A BRITISH doctor is accused of beating a Colombian model to death and “cutting up” her body before stuffing it in a suitcase.

Matthew Foster-Smith is accused of murdering Natalia Villalba, 36 – even though he made a frantic late-night call to The Sun, in which he protested his innocence.

Natalia Villalba Angarita’s body was discovered stuffed inside a suitcase

She died from a blunt trauma to the head

A post-mortem revealed that the victim was hit over the head with a heavy object and was then dismembered.

Her remains were put in a bag, which was then abandoned under running water in the shower of an upmarket apartment in Bogota.

“Natalia Villalba died from blunt trauma caused by a blow to the head and then she was placed in a suitcase,” said Ariel Cortes, director of Colombia’s National Forensic Medicine Institute.

“When a person’s body ends up in a suitcase it’s normally introduced in different parts and that was what happened in this case.”

Foster-Smith after his arrest at Quito International Airport

The disgraced Brit doctor was flown back to Colombia overnight

He further explained: “The fact that the suitcase was left under a running shower accelerated the decomposition.

“If a body is in a situation where there is no moisture, decomposition is delayed.

“When there is water, it is quicker and that makes things like taking fingerprints more difficult.”

Only hours before his arrest, Foster-Smith called The Sun newsroom and told a reporter: “It wasn’t me I was watching England.”

But what he claimed to be a watertight alibi, quickly began to show holes.

The England match kicked off at 3pm in Bogota on June 17. Police believe the alleged murder between 11.30am and 5.30pm the following day.

The 46-year-old from Poole, Dorset, was eventually captured at the Quito International Airport, Ecuador, following a five-day manhunt.

It was later revealed that he was planning to flee to the Netherlands on a “fake” passport when cops swooped in on him.

Foster-Smith accosted at Quito International Airport

He claimed he was watching England play at the time of the murder

Foster-Smith is accused of beating Natalia to death during the two hours he spent in her home on June 18.

Her remains were discovered four days later by cleaners who heard the running shower and saw the suitcase underneath.

Prosecutors confirmed the struck-off medic’s detention late last Friday.

He was flown back to the Colombian capital from Ecuador the following day.

“Pursuant to an arrest warrant obtained by a prosecutor from the Bogota Sectional Office, and following the issue of an Interpol Red Notice, Ecuador’s National Police apprehended British citizen Foster Martinson at Quito International Airport,” they said.

“He is alleged to be responsible for the death of a 36-year-old woman on June 18 in an apartment located in the Chico neighbourhood of northern Bogota.

“Evidence obtained by the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) indicates that Foster Martinson allegedly entered the apartment where the victim was alone, physically assaulted her until she died, and manipulated the body to place it inside a suitcase.”

Foster-Smith is then accused of carrying out various actions to conceal his crimes.

Aggravated femicide, the charge he is likely to face, carries a prison sentence in Colombia of between 40 and 50 years.

Foster-Smith was jailed for 18 months in 2020 at Bournemouth Crown Court after stalking an ex and posting revenge