Shock ‘confession’ in Cecilia Haddad murder trial

Mario Marcelo Santoro ‘confessed’ to the killing of Cecilia Haddad and gave his priest permission to reveal the admission on a bizarre second day of court.

Mario Marcelo Santoro admitted to the killing of Cecilia Haddad in a bizarre and disturbing courtroom confession that left family of the murdered Sydney businesswoman sickened and forced to leave on the second day of the Brazil murder trial.

Shocking the court, Mr Santoro pleaded for forgiveness as he took the stand to say “the accusation is true”, according to reports from Rio.

“I went towards her, in an attempt to shut her mouth, but, unfortunately, that was when the tragedy happened. I grabbed her neck, I squeezed it very hard,” he said, according to a translation of the Portuguese-language publication Globo.

“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.

Mario Marcelo Santoro describes how he grabbed the neck of Cecilia Haddad in a bizarre and disturbing courtroom confession. Picture: Supplied

Mr Santoro said he had gone to Ms Haddad’s apartment, without her permission, to pick up a passport needed for a flight back to Brazil the next day.

Mr Santoro is accused of murdering the 38-year-old Sydney businesswoman after she broke off their relationship in April 2018. He is alleged to have strangled Ms Haddad at her Ryde apartment before dumping her body in the river.

While seemingly admitting to the crime in the witness box, the trial will continue until the jury deliberates on the evidence and returns an official verdict.

Ms Haddad’s mother, Milu Muller, had to leave the courtroom during the sickening testimony, Globo reported, while Nine News added that her brother shook his head in the front row.

Santoro is pleading for forgiveness from Cecilia's family. Her brother is in the front row of court shaking his head.

— Lauren Tomasi (@LaurenTomasi) June 21, 2023

The stunning twist came after three witnesses told the court that Mr Santoro had previously confessed to the killing. He also gave one of the witnesses, his priest, explicit permission to reveal the confession during the trial.

Mr Santoro broke down in tears on the witness stand. Picture: Supplied

He pleaded for forgivness from her family, who had to leave the coutroom during the sickening details. Picture: AFP

Three Australian police officers travelled across the Pacific Ocean to give evidence at the trial, with NSW Homicide Squad Detective Inspector John Edwards revealing Ms Haddad’s final phone calls before her death.

Brazilian National Cecilia Haddad was found in Lane Cove River in 2018. Picture: Supplied

Mr Edwards recounted Ms Haddad’s final hours pieced together from communication records of friends and family, who he said were worried about Ms Haddad’s relationship with Mr Santoro.

The morning of her death, Ms Haddad chatted with Mr Santoro and spoke on WhatsApp to her mother, Milu Muller, until 10 am, the court heard. Mr Edwards said she was dead seven minutes after 10 am.

Rio homicide police chief, Fábio Cardoso, told the court that Mr Santoro used Ms Haddad’s cell phone to pose as the woman and claim she was going to “disappear”.

It took five years of twists and false starts for the hearing to go ahead, with the original date in January postponed after Mr Santoro’s first defence team was fired.

New defence lawyer Rubem Vianna had vowed that new information would come to light during the trial.