Stalker fatally beats popular Colombian influencer, stuffs body in suitcase then tries to use World Cup alibi: cops, outlet

A British stalker fatally beat a popular Colombian influencer and stuffed her body in a suitcase — then tried to use a World Cup game as his alibi, officials and a report said.Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith, 46, of Bournemouth was taken into custody in Ecuador on Saturday over the murder of Natalia Villalba, 36.Villalba was staying at an apartment in a trendy part of Bogota when she was killed June 18, with authorities locating her body days later in a suitcase under a still-running shower, The Sun reported.Foster-Smith, who was previously twice convicted of stalking women in the UK, was reportedly caught on CCTV cameras in the same building taking bedsheets to a laundry room around the same time.Villalba’s mother said she last heard from her content-creator daughter June 18, with cleaning staff in the building entering her room three days later when her reservation was up.There, they discovered the gruesome crime.But by then, Foster-Smith had already crossed Colombia’s southern border into Ecuador, where he delivered an alibi to The Sun, which he had called hours before his arrest.“I was watching England versus Croatia [in the World Cup] on a big screen in an Irish bar, so it wasn’t me,” the man told the outlet.“After the match I went into the shopping center, I mooched about, bought an ice cream and came back later for the later games,” he said.Foster-Smith also claimed he had received “death threats” from local gangsters over a debt — and was preparing to fly from Quito back to the UK when police arrested him at the airport.At the time of his arrest, Interpol had put out a red notice against Foster-Smith.

Colombian prosecutors allege that Foster-Smith murdered Villalba and tried to hide the evidence before fleeing the scene.Bogota Mayor Carlso Fernando Galan said the arrest was a joint effort by Colombian and British police, with the official vowing justice for Villalba.

“This painful case will not go unpunished,” the mayor said in a s...