested Cheikh Tidiane Diaw, the suspect who killed American artist Ashley Olsen in Florence, at his home on Wednesday night. According to chief prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo, a "decisive" DNA evidence connected to the murder case led to the capture of Diaw, who was an illegal immigrant from Senegal.

Olsen was found dead in her apartment on Saturday, Jan. 9, after her Italian boyfriend asked the victim's landlord, Claudia Colivicchi, to open the apartment for him because he was unable to reach her. According to CNN, Olsen's naked body was found on a bed in a mezzanine loft of the studio apartment. The authorities said Olsen was strangled and but the two cranial fractures found could have killed her.

Based on the street-mounted security cameras and witnesses' reports, 27-year-old Diaw and 35-year-old Olsen had left the Montecarla nightclub in Florence in the wee hours of Jan. 8 and went to her home.

During the questioning, Diaw claimed that he and the victim had consensual sex, were drunk and had been high on cocaine. The suspect's lawyer, Antonio Voce, added that Diaw denied strangling the victim, saying he never intended to kill her and left her alive on her bed.

Diaw, however, told the investigators that they had fought when she tried to push him out of the apartment over fears her boyfriend would catch them. After being pushed against the door, Diaw punched Olsen in the neck and then pushed her to the ground, where she hit her head. The suspect then helped her to the bed and left, Chicago Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, the Italian authorities detained Diaw after the DNA evidence connected to the suspect was found in a used condom and on a cigarette butt spotted in Olsen's toilet. The biological samples taken from the victim's fingernails also belonged to Diaw.

"We have collected very serious evidence of his guilt," Creazzo said, as per Us Weekly.

Creazzo also added the investigation continues but that no other suspects were at the scene of the crime.

Olsen was originally from Summer Haven, Florida. She was living in Florence, where her father, an architect, works at an art school. On Monday, her father was seen with friends outside her building, leaving flowers.

"The police haven't really said anything yet. My son is waiting for the police to share more," Olsen's grandmother Ann Olsen said.

Ashely Olsen was an American artist who had lived in the city for three years. When her body was found, her well-trained pet beagle, Scout, was seen pacing the studio loft space. Meanwhile, her family members gathered at the chapel of the morgue where her body was being held late Thursday. And a funeral was scheduled at the Santo Spirito church in Florence's Oltrarno neighborhood on Friday afternoon.