ROME — Italian police said they think the husband of porn star Moana Pozzi helped her die 13 years ago so she would not suffer a slow death from cancer.

Prosecutors in Rome opened an investigation into the actress’ death in France, in which her husband, Antonio Di Ciesco, is suspected of euthanasia, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Thursday. The action comes after Di Ciesco told a Rome newspaper he injected air into his wife’s intravenous medicine drip after she asked for help to end her suffering.

Di Ciesco said he was airing the details to stem persistent rumors that Moana was alive.

“It was a decision we took with serenity,” he said, adding it was “the right choice, because there was no other way out, but one which cost me a lot.”

The day after Di Ciesco’s revelations, Pozzi’s former manager Riccardo Schicchi accused him of murdering the 33-year-old actress, saying “she had no intention of asking for euthanasia.”

Rome prosecutors said they want to question Di Ciesco, Schicchi and Pozzi’s mother. They obtained medical records from the French clinic where Pozzi died.

If the account is confirmed, Di Ciesco could be charged with “killing a consenting adult,” police said.