Witness tells murder trial Bruna Fonseca was trying to avoid accused at party on night of her death
(Left) Izabel Fonseca, sister of the deceased Bruna Fonseca, and Maria Fonesca Rosa (right), niece of the deceased, at court in Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins
The man who denies murdering a 28-year-old Brazilian woman in Cork City was videoing her as she danced with another man at a New Year’s Eve party several hours before her death, a witness told his murder trial.
The trial of Miller Pacheco continues today 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.
Maria Fonseca told the trial of Miller Pacheco that she and her aunt, Mr Pacheco’s former girlfriend, Bruna Fonseca, went to a special New Year’s Eve party for Brazilians in the Oyster Tavern in Cork where they met Mr Pacheco.
Senior counsel Bernard Condon asked her: “Was Bruna dancing with some guy?” She replied: “Yes, he (the accused) was recording video of Bruna with a man.”
Maria said her aunt arrived in Cork before the accused and that her relationship with Miller only lasted three days, or maybe a week, after he arrived in Cork in December.
She said of the deceased:
The young woman testified that Miller was following Bruna around at a New Year’s Eve party despite the fact that she was trying to avoid him and did not want to speak to him.
“We went there about 10pm — I did see Miller there later, at around 11pm, 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,” Maria said.
Maria said that earlier that night she met her aunt after she finished work on the evening of December 31, 2022, and she was upset and crying as she had found a knife in a bag belonging to Miller and she feared he was going to try and harm himself with it.
“I met Bruna in Marcela’s flat on Barrack St that evening — she was upset because she had found a knife in Miller’s bag and she was afraid Miller was going to harm himself,” she said.
Maria’s mother, Izabel Fonseca, older sister of the deceased, testified that Miller and Bruna broke up some time after January 2022 but that they got back together closer to the time that Bruna was travelling to Ireland and he later followed her to Ireland.
She recalled that Miller frequently phoned and contacted Bruna and that they got back together shortly before coming to Ireland. Bruna came over first and Miller followed shortly afterwards. He was not happy that she came over before him.
Asked why her sister came to Ireland, Izabel said: “It was her dream always”. As for Miller coming to Ireland, the witness said: “He never had the will to come.”
Sergeant Colin Dowling who is trained as a paramedic responded to a call to Liberty Street at 6.30am on January 1, 2023.
Initially he was told that there was a report of a male with a knife and that a female had possibly been killed in an apartment. Sgt Dowling met two gardaí at the scene who were with Miller Pacheco. The accused gave gardaí a key so that they could access his apartment.
“When we went into the apartment it was clean, there was nothing out of place. I thought there was nobody present. The bed was completely made. There did not appear to be anyone in the bed. Garda Aoife McCarthy thought she observed feet at the headboard side.
“I pulled the duvet over. I observed Ms Fonseca in the bed lying on her back. She was not responsive,” Sgt Dowling said.
The sergeant lifted her to the floor and began to administer CPR which was later performed by other gardaí and paramedics.
Sgt Dowling said that at 7.08am that morning, efforts to resuscitate by CPR were ceased. National ambulance paramedic Patrick McCarthy and fire officer Kevin McCann gave similar evidence today as they were also present at the scene that morning.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a jury of seven women and five men.
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