The Brazilian ex-boyfriend of a woman found dumped in a Sydney river five years ago has been jailed for 27 years – hours after confessing to the gruesome murder.
Cecilia Haddad’s body was found by kayakers in the Lane Cove River, in the city’s north, on April 29, 2018.
The group who made the grisly discovery said in 2018 that she had been weighed down with heavy items, believe to be gym weights, in the pockets of her khaki cargo pants.
Mario Marcelo Santoro admitted to a Brazilian court on Wednesday, local time, he was responsible for the 38-year-old’s death, going into disturbing detail about strangling her.
He confessed to the crime on the second day of the trial but unlike the Australian justice system, the trial had to continue and a jury of seven people were still required to make a formal decision over a two-day process.
The jury found Santoro guilty of Ms Haddad’s murder and he will now begin his prison sentence in Brazil.
Cecilia Haddad’s body was found in the Lane Cove River on April 29, 2018
Mario Marcelo Santoro admitted to a Brazilian court on Wednesday local time, he was responsible for her death, going into disturbing detail about strangling her
Santoro had been charged with murder in July, 2018, and on Wednesday revealed he had gone to Ms Haddad’s Ryde apartment without her permission where the pair then got into an argument.
He told the court he wanted to shut her up and grabbed her around the neck and ‘squeezed very hard’ until she fell into his arms.
‘She fell limp in my arms, I don’t remember if she hit her head on the floor. I picked her up, desperate and put her on the sofa … She wouldn’t wake up,’ he said breaking down in tears, as reported by local publication Globo.
Ms Haddad’s mother had to leave the courtroom during Santoro’s chilling admission while her brother sat in the front row shaking his head, Nine News reported.
Santoro broke down in tears during his admission and begged for forgiveness
Santoro, who pleaded to Ms Haddad’s family for forgiveness, had told one of the witnesses, who is his priest, to reveal his confession during the trial.
Also at the trial were three Australian police officers who were called to give evidence.
On the day Ms Haddad’s body was found, Santoro was seen on CCTV travelling from Sydney to Rio de Janeiro.
Ms Haddad, who had lived in Australia for ten years, was reported missing after failing to turn up to several appointments.
She’d enjoyed a barbecue with friends just two days before her body was found.
Ms Haddad had lived in Australia for ten years before she was killed