Prosecutors charged Brazilian football player Bruno with ordering the murder of an ex-lover who allegedly was trying to prove he was the father of her young son, officials said on Wednesday (4th August.)
Bruno was the goalkeeper and captain of Brazil's most popular football team, Flamengo, and helped lead the team to a national championship last year.
Prosecutors announced on Wednesday they had charged Bruno with ordering the murder of an ex-lover who allegedly was trying to prove he was the father of her young son.
Prosecutor Gustavo Fantini filed charges in the state court in Minas Gerais against Bruno Souza and eight others, according to court officials. Among those also charged in the case are Bruno's wife, Dayanne Souza, and another woman whom police say is the player's lover.
Bruno was the goalkeeper and captain of Brazil's most popular football team, Flamengo, and helped lead the team to a national championship last year.
The player allegedly ordered the kidnapping and killing of 25-year-old Eliza Samudio. She has been missing since June and her body has yet to be found.
Police say the player arranged for Samudio to be kidnapped in June in Rio de Janeiro and driven 450 kilometres north to a rural property he owns in Minas Gerais state, where police say the woman was imprisoned, beaten and finally strangled to death by a former policeman and friend of Bruno's, Marcos Aparecido dos Santos.
Police allege that her body was then cut up and fed to dogs. No remains have been located.
Police have said that when Samudio was pregnant last year, she alleged that Bruno and others had kidnapped her and tried to force her to take medication that would abort her unborn child.
Police in Rio de Janeiro affirmed that Samudio lodged a criminal complaint against Bruno last October in connection with the alleged incident, but that no charges were brought. AP
