Bruno Fernandes, A star Brazilian footballer tortured and killed his mistress then fed her dismembered body to his pet rottweilers, a court is expected to hear today.
Goalkeeper Bruno Fernandes de Souza, 27, who was tipped to play for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup, is accused of murdering model Eliza Samudio to avoid paying child support after she gave birth to his love child.
Police believe Bruno planned her abduction and murder with eight others, including his wife Dayane, another ex-lover, a younger cousin and a former policeman turned hitman Luiz Santos.
The footballer, who played for Brazil's most popular club, Flamengo, is said to have watched as Santos tortured her before helping him chop up her body.
Parts of the woman's corpse are alleged to have been fed to Bruno's dogs, while the rest was buried in concrete.
Bruno, who before his arrest had been linked with a multi-million pound transfer to AC Milan, denies the accusations and claims Ms Samudio left the country. Her body has never been found.
A court in Belo Horizonte, southeast Brazil will hear today how married Bruno met former porn actress Ms Samudio, 25, at a 'footballers' orgy' in May 2009.
Brunette Ms Samudio, who had previously claimed to have had an affair with Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo, fell pregnant after Bruno's condom burst, it is claimed.
The goalkeeper demanded she have an abortion but she went ahead with the pregnancy, instead insisting that he assume paternity of the child.
Before her disappearance on June 4, 2010, Ms Samudio had approached police claiming she had been held captive by Bruno and his associates, who forced her to take an illegal abortion drug.
Bruno allegedly put a gun to her head and told her: 'You don't know who I am or what I'm capable of - I'm from the favela.'
The baby, Bruninho, was born in February 2010, but the player refused to acknowledge he was the father.
Prosecutors will today allege that Bruno ordered Ms Samudio's murder after she told him she would take legal action to force him to pay child support.
In a statement to police, the footballer's teenage cousin claimed he and Bruno's best friend Luiz Romao picked up Ms Samudio and her son from a Rio de Janeiro hotel after she accepted an invitation by the footballer to talk about the paternity claims.
He said they drove her 220 miles to a property in Belo Horizonte which Bruno and his wife used as a weekend retreat, where she was held captive for six days.
Ms Samudio was then handed over to former miliary policeman Santos, who committed 'barbaric tortures' on her before strangling her to death with a neck tie in front of her four-month-old son.
Santos, who was allegedly paid £8,000 to murder her, played loud music on a stereo to drown out the woman's screams, it is claimed.
Edson Moreira, a detective who investigated the case, said: 'His acts were almost impossible to describe without breaking down - images from the worst nightmare you could imagine.'
Prosecutors will claim Ms Samudio died on June 10, 2010 between 9pm and 10pm, and that her corpse was chopped up and taken back to Bruno's property in plastic bags.
There the goalkeeper allegedly fed her body parts to his pet rottweilers.
Police later found Ms Samudio's four-month-old baby in a Belo Horizonte slum, alleged to have been abandoned there by Bruno's wife Dayane. DNA tests later proved the footballer's paternity. The child is now being looked after by Ms Samudio's mother.
Another key witness in the case, another of Bruno's cousins who admitted helping take Ms Samudio to the place where she died, was shot dead in Belo Horizonte in August this year.
Defence lawyers for the footballer, however, will claim Ms Samudio wasn't murdered but instead left the country on a false passport after leaving her son with friends there.
They are expected to present a letter written by an ex-boyfriend of Bruno's mother, claiming he helped Ms Samudio obtain a false passport which she used to travel to Bolivia, then to Europe, using a different name.
In a recent interview with Brazil's Fantastico TV programme, Bruno's lawyer Rui Pimenta said he was confident his client would be found innocent of any crime and even claimed the goalkeeper believed he would be the star player in Brazil's 2014 World Cup.
He said: 'One, because there was no murder. And second, if there was, even without any proof, Bruno wasn't responsible, he never wanted it, never desired it, the thought never even passed his mind.
'He'll be in the World Cup final, in Maracana, against Argentina. It will end 0-0. Who will take the penality? The world's greatest player, Messi. And who will save it and lift the trophy for 200 million Brazilians? Bruno. This is his biggest dream.'
But Jose Arteiro Cavalcante, for the prosecution, responded: 'You can be sure Bruno won't be starring in the World Cup. Only if it's the World Cup in the year 3000.
'Bruno committed this cowardly crime, thinking that he was God. There might not be a body but there are many other indisputable proofs.'
