Former Rugby League Star Ricky Bibey Found Dead In Hotel Room Alongside Gravely Injured Woman

Former rugby league star Ricky Bibey was found dead in a 350 pounds ($418.09) per night hotel in Florence, Italy Saturday morning.

The 40-year-old, who retired from the game in 2012, made 215 appearances for five rugby league sides, including three stints at Leigh Centurions, which was his hometown club. According to La Nazione, he was identified by police. He is said to have arrived in the Italian city with a woman on Friday night. They got back at the Hotel Continentale "in high spirits" at 2 a.m. on Saturday.

While he was found dead, the woman is said to have been found bruised and bloodied before being taken to a hospital. She is said to be in a stable, but serious condition. A source told Daily Mail she is recovering, but is still "sedated so we are waiting for the go ahead from medical staff at the hospital."

The source added that she has not been arrested and it will not be a formal questioning, but it's "more a question of trying to understand what happened in the room." An autopsy on Bibey will "establish levels of alcohol and if any drugs were present but at this moment all we know for certain is that no third party was involved," said the insider.

The exact cause of Bibey’s death is yet to be announced, and prosecutor Ester Nocera has requested the results of the autopsy along with the alcoholic, histological and toxicological testing findings.

A source at the hotel said that noises had been heard coming from the room and then a "chamber maid saw the woman emerge half naked, with blood on her and screaming for help." The source shared that's when the alarm was raised and cops and paramedics "were called. The man was on the floor and despite attempts to save him he was declared dead at the scene."

In a tweet, Bibey's former team, Wakefield Trinity, wrote that they were "saddened to hear of the passing of former prop-forward Ricky Bibey."

Wigan Warriors also tweeted and shared that they were "deeply saddened" after the news of the demise of Bibey, who between 2001 and 2003 played 42 games for the team.

A police source said that the people involved in the incident are both British. Cops were working on two theories -- an "erotic game that went wrong or some sort of domestic argument, but the general direction is that of an erotic game." The source shared that the man was found with a "series of cuts, bruises and other injuries on his body and so was the woman." But she was more seriously hurt and the "man appears to have had some sort of seizure."