Brazilian footballer de Souza admits his ex-gilrfriend was murdered, dismembered and fed to his dogs

A star Brazilian footballer broke down as he admitted that his former girlfriend was murdered, dismembered and fed to dogs.

Bruno Fernandes de Souza, 28, a goalkeeper who was tipped to play for Brazil at the 2014 World Cup, is accused of having Eliza Samudio killed to avoid paying child support after she gave birth to his love child.

The former Flamengo player had previously denied any knowledge of what happened to the 25-year-old, but told a Brazilian court yesterday how his best friend Luiz Henrique Romao had paid someone to kill her.

He admitted that although he hadn't ordered his former lover to be killed, he had 'accepted' it.

The goalkeeper is accused of planning Ms Samudio's abduction and murder with eight others including his wife Dayane, another former lover, a cousin and former policeman Marcos Santos.

It has been alleged that he watched as Santos tortured her and then helped him to chop her body.

Parts of the woman's corpse are alleged to have been fed to Bruno's pet rottweillers, while the rest was buried in concrete.

At an earlier trial, Romao was found guilty of Ms Samudio's murder and jailed for 15 years. Santos will be put on trial next month.

Bruno, who before his arrest had been linked with a multi-million pound transfer to AC Milan, has always claimed Ms Samudio was alive and had left the country. Her body has never been found.

But he told a court in Contagem, southeast Brazil, that his cousin, Jorge Rosa, who had witnessed the murder, had told him what had happened.

He claimed that after kidnapping Ms Samudio, Romao had taken her to a house in Belo Horizonte where hired killer Santos was waiting.

He said: 'There he held her hands and asked [Romao] to tie them in front of her, and put a tie around her neck.

'And [Romao] even kicked Eliza's legs away. That's what Jorge told me. And that they had chopped up her body, that they had thrown her body for the dogs to eat.'

The former star admitted that he feels 'guilty' for her death despite instisting that he never ordered the killing.

Ms Samudio, who had previously claimed to have had an affair with Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo, met Bruno at a footballers' party in May 2009 and fell pregnant by accident, it is claimed.

The goalkeeper demanded she have an abortion but she went ahead with the pregnancy, instead insisting that he assume paternity of the child.

Before her disappearance on June 4, 2010, Ms Samudio had approached police claiming she had been held captive by Bruno and his associates, who forced her to take an illegal abortion drug.

Bruno allegedly put a gun to her head and told her: 'You don't know who I am or what I'm capable of - I'm from the favela.'

The baby, Bruninho, was born in February 2010, but the player refused to acknowledge he was the father.

Prosecutors allege that Bruno ordered Ms Samudio's murder after she told him she would take legal action to force him to pay child support.

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