Police yet to make formal contact with Cecilia Haddad’s ex-lover Mario Marcelo Santoro
NSW detectives are yet to speak with the ex-lover of Cecilia Haddad despite claiming he’d placed himself at their disposal.
NSW detectives are yet to formally speak with the former lover of murdered Brazilian woman Cecilia Haddad, whose body was found floating in the murky waters of Sydney’s Lane Cove River last week, despite him making contact from his hometown of Rio.
Mario Marcelo Santoro flew home to Rio de Janeiro the same weekend that the fully-clothed body of the popular 38-year-old Brazilian executive was found floating in the water near Woolwich.
Police say Mr Santoro remains a “person of interest” — along with others.
Mr Santoro yesterday broke his silence to tell The Daily Telegraph he had made contact with NSW detectives investigating the murder and placed himself “at their disposal”.
But a NSW Police spokeswoman said that no arrest warrants had been issued and no formal statements have been made.
Mr Santoro and Ms Haddad had lived together in the past but Ms Haddad had asked him to leave her home in Ryde — some six kilometres from where her body was found — in the weeks leading up to her death.
Homicide detectives are working under Strike Force Bronwyn to investigate the murder.
“Strike Force Bronwyn are continuing their inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the death of Cecilia Haddad both here and abroad,” police said in a statement Tuesday.
“NSW Police Force has engaged with international partners, and given the sensitive nature of these inquiries, it is not appropriate to comment further.”
The Australian understands weights were found stuffed into the pockets of Ms Haddad’s khaki cargo pants when her body was found on Sunday, April 29. The 38-year-old was wearing a navy and green long-sleeved jumper and silver bracelets on both wrists.
Police are treating her death as a homicide after originally believing she had taken her own life or suffered a tragic accident. The homicide investigation began after a post-mortem examination last Wednesday.
Ms Haddad was last seen at a barbecue the previous Friday night and made her last known phone call to a friend between 8am and 9.30am on the Saturday.
When she failed to make it to appointments that afternoon, her friends raised the alarm.
NSW police are trying to piece together the final hours of Ms Haddad’s life.
According to their LinkedIn profiles, the two had worked as community support workers at disability service provider Hireup.
Fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish, Ms Haddad moved to Australia in 2007 with her then husband, Felipe Torres, to work as supply-chain manager for BHP’s integrated remote operations centre in Western Australia. She moved to Sydney in 2016.
New details of the circumstances surrounding Ms Haddad’s death came as her family held a memorial at the weekend at a church in Rio. “What happened to Cecilia is not normal. In the name of her family and friends we want justice,” Olivia Furst, the family’s lawyer, told the Seven Network on Saturday.
Ms Haddad’s father, Joao Muller, has arrived in Australia to help police with the inquiry.
The dive squad may return to Parramatta River on Tuesday to search for evidence that may be submerged beneath Gladesville Bridge, a police spokeswoman said. Divers spent Friday searching for what is understood to be a set of keys, although it’s not clear who the keys belong to or what they may unlock.
Additional reporting: AAP
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