Brazilian star footballer 'tortured and killed his mistress then fed her dismembered body to his pet rottweilers'

A star Brazilian footballer tortured and killed his mistress then fed her dismembered body to his pet rottweilers, a court is expected to hear today. Goalkeeper Bruno Fernandes de Souza, 27, who was tipped to play for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup, is accused of murdering model Eliza Samudio to avoid paying child support after she gave birth to his love child. Police believe Bruno planned her abduction and murder with eight others, including his wife Dayane, another ex-lover, a younger cousin and a former policeman turned hitman Luiz Santos.

'Killed': Goalkeeper Bruno Fernandes de Souza, 27, left, is accused of organising the abduction and murder of Brazilian model Eliza Samudio, 25, right, after she refused to abort his baby

The footballer, who played for Brazil's most popular club, Flamengo, is said to have watched as Santos tortured her before helping him chop up her body. Parts of the woman's corpse are alleged to have been fed to Bruno's dogs, while the rest was buried in concrete. Bruno, who before his arrest had been linked with a multi-million pound transfer to AC Milan, denies the accusations and claims Ms Samudio left the country. Her body has never been found.

A court in Belo Horizonte, southeast Brazil will hear today (Nov. 19) how married Bruno met former porn actress Ms Samudio, 25, at a 'footballers' orgy' in May 2009. Brunette Ms Samudio, who had previously claimed to have had an affair with Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo, fell pregnant after Bruno's condom burst, it is claimed. The goalkeeper demanded she have an abortion but she went ahead with the pregnancy, instead insisting that he assume paternity of the child. Before her disappearance on June 4, 2010, Ms Samudio had approached police claiming she had been held captive by Bruno and his associates, who forced her to take an illegal abortion drug.

 

On trial: Footballer Bruno Fernandes de Souza, pictured in red shortly after his arrest in 2010, is alleged to have fed model Eliza Samudio's remains to his dogs to avoid paying child support after she had his love child

Bruno allegedly put a gun to her head and told her: 'You don't know who I am or what I'm capable of - I'm from the favela.' The baby, Bruninho, was born in February 2010, but the player refused to acknowledge he was the father. Prosecutors will today (Nov. 19) allege that Bruno ordered Ms Samudio's murder after she told him she would take legal action to force him to pay child support.

Expectant mother: Eliza Samudio went missing a few months after posing for this photograph to show the early signs of her pregnancy in 2009

In a statement to police, the footballer's teenage cousin claimed he and Bruno's best friend Luiz Romao picked up Ms Samudio and her son from a Rio de Janeiro hotel after she accepted an invitation by the footballer to talk about the paternity claims. He said they drove her 220 miles to a property in Belo Horizonte, which Bruno and his wife used as a weekend retreat, where she was held captive for six days. Ms Samudio was then handed over to former military policeman Santos, who committed 'barbaric tortures' on her before strangling her to death with a necktie in front of her four-month-old son. Santos, who was allegedly paid £8,000 to murder her, played loud music on a stereo to drown out the woman's screams, it is claimed. Edson Moreira, a detective who investigated the case, said: 'His acts were almost impossible to describe without breaking down - images from the worst nightmare you could imagine.'

 

Model: Eliza Samudio is believed to have met Bruno at a party held by another footballer. She later presented a report (right) to police against the footballer, claiming he had got her pregnant

Prosecutors will claim Ms Samudio died on June 10, 2010 between 9pm and 10pm, and that her corpse was chopped up and taken back to Bruno's property in plastic bags. There the goalkeeper allegedly fed her body parts to his pet Rottweilers. Police later found Ms Samudio's four-month-old baby in a Belo Horizonte slum, alleged to have been abandoned there by Bruno's wife Dayane. DNA tests later proved the footballer's paternity. The child is now being looked after by Ms Samudio's mother.

 

Claims: Prosecutors will allege that Bruno organised the abduction and murder of Ms Samudio with eight others

Organising a defence: The Brazilian goalkeeper has maintained his innocence throughout the case, claiming he has a 'clear conscience'

Another key witness in the case, another of Bruno's cousins who admitted helping take Ms Samudio to the place where she died, was shot dead in Belo Horizonte in August this year. Defence lawyers for the footballer, however, will claim Ms Samudio wasn't murdered but instead left the country on a false passport after leaving her son with friends there. They are expected to present a letter written by an ex-boyfriend of Bruno's mother, claiming he helped Ms Samudio obtain a false passport, which she used to travel to Bolivia, then to Europe, using a different name.

 Source: Daily Mail UK  

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