Bruno is one of five accused in the case who go on trial this week. If found guilty he could be jailed for up to 41 years.
Goalkeeper Bruno Fernandes de Souza, 27, who was tipped to play for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup, is accused of murdering model Eliza Samudio to avoid paying child support after she gave birth to his love child.
Police believe Bruno planned her abduction and murder with eight others, including his wife Dayane, another ex-lover, a younger cousin and a former policeman turned hitman Luiz Santos.
The footballer, who played for Brazil's most popular club, Flamengo, is said to have watched as Santos tortured her before helping him chop up her body.
Parts of the woman's corpse are alleged to have been fed to Bruno's dogs, while the rest was buried in concrete.
Bruno, who before his arrest had been linked with a multi-million pound transfer to AC Milan, denies the accusations and claims Ms Samudio left the country. Her body has never been found.
A court in Belo Horizonte, southeast Brazil will hear today how married Bruno met former porn actress Ms Samudio, 25, at a 'footballers' orgy' in May 2009.
Brunette Ms Samudio, who had previously claimed to have had an affair with Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo, fell pregnant after Bruno's condom burst, it is claimed.
The goalkeeper demanded she have an abortion but she went ahead with the pregnancy, instead insisting that he assume paternity of the child.
Before her disappearance on June 4, 2010, Ms Samudio had approached police claiming she had been held captive by Bruno and his associates, who forced her to take an illegal abortion drug.
Bruno allegedly put a gun to her head and told her: 'You don't know who I am or what I'm capable of - I'm from the favela.'
The baby, Bruninho, was born in February 2010, but the player refused to acknowledge he was the father.
Prosecutors will today allege that Bruno ordered Ms Samudio's murder after she told him she would take legal action to force him to pay child support.
In a statement to police, the footballer's teenage cousin claimed he and Bruno's best friend Luiz Romao picked up Ms Samudio and her son from a Rio de Janeiro hotel after she accepted an invitation by the footballer to talk about the paternity claims.
He said they drove her 220 miles to a property in Belo Horizonte which Bruno and his wife used as a weekend retreat, where she was held captive for six days.
Ms Samudio was then handed over to former miliary policeman Santos, who committed 'barbaric tortures' on her before strangling her to death with a neck tie in front of her four-month-old son.
Santos, who was allegedly paid £8,000 to murder her, played loud music on a stereo to drown out the woman's screams, it is claimed.
Edson Moreira, a detective who investigated the case, said: 'His acts were almost impossible to describe without breaking down - images from the worst nightmare you could imagine.'
Prosecutors will claim Ms Samudio died on June 10, 2010 between 9pm and 10pm, and that her corpse was chopped up and taken back to Bruno's property in plastic bags.
There the goalkeeper allegedly fed her body parts to his pet rottweilers.
Police later found Ms Samudio's four-month-old baby in a Belo Horizonte slum, alleged to have been abandoned there by Bruno's wife Dayane. DNA tests later proved the footballer's paternity. The child is now being looked after by Ms Samudio's mother.
Another key witness in the case, another of Bruno's cousins who admitted helping take Ms Samudio to the place where she died, was shot dead in Belo Horizonte in August this year.
Defence lawyers for the footballer, however, will claim Ms Samudio wasn't murdered but instead left the country on a false passport after leaving her son with friends there.
They are expected to present a letter written by an ex-boyfriend of Bruno's mother, claiming he helped Ms Samudio obtain a false passport which she used to travel to Bolivia, then to Europe, using a different name.
In a recent interview with Brazil's Fantastico TV programme, Bruno's lawyer Rui Pimenta said he was confident his client would be found innocent of any crime and even claimed the goalkeeper believed he would be the star player in Brazil's 2014 World Cup.
He said: 'One, because there was no murder. And second, if there was, even without any proof, Bruno wasn't responsible, he never wanted it, never desired it, the thought never even passed his mind.
'He'll be in the World Cup final, in Maracana, against Argentina. It will end 0-0. Who will take the penality? The world's greatest player, Messi. And who will save it and lift the trophy for 200 million Brazilians? Bruno. This is his biggest dream.'
But Jose Arteiro Cavalcante, for the prosecution, responded: 'You can be sure Bruno won't be starring in the World Cup. Only if it's the World Cup in the year 3000.
'Bruno committed this cowardly crime, thinking that he was God. There might not be a body but there are many other indisputable proofs.'
Bruno is one of five accused in the case who go on trial this week. If found guilty he could be jailed for up to 41 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment