A murder trial in Cork has been told that a young Brazilian woman was allegedly strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend after she went to his apartment in the city so that they could make a FaceTime call back home to see their pet dog to whom they both were "very attached".
32-year-old Miller Misserani da Cunha Bello Pacheco (Miller Pacheco) has pleaded not guilty to murdering 28-year-old Bruna Fonseca at his apartment in Liberty Street in Cork city on 1 January 2023.
Outlining the evidence the jury of 7 women and 5 men are likely to hear during the trial, prosecution counsel Bernard Condon SC said Ms Fonseca, who was a university graduate, had moved to Ireland in 2022 for a "better life".
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He indicated that Ms Fonseca was from the same small town as the accused. He said that the pair had been in a relationship in 2022. However, they broke up and she "appeared to have moved on" with her life.
Ms Fonseca arrived in Ireland with her niece Maria in September 2022 and took up employment as a cleaner at the Mercy University Hospital in the city. Mr Pacheco relocated to Ireland in November 2022 and was employed at a restaurant in McCurtain Street.
The jury were told that Ms Fonseca was in a new relationship at this point with an Argentian student she had met on an English course.
However, the former couple still interacted. Mr Condon said that between 17 December and 19 December they would hear evidence that the accused sent her 120 texts, while at a Christmas Eve party hosted by her cousin, he was staring 'fixedly' at her.
He said that they would hear evidence on how "well or not he (the accused) had taken the breakup".
He told the jury that they would hear evidence from staff at the hospital where Ms Fonseca was employed prior to her death. Mr Condon said that they would give evidence to the effect that he (the accused) was "hanging around where she worked and interacting with radiography staff" on Christmas Day, 2022.
All 'screaming - no words'
Mr Condon said that Ms Fonseca and Mr Pacheco attended the same New Year's Eve event at the Oyster Tavern in Cork city centre. He stated that whilst at the event the accused recorded Ms Fonseca dancing and kissing a man.
When the party ended at around 3am Bruna and Miller went to a room he was renting in Liberty Street in order to make a FaceTime call home to see their dog.
However, around ninety minutes later several people who were living nearby heard loud screaming. One of the people who heard a woman screaming said that it was all "screaming - no words". The screams were heard by people in a restaurant and by a priest in the nearby Franciscan friary.
Mr Condon said that the trial would involve a large amount of evidence relating to texts and phone calls including between Mr Pacheco and a friend in Brazil, Pedro Enrique Eduardo.
When he asked after Ms Fonseca, the accused turned the phone around to show her lying covered in blankets and sheets beside him.
Another call at 5.15am involved Miller Pacheco allegedly telling his friend: "Forgive me, there is no way back now."
Mr Condon said that gardaí called to the flat in Liberty Street shortly after 6am on 1 January after receiving a call from a member of the public. However, nobody answered the door.
At 6.17am two friends of the deceased, who had become aware of the screaming at the flat, went to Liberty Street and encountered the accused standing at the door holding a bed sheet. Asked if he had killed Bruna the accused replied: "It wasn’t me."
Gardaí subsequently attended the scene a second time. Ms Fonseca was pronounced dead at the flat.
Mr Condon said the jury would also hear evidence that Mr Pacheco told gardaí that Ms Fonseca starting hitting him and hurting him so he tried to restrain her using a move he had seen in the movies, where he put his arm around her neck, and that they fell down between the bed and the table.
The accused claimed that he had not wanted to harm his ex-girlfriend. Mr Pacheco claimed that they were "fighting like two men" and he "wanted the fight to be over".
Mr Condon said that a postmortem examination was completed by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster. Asphyxiation was determined to be the cause of death.
Mr Pacheco is being assisted in court by a Portuguese interpreter. He is being represented by Ray Boland SC. He was an engineer in Brazil prior to his relocation to Ireland.
Members of the Fonseca family have travelled from Brazil for the trial.
