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Rio de Janeiro - It takes quite a saga to push the World Cup off the front pages in Brazil, but such is the gruesome story of a goalkeeper accused of ordering the murder of his ex-lover whose body parts were then fed to the dogs.
At the centre of the dark drama is Bruno Souza, a star goalkeeper and captain of defending club champions Flamengo, who surrendered to police on Wednesday to face questioning in connection with the disappearance and suspected death of Eliza Samudio.
The story of the married 25-year-old player known simply as Bruno has stunned this football-mad nation, where police held a media conference Thursday to lay out the horrific crimes and Souza's bloody role in them.
"An idol like Bruno, from such a major team, is a monster for what he has done to this girl," said Minas Gerais state police commissioner Edson Moreira, one of the officials leading the investigation.
"The crime was coldly planned and executed. We can conclude that Eliza is dead."
Macabre details
Among the macabre details divulged by police: they believe Bruno was in a home near Belo Horizonte with Samudio last month at the time of her murder, and that her body was later cut into pieces, some of which were fed to dogs in a bid to cover the murder.
When Bruno was transferred from Rio de Janeiro to a police station late Thursday in the city of Belo Horizonte, he was met with cries of "murderer!" from a crowd of onlookers, O Globo reported on its website.
Samudio was described by the newspaper as "a student, model and pornographic film actress".
She was also the mother of a four-month-old baby and reportedly had sought to establish that Bruno was the child's father.
Samudio's body has not been found, but Bruno's 17-year-old cousin, who acknowledged helping in her abduction, claimed in a lengthy deposition to police that the woman was strangled, officials said.
The cousin also claimed to have heard Bruno tell associates to "solve the problem" with Samudio.
According to investigators, she was strangled by a former police officer, Marcos Aparecido dos Santos.
Begged for it to end
Another one of Bruno's cousins said in his deposition that Santos committed "barbaric tortures" against Samudio, and that music was blared from her locked room so that neighbours could not hear her screams, according to the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.
The victim had begged Santos to stop abusing her, saying she could no longer bear it, according to O Estado, citing the deposition.
"You are not going to bear it anymore," Santos replied. "You are going to die."
Both papers reported that Santos fed some of her remains to the Rottweiler dogs kept at the house.
Samudio met Bruno in 2009 at the home of a Flamengo teammate, according to Istoe magazine. In October, when she was five months pregnant, she reportedly filed a complaint against Bruno, saying he kidnapped and beat her and tried to force her to swallow abortion-inducing medication.
In June, Samudio met Bruno near Belo Horizonte, apparently thinking the two were going to reach an agreement for care of the baby. It was June 7, the last time a friend saw her alive.
Claims innocence
Moreira said on Thursday that police determined from the evidence that Bruno remained with Samudio until her death.
"He was with her. This is the conclusion we reached," he said.
Authorities said they ordered the detention of Bruno's wife, Dayana Rodrigues, who was found with Samudio's baby.
For his part, Bruno recently told radio Globo that he had a "clear conscience" about Samudio's disappearance.
"In the future, I'll laugh about all of this," he said.
But in a brief Globo video clip of him discussing his future with police, he sounded sombre about his future.
"In Brazil, my hope to compete in the World Cup in 2014 is over," he said.
At the centre of the dark drama is Bruno Souza, a star goalkeeper and captain of defending club champions Flamengo, who surrendered to police on Wednesday to face questioning in connection with the disappearance and suspected death of Eliza Samudio.
The story of the married 25-year-old player known simply as Bruno has stunned this football-mad nation, where police held a media conference Thursday to lay out the horrific crimes and Souza's bloody role in them.
"An idol like Bruno, from such a major team, is a monster for what he has done to this girl," said Minas Gerais state police commissioner Edson Moreira, one of the officials leading the investigation.
"The crime was coldly planned and executed. We can conclude that Eliza is dead."
Macabre details
Among the macabre details divulged by police: they believe Bruno was in a home near Belo Horizonte with Samudio last month at the time of her murder, and that her body was later cut into pieces, some of which were fed to dogs in a bid to cover the murder.
When Bruno was transferred from Rio de Janeiro to a police station late Thursday in the city of Belo Horizonte, he was met with cries of "murderer!" from a crowd of onlookers, O Globo reported on its website.
Samudio was described by the newspaper as "a student, model and pornographic film actress".
She was also the mother of a four-month-old baby and reportedly had sought to establish that Bruno was the child's father.
Samudio's body has not been found, but Bruno's 17-year-old cousin, who acknowledged helping in her abduction, claimed in a lengthy deposition to police that the woman was strangled, officials said.
The cousin also claimed to have heard Bruno tell associates to "solve the problem" with Samudio.
According to investigators, she was strangled by a former police officer, Marcos Aparecido dos Santos.
Begged for it to end
Another one of Bruno's cousins said in his deposition that Santos committed "barbaric tortures" against Samudio, and that music was blared from her locked room so that neighbours could not hear her screams, according to the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.
The victim had begged Santos to stop abusing her, saying she could no longer bear it, according to O Estado, citing the deposition.
"You are not going to bear it anymore," Santos replied. "You are going to die."
Both papers reported that Santos fed some of her remains to the Rottweiler dogs kept at the house.
Samudio met Bruno in 2009 at the home of a Flamengo teammate, according to Istoe magazine. In October, when she was five months pregnant, she reportedly filed a complaint against Bruno, saying he kidnapped and beat her and tried to force her to swallow abortion-inducing medication.
In June, Samudio met Bruno near Belo Horizonte, apparently thinking the two were going to reach an agreement for care of the baby. It was June 7, the last time a friend saw her alive.
Claims innocence
Moreira said on Thursday that police determined from the evidence that Bruno remained with Samudio until her death.
"He was with her. This is the conclusion we reached," he said.
Authorities said they ordered the detention of Bruno's wife, Dayana Rodrigues, who was found with Samudio's baby.
For his part, Bruno recently told radio Globo that he had a "clear conscience" about Samudio's disappearance.
"In the future, I'll laugh about all of this," he said.
But in a brief Globo video clip of him discussing his future with police, he sounded sombre about his future.
"In Brazil, my hope to compete in the World Cup in 2014 is over," he said.
