Friends of a man accused of murdering his former girlfriend have said they were shocked and did not believe him when he told them he had killed her, so he turned his camera phone to show them a woman’s body.
Those friends of accused Miller Pacheco (32): Pedro Enrique Eduardo, Felipe Jose Costa Peroni, along with his wife, Ludmilla Milo Faria, said they were shocked after Mr Pacheco allegedly told them on a video call on New Year’s Eve in 2022 that he had killed Bruna Fonseca.
Mr Pacheco (32), a Brazilian national whose full name is Miller Mizerani da Cunha Belo Pacheco, has denied the murder of Bruna Fonseca (28) at his apartment at Liberty Street in Cork on January 1st, 2023.
On Thursday at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, Mr Eduardo testified via video link from Brazil, with the assistance of an interpreter, saying Mr Pacheco sent him four videos on New Year’s Eve, including one of Ms Fonseca dancing with and kissing another man.
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He said he and his friend Mr Peroni later video called to Mr Pacheco whom he said looked “normal”.
“I didn’t notice anything different. I think it was Felipe who asked where was Bruna, and he said: ‘I killed Bruna’”.
“We couldn’t believe it so he showed us her lying on the bed. Felipe turned his face away so he didn’t see her. She was lying on her belly and her back was (facing) up and her hair was falling down over her face. She was covered with a blanket up to her shoulders,” Mr Eduardo said.
He said he could not identify the woman as Ms Fonseca because her hair was covering her face but “we kind of knew” it was her. He said he hung up and rang Ms Fonseca’s cousin Marcela to let her know, while Mr Peroni immediately rang Mr Pacheco back.
He said Mr Peroni remained on the call with Mr Pacheco. They could hear Marcela Fonseca arrive at the flat in Liberty Street in Cork with gardaí and they stayed on the phone to Mr Pacheco as they feared he might try to kill himself, he said.
Cross-examined by defence counsel Ray Boland, Mr Eduardo said he had known Mr Pacheco since childhood but had never seen him be violent. He confirmed Mr Pacheco expressed regret after telling them he killed Ms Fonseca.
Also testifying from Brazil with the assistance of an interpreter, Mr Peroni said he was in shock when Mr Pacheco said he had killed Ms Fonseca.
“We were trying to keep him on the phone until the police arrived. His forehead was in his hands, he was shaking his head, he was crying,” said Mr Peroni, who confirmed Mr Pacheco had been “very down” in 2022 when he and Ms Fonseca broke up and she left for Ireland.
Earlier the jury heard from Katia Silva who said she had met Mr Pacheco on Christmas Day and he was “very angry, upset, frustrated … he said Bruna does not care about his feelings, she is very selfish and he called her bad names. I don’t want to say bad names”.
Ms Silva said Mr Pacheco spoke about a young Argentinian man Ms Fonseca had started seeing. Mr Pacheco said he found text messages on Ms Fonseca’s phone where she had flirted with the Argentinian. “He (Mr Pacheco) says he wants to kill him. ‘I will kill this guy’.”
Mr Boland SC told Ms Silva she had previously told gardaí Mr Pacheco said he was “not going to let the guy get away with it”, “I am going to get him” and had not used the word “kill”.
She said she alerted Ms Fonseca as she thought “something stronger could happen”.
The case continues.
