Man charged with murder of ex-girlfriend recorded her at party dancing with another man

Olivia Kelleher

A man accused of the murder of his ex-girlfriend recorded her dancing with another man at a New Year’s Eve party just hours before her body was discovered under a duvet in the bed of his flat, his trial has heard.

Miller Pacheco (32) of Formiga in Minas Gerais, Brazil, is on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork, charged with the murder of Bruna Fonseca (28) at Liberty Street in the city on January 1st, 2023.

A niece of the deceased, Maria Luiza Fonseca, has told the trial that she arrived in Ireland with her aunt Bruna in September 2022. Ms Fonseca said Bruna shared her dream of living overseas.

She told the jury that Bruna had been in a relationship with the accused for about five years. However, Maria Luiza didn’t know him well as the couple resided in another state.

The trial has heard that Mr Pacheco travelled to Ireland to be with Bruna in November 2022. However, the couple split up within a few days of his arrival.

Bruna had made the decision to end the relationship. Ms Fonseca said that Bruna was afraid that Miller would self harm himself following the break up. However, she stated that Bruna “was never afraid of Miller.”

The evidence was that Bruna and her niece decided to go to a New Year’s party for the Brazilian community in a venue in Cork on December 31st, 2022.

Ms Fonseca said that Mr Pacheco turned up at the ticketed party in the Oyster Tavern in Cork city centre and tried to speak to Bruna. She recalled that he followed them around the venue.

“We went there (the Oyster Tavern) at about 10pm. I did see Miler there at around 11am. I just said ‘Hello.’ He was trying to speak to Bruna. He was following us around all the time. We were trying to get away from him.”

Ms Fonseca remembered hugging her aunt Bruna as the crowd counted down the seconds to midnight. . She said that Bruna was upset with her as she had called her mother Izabel back home in Brazil to tell her what was going on between her aunt and her ex.

She recalled that Mr Pacheco took out his phone and started filming his ex as she moved around the dance floor.

“She was dancing with some guy. He saw this. He was recording a video of Bruna with a man.”

She said that prior to their going to the party Bruna had been “worried and upset” as she had found a knife in Miller’s bag earlier that day. Ms Fonseca said that Bruna feared that her ex boyfriend was going to self harm.

Ms Fonseca recalled that she and her aunt left the event at around 3am. They parted ways and she never saw Bruna alive again.

Izabel Fonseca, an older sister of the deceased, told the jury of seven woman and five men that Bruna had a “dream always” to travel and ultimately wanted to move from Ireland to France.

Ms Fonseca said that Bruna was a librarian by profession having graduated from the University of Sao Paolo. She indicated that the accused and Bruna first broke up for a period between January and July of 2022.

Ms Fonseca said that during that period Miller Pacheco called to see Bruna “many times” as well as contacting her by phone.

Ms Fonseca said that her daughter and sister shared a longing to Iive overseas. However, she stated that though Bruna and Miller got back together he “never had the will” to travel.

She recalled that Bruna and the accused got back together about a month and a half before her sister and niece purchased plane tickets to Ireland.

She said that Mr Pacheco changed his mind about relocating to Ireland. However, he “wasn’t happy” that Bruna and Maria were travelling on ahead of him.

Ms Fonseca continued to speak to Bruna on a regular basis once she emigrated to Ireland. She said that she was on FaceTime with Bruna on Christmas Day 2022.

“She seemed normal but a little bit out of place. She seemed a little upset.”

Under cross examination by defence barrister Ray Boland, SC, Ms Fonseca said she was aware that Miller suffered from depression and that the couple had split up.

Meanwhile, Brother Denis Ahern who lives at a friary close to the apartment where Bruna was found dead said that he was woken from his sleep by the sound of a loud scream at around 4:30am on New Year’s Day 2023.

“It (the scream) got louder. I heard a male voice. I ccouldn’t recognise the words. It was loud. It sounded like arguing.”

Two young men who rented rooms in Liberty Street also recalled hearing noise in the complex after they came home from celebrating New Year’s Eve with their respective friends.

An Italian man who rented a room on the third floor said that sometime after 4am he was woken by a scream which got louder. He said that a man and a woman were speaking in a language “that wasn’t English.”

The only word he recognised was ‘Stop’ which he heard a few times. He got an emergency number from gardaí and raised the alarm.

A young French man living in a room onsite said that he was “shocked and surprised” when he was woken from his sleep by a scream which lasted a few seconds.

He thought he heard an object falling and breaking. However, he attributed the noise, which started at around 4am, to the aftermath of a New Year’s Eve party.

Mr Pacheco is being assisted by a Portuguese interpreter in court. He was an engineer in Brazil prior to his relocation to Ireland.

Members of the Fonseca family have travelled from Brazil for the trial. The trial continues and is expected to last up to three weeks.