British suspect Matthew Foster charged in Colombia suitcase murder

British citizen Matthew Foster has been formally charged in Bogotá with aggravated femicide and obstruction of justice for the killing of model Natalia Villalba. Villalba was found dead inside a suitcase in a north‑city apartment on 22 June, her body reportedly dismembered and placed in a shower to accelerate decomposition before being stuffed into the luggage.

Prosecutors say Foster entered the residence, assaulted Villalba and concealed the crime by moving the body into the suitcase, then fled on foot across the Rumichaca bridge into Ecuador. He was captured in Ecuador, expelled on the night of 29 June and taken to El Dorado International Airport, where he was detained and presented to a Bogotá judge. During the hearing Foster claimed he had been kidnapped, drugged and beaten, a story investigators have dismissed. He previously served an 18‑month sentence in the United Kingdom for stalking and disseminating intimate images of an ex‑partner. Colombian authorities allege he used chemical agents to subdue victims and financed his flight by deceiving banks while claiming he was a crime victim.