Moldovan dancer admits affair with Costa Concordia captain

GROSSETO, Italy, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A Moldovan dancer who once defended ex-Capt. Francesco Schettino in the Costa Concordia disaster admitted in an Italian court she and the captain had an affair.

Domnica Cemortan, 26, admitted she was Schettino's lover and was an unregistered passenger aboard the luxury liner when it crashed off Italy's Tuscan coast Jan. 13, killing 32 people, Adnkronos International reported.

"When you are someone's lover, they don't ask you for a ticket," she said.

On the night of the shipwreck, Cemortan said she was dining with the captain and later was invited to the bridge.

Schettino is on trial in the Tuscan city of Grosseto on dereliction of duty and multiple manslaughter charges.

"I have died a second time. Enough now. I want to begin a new life," Cemortan told reporters after she left the theater that is serving as a courtroom.

Schettino is the only person standing trial over the disaster, ANSA reported. Other defendants reached plea agreements with prosecutors.