Man on murder charge after girlfriend's body found in suitcase

A man was charged with murder today after the dismembered body of his British girlfriend was found in a suitcase in central Brazil, police said.

The remains of 17-year-old Cara Marie Burke were discovered by the side of a river in Goiania on Monday.

Goias state police inspector Jorge Moreira da Silva said the teenager’s boyfriend, Mohamed D’Ali Carvalho Santos, 20, was arrested today.

Officers said Santos took pictures of her dismembered corpse with his mobile phone.

Mr da Silva said Santos had confessed to the crime and been charged with murder.

He added that Santos killed Cara because she threatened to tell his parents he was a drug dealer addicted to cocaine, and was considering turning him in to police.

Cara, who was killed on Saturday, had been in Brazil for about three months.

Mr da Silva said the teenager and Santos met when Santos was living in London and that she had visited Brazil before.

He said friends of the victim identified the body from a tattoo on the girl’s torso.

Police were searching for Cara’s head and limbs, which Santos said he hid in a rural area about 30km outside Goiania.

Karine Neves, a spokeswoman for the British Embassy in Brasilia, said she did not have more information about what Cara was doing in Brazil.

Ms Neves said a British vice consul is in Goiania, tracking the case and the police investigation.