Man on trial for ex-girlfriend's murder smiled and denied it before admitting he choked her, court hears

Olivia Kelleher

A Brazilian man charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend smiled and told her cousin who arrived at the scene that “it wasn’t me” before then stating that he had choked her, a murder trial has heard.

Miller Pacheco (31) of Formiga in Minas Gerais in Brazil is on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork, having pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bruna Fonseca (28) at Liberty Street in Cork on January 1st, 2023.

The trial has heard that Bruna, who was a college graduate and librarian, had arrived in Ireland from Brazil in September 2022 in pursuit of a “better life.”

Her then boyfriend Miller Pacheco moved in November of 2022. However, the couple broke up within days of his arrival in Cork.

Marcela Fonseca, who is a first cousin of the deceased, has lived in Ireland since 2018.

She indicated that she was contacted on her phone by a friend of the accused in Brazil called Pedro at around 6am on New Year’s Day 2023. Pedro had been in contact with the accused and informed her that Bruna may have been killed.

Marcela said that she was “scared” and contacted her friend Juliana Souza. The friends went to the house in which the accused was living in Liberty Street in the city centre. She noticed that Miller was standing at the front door with what looked like a pillow case in his hand.

“I said ‘where is my cousin?’ I asked if he had killed her and he smiled said ‘It wasn’t me.” I asked him ‘if you killed my cousin how you killed my cousin.’

He said, ‘‘I choked her.” I tried to get in to the house to see my cousin. But he had locked the door (of the room). I kicked the door saying ‘Bruna, Bruna.” Juliana (her friend) called the garda.”

Ms Fonseca also told the jury of seven women and five men that she was the person who identified Bruna in the morgue on New Year’s Day in 2023.

Ms Fonseca agreed with a statement put to her by defence senior counsel Ray Boland that the breakup between Miller and Bruna was “one sided.”

She also agreed when his assertion that Bruna had been trying to arrange for Miller to go back home to Brazil following the breakup and that her cousin had concerned he might try to self harm.

Ms Fonseca said that she had briefly called to the room in Liberty Street on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve. She stated that the accused and Bruna had been crying and had “red eyes.”

Marcella left the apartment to go to a nearby Tesco shopping centre. The trial heard that whilst she was in the supermarket she received a message from Bruna which read “Miller has a knife in his bag — but it is not for me it is for himself.” Her follow up text read : “It is okay — the knife is with me.”

Mr Boland put it to Ms Fonseca that her exchange with the accused outside the door on the morning of January 1st, 2023, was in Portuguese.

He suggested the word used might have been the Portuguese word for “suffocated” rather than “choked.” Ms Fonseca said that that words were similar.

Mr Boland said his instructions were that his client was not smiling but was was “in shock” at the scene.

Meanwhie, evidence was also given by Juliana Souza who said that she arrived at the house in Liberty Street shortly after 6am on January 1st, 2023. She said that Mr Pacheco was standing outside the property holding what looked like a white sheet in the his hand.

Ms Souza said that they managed to get in to the hallway of the flats. Despite kicking at the flat door where Bruna was they could not get inside. She said when they went back outside the accused was still standing there. Howver, the fabric was no longer in his hands.

Evidence was also given by a woman who was renting a room in the Liberty Street complex at the time. Cristina Martinescu, who is Romanian, said that she woke at around 5am on New Year’s Day 2023 after she heard a scream.

Ms Martinescu thought it was the scream of a female but her then boyfriend Lucan Leon felt that it could have been the sound of an animal.

Mr Leon, who is a Brazilian national, said that they had heard “steps and screaming.” He felt that it could have been “an animal running upstairs.” He said that the noise was over within a minute or two.

About a hour later they heard an exchange between two women and a man in his native tongue of Portuguese. Mr Leon said that a female voice stated : “You killed her — you are a murderer.” The trial continues. It is expected to last up to three weeks.

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