Best friend of murder accused tells court in Cork about seeing video of Bruna Fonseca's body
Miller Pacheco. File picture: Dan Linehan
Friends of the man on trial for murdering 28-year-old Bruna Fonseca in Cork on New Year’s Day 2023 testified on Thursday about the accused telling them that morning by phone, "I killed Bruna", and showing them on the phone’s screen the deceased lying on a bed.
The trial of Miller Pacheco will continue on Friday at the Central Criminal Court in Cork where he denies the murder of Bruna Fonseca at his apartment at Liberty Street in Cork on January 1, 2023.
Pedro Enriquez Eduardo, a best friend of the accused, testified by video link from Brazil today that Miller sent him a video of Bruna kissing another person that New Year’s Eve.
Pedro said that Miller said during a phone call: “Forgive me, brother, you was the best of us — you and Felipe (another friend since childhood).” In a video call, Pedro said Miller looked normal. “I think Felipe asked where was Bruna. And he said, ‘I killed Bruna’,” Pedro said.
He said Miller said this about 15 minutes into the phone call. “We could not believe it so he went and showed us Bruna lying on the bed and she was covered by a blanket. Felipe turned his face away so he did not see it… She was lying on her belly, her back was up. Her hair covered her face, the blanket covering her up to her shoulders,” Pedro said.
Pedro and Felipe and Felipe’s wife, Ludmilla Milo Faria, kept talking to Miller until gardaí arrived. Pedro told defence senior counsel, Ray Boland, he had never seen him being violent in his life.
Felipe Peroni recalled Miller sending a message: “I am sorry, there is no way to come back.” He said he thought this was a reference to returning to Brazil.
“I remember we telling him he should come back to Brazil. Then he said to us he killed Bruna. We got into shock. We could not believe it… We were afraid he might commit suicide,” Felipe said.
Ludmilla testified about Miller telling them he killed Bruna. She said: “We were trying to keep him busy and talking to us so he would not make another mistake.”
Witness Katia Silva told Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and the jury of seven women and five men that she met Miller for about 40 minutes on Christmas Day 2022. Asked what he said about Bruna, Katia said: “He was angry, upset, frustrated… He said Bruna does not care about his feelings, she is very selfish. He called her bad names — I don’t want to say the names.”
Katia said he also spoke about the Argentinian young man who was seeing Bruna. She testified:
The witness said there were flirting text messages being sent between them (Bruna and the Argentinian man) and that Miller saw these messages on Bruna’s phone.
“I told him (Miller) to move on. When I was talking with Miller he asked had she been with anyone else. I said, 'Maybe yes but she is single, leave her alone',” Katia said, adding that she did not go to the New Year’s Eve party in the Oyster Tavern herself but she knew that Bruna was very happy about going to it.
Ray Boland cross-examined the witness in detail about her evidence that Miller said he was going to "kill" the Argentinian man. Mr Boland said that was not what she said in her statement to gardaí, in which she said that Miller told her: “I am not going to let the guy get away with it, I am going to get him”, and that he did not say the word, kill.
Mr Boland reminded her that she even clarified in her garda statement that by "get", she thought he meant that he would hit the other man and did not mean any more than that. Katia said at the end of questioning from Mr Boland and from the judge on this issue: “I did alert Bruna because I thought something stronger could happen.”
Witness Alafo Morais described the community of Brazilians in Cork as mutually supportive in getting work and accommodation. He said he met Bruna at a Halloween party in 2022.
He said that at the New Year’s Eve party in the Oyster Tavern, he and Bruna were dancing and kissing.
“I saw this guy staring at me, flower (fluorescent images) on his T-shirt, his eyes. I did not understand. I did not know what it was. He was staring at me… In Brazil, people don’t stare at you for no reason,” Alafo testified.
Recalling his interaction with Bruna at the party he said: “I was kissing her, hugging her and talking about the new year.”
Leticia Souza testified that she was talking to Bruna on December 27, 2022: “She was very upset and sad about everything that was going on between her and Miller.”
Leticia saw Miller staring at Bruna and Alafo at the New Year’s Eve party, and that Miller looked “a bit angry” and was standing close to them.
Asked how Bruna reacted, Leticia said: “She was scared because she did not expect him to be there. Very, very scared.”
The trial continues.
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