Bruna Fonseca Died From Manual Strangulation, Trial Hears

The trial of a man who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his ex-girlfriend in his flat in Cork city three years ago has been told she died from manual strangulation. Miller Pacheco, who is aged 32, of Formiga in Brazil has denied murdering 28-year-old Bruna Fonseca in his flat in Liberty Street on New Year's Day 2023. At the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork today, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster told the court that the young Brazilian woman had died of asphyxia due to manual strangulation. Dr Bolster said there was extensive internal bruising to the left hand side of her neck consistent with pressure from fingers, and to the right of her jaw bone in keeping with pressure from thumb - both consistent with manual strangulation by a right-handed person. She said Ms Fonseca also suffered over 60 internal and external bruises to her forehead, scalp, arms, hands and lower limbs in keeping with a struggle and defence-like injuries. The nail on her middle finger on her right hand was broken. Drugs and alcohol were not detected in her otherwise healthy body. Defence Counsel Ray Boland SC say his client's account was that he had put her in a choke hold from behind. "Would that cause the same outcome," he asked Dr Bolster. Dr Bolster said with a choke hold caught between a forearm and a biceps you would expect the pattern of bruising to be broader. "Never say never. You can never outrule anything but, in my view, it is more typical of a manual strangulation rather than a choke hold (judging) from the injuries", Dr Bolster said. Earlier, the jury of seven women and five men heard details of four interviews conducted by gardaí with the accused in the aftermath of Ms Fonseca's murder. Mr Pacheco told gardaí that on New Year's Eve they had gone back to his flat to contact his family and their dog. The trial previously heard that Mr Pacheco moved to Ireland in November 2022 to be with Ms Fonseca, who had left for Ireland two months earlier. The couple split up within days of his arrival in Cork. He told gardaí that when he arrived from Brazil her reaction was not as he expected. She was distant and she told him she wanted to have relationships with other people. He said he was upset that she had waited until he arrived here to tell him that. "If she told me in Brazil, I would have stayed there with my family, with our dog". He said they returned to his flat in the early hours of New Year's Day to ring family in Brazil and to see their dog. But when they could not reach anybody, he started to have a panic attack. He told gardaí he was getting pins and needles, that Ms Fonseca put him to bed where she put his head on her lap and "was quite desperate to help me". She tried to calm him down. Later when she wanted to leave, he told her not to go and they fought. He claimed she hit him and he defended himself. "I didn't want to hurt her, I never touched her in six years. She hit me on the side of the face. It was like the fight of two men. When she hit me, I got lost in myself, it wasn't me there. I am not an aggressive person. I never wanted to hurt her. What I say (sic) that night maybe accumulated and I let out rage. "I just wanted the fight to be over. I didn't want her to be hitting me. We fell between the bed and the table. I fell on top of her. I thought I could stop her fighting when I did a move (choke hold) I saw on tv. She slowing stopped and that's when I let her go." The trial before Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford continues tomorrow.