Cecilia Haddad murder: Marcelo Santoro’s chilling confession over Lane Cove River death

The Brazilian ex-boyfriend of a woman dumped in a Sydney river five years ago has confessed to the gruesome murder.

Cecilia Haddad’s body was found on April 29, 2018 in the Lane Cove River, north of the city.

Mario Marcelo Santoro admitted in a Brazilian court local time on Wednesday that he was responsible for the 38-year-old’s death and went into disturbing detail about her strangulation.

He confessed to the crime on the second day of the trial, but unlike the Australian court system, the trial will continue and a seven-person jury will still have to make a formal decision on a two-day trial.

Marcelo Santoro admitted before a Brazilian court (local time) on Wednesday that he was responsible for her death and went into disturbing details about her strangulation

Santoro was charged with murder in July 2018 and revealed on Wednesday that he had gone to Ms Haddad’s apartment in Ryde without her permission, where the pair then got into an argument.

He told the court he wanted to shut her up and grabbed her by the neck and “squeezed really hard” until she fell into his arms.

‘She fell limp in my arms, I don’t remember if she hit the floor with her head. I desperately picked her up and put her on the couch… She wouldn’t wake up,” he said bursting into tears, as reported by local newspaper Globo.

Ms. Haddad’s mother left the courtroom during Santoro’s confession as her brother sat in the front row shaking his head, Nine News reported.

Santoro, who begged Mrs. Haddad’s family for forgiveness, had instructed one of the witnesses, who is his priest, to reveal his confession at the trial.

More to come