A 28-year-old woman told her former boyfriend to accept their relationship was over and to seek psychiatric help after he repeatedly told her he was going to end his life, a trial has heard.
On Tuesday, at the trial of Miller Pacheco (32) for the murder of Bruna Fonseca, the jury heard transcripts of audio recordings Ms Fonseca made on her phone. The recordings were of conversations she had with Mr Pacheco a fortnight before her death.
Mr Pacheco, a Brazilian national whose full name is Miller Mizerani da Cunha Belo Pacheco, has denied the murder of Ms Fonseca at his apartment at Liberty Street in Cork on January 1st, 2023.
At the Central Criminal Court in Cork, Det Sgt Mick O’Halloran said gardaí downloaded six audio recordings made by Ms Fonseca of conversations between her and Mr Pacheco. The recordings were found on her phone in Mr Pacheco’s flat and translated into English.
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Prosecution barrister Imelda Kelly led Det Sgt O’Halloran through over two hours of recordings made on December 17th and December 20th, 2022.
In the sixth and final recording, Ms Fonseca apologised for cheating on Mr Pacheco, with whom she had been in a five-year relationship. But she said he needed to accept it was over and should return to Brazil where he had been getting psychiatric help after the break-up.
Ms Fonseca said “my life won’t stop . . . because we didn’t work out”. Mr Pacheco said he had been “left with s**t” and accused her of trying to sort out his life “after screwing it up”.
She told him he had become “obsessed by sadness".
Mr Pacheco asked if they could remain friends but she said they could not as he was emotionally dependent on her. “We can’t be friends until you get mental treatment, Miller. We can’t be friends.”
Later, she became angry with him, saying: “Miller, go back to Brazil – forget me."
She asked if he wanted her to join a convent if she would not agree to be with him. Ms Fonseca said she was “walking on eggshells” after he told her he was going to kill himself.
She said: “There’s no winner because here, it’s not fighting for a trophy, Miller. I am not a trophy . . . it’s my life and no one is entitled to it apart from me.” The trial continues.
