Bruna Fonseca strangled after she went to ex's apartment to FaceTime her dog in Brazil, trial hears

Olivia Kelleher

A 28-year-old woman was manually strangled at an apartment in Cork city just hours after she danced and welcomed in the New Year with friends, a murder trial has heard.

Miller Pacheco (32) of Formiga in Brazil is on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork, having denied the murder of Bruna Fonseca on January 1st, 2023, at his flat in Liberty Street in the city. The accused and deceased were natives of the same town in Minas Gerais in Brazil.

Miller and Bruna had been together for five years. However, they broke up in November 2002 just days after Miller relocated to Ireland to be reunited with his girlfriend. The 28-year-old had moved here in September 2022 in order to live a “better life". The trial has heard that her dream was to eventually live in France.

Postmortem

A postmortem examination was carried out on the deceased by Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster. She told the jury of seven women and five men that Bruna died of asphyxia due to manual strangulation.

“Extensive bruising is in keeping with manual strangulation, in keeping with a hand constraining the neck, fingers on the left side, thumb on the right side.”

Defence senior counsel Ray Boland that his client had instructed him that he was behind Bruna and held his arm around her neck to restrain her as she was hitting him. He asked Dr Bolster if the injuries sustained by the deceased were consistent with such an explanation.

Dr Bolster said that it was a case of “never say never.”

“But in my view it is much more typical of manual strangulation. In my view this is manual strangulation, from the pattern of injuries.”

Injuries

Dr Bolster said Ms Fonseca also suffered over 60 internal and external bruises to her forehead, scalp, arms, hands and lower limbs in keeping with a struggle. The nail on the middle finger on her right hand was also broken.

Meanwhile, the trial heard evidence of garda interviews Miller gave between January 1st and January 3rd, 2023.

He told gardaí that he suffered from depression in his native country. A engineer by profession that he sold everything he owned, including his vehicle, to be with his girlfriend in Ireland.

Miller said that if Bruna had been honest with him about her feelings he “would have stayed in Brazil". He said that in the period between November and December 2022 his depression deepened and he suffered from panic attacks.

He said that he loved Bruna and that he came to Ireland with "hope" and "tried to make it (the relationship) work". He denied stalking Bruna. The trial has heard that he recorded her dancing and kissing a man at a New Year’s celebration in the Oyster Tavern pub just hours before her death.

FaceTime

Miller told gardaí that he and Bruna had returned to his flat in the early hours of New Year’s Day to FaceTime family in order to see their dog D’Eagle whom they had left behind in Brazil.

He said that he began to suffer from panic attacks and asked Bruna to stay with him. The flat door was locked. He said that Bruna had got up to look for the key.

"I grabbed her shoulder....I told her not to go. She pushed me and hit me. I defended myself.

"I never wanted to hurt her. I never lifted a finger to her in six years (of their relationship).

"I was not me - it was as if it was not me. I am not an aggressive person. Maybe the depression and everything brought out...when she hit me I was not myself.

"I was hurt and sad, not mad. I never hurt her in our six years. I am quiet. I am not that person - the person who could hurt someone they love."

Mr Pacheco said that he was after drinking five vodkas with energy drinks. He stated that he tried to immobilise Bruna to stop fighting.

"I just wanted the fight to be over. I was the one saying: stop, stop, stop. I didn't want her hitting me. Then I got my chance to end the fight."

"We were both out of control."

Mr Pacheco said his ex girlfriend was hitting him. He claimed that she attempted to headbutt him and that they both fell between the bed and table with him on top.

Mr Pacheco said he tried "something I saw on TV" and placed Ms Fonseca in a chokehold from behind with his forearm around her neck. He indicated that shortly afterwards she became still.

Evidence

The trial also heard evidence from Garda Aoife McCarthy who told the court that she had attended at the apartment complex in Liberty Street shortly after 6am on January 1st, 2023, having received a call about females fighting onsite. Garda McCarthy and Garda Peter Barber didn’t notice anything untoward in the building.

Garda McCarthy said that they returned to the scene at 6:25am after they received a call that there was man with a knife there and that a death had possibly occurred at the building.

She said that when they got to Liberty Street they noticed two women and a man outside. When Garda McCarthy approached the man he told her he was Miller Pacheco and gave her his date of birth.

The garda asked Miller to give them his rucksack and to take off his jacket. He was searched for a knife.

The accused allegedly told Garda McCarthy that he and Bruna had been very drunk. He stated that she had hit him and that he defended himself. Garda McCarthy said that Miller gave gardaí his room key. She and the other garda went up to the room where they found Bruna.

“She was lying on the bed, her feet towards the headboard — I checked for a pulse, there was no pulse, she was still a little bit warm — her face appeared swollen and her eyes were a little bit bulging."

Garda McCarthy said that when she formally arrested Miller a short time afterwards he said ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She asked if he had had stabbed the woman and he replied : “No, I choke her.”

The garda told the jury of seven women and five men that she put her hand to her neck and said "like this" and that the accused said "Yes".

Defence senior counsel Ray Boland said that the instructions of his client were that he he did not say ‘I choke her".

“The guards were talking to him and he did not understand what they were saying.”

However, under cross examination Garda McCarthy said that the accused never indicated that he couldn’t speak English. She told the court that she spoke slowly when she cautioned him.

Mr Boland said that his client complied with garda instructions at the scene. Garda McCarthy agreed that this was the case.

Ms Fonseca was a university graduate and a qualified librarian. Her family members are in Ireland for the trial. The trial continues on Tuesday.