In a case that has shocked a nation famous for its close family ties, the two teens are being held in a child detention centre over the slaying of Salvatore Vincelli and Nunzia Di Gianni.
The restaurant owners in the little village of Pontelangarino near Ferrara in northeastern Italy were hacked to death in their bed at the family home on Monday evening.
Manuel admitted that he applied the fatal blows, striking Salvatore three times and his wife six times with an axe used to chop firewood.
"She didn't want to die," the 17-year-old reportedly testified while his younger buddy told police: "I wanted them dead but I could not do it myself. They were my mamma and papa."
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The teens initially claimed to have spent Monday night at Manuel's home but their alibi fell apart under interrogation and they made confessions on Wednesday.
Investigators were quoted as having been struck by the young men's relative detachment from the gruesome act they had perpetrated.
"They recounted it as if it was a video game," one was quoted as saying by La Stampa.
Both boys spent hours every night locked in their bedrooms playing on their PlayStation or Xbox consoles, according to friends and family.
Manuel regularly skipped school as a result of his all- night screen sessions. Riccardo attended more regularly but his poor marks led to frequent family fights.
Both Manuel's parents, while admitting that he lived an isolated life, have said he could not have carried out the killings without being under the influence of narcotics.
"He must have taken something because no human being can kill like that in cold blood," his mother told Corriere della Sera.
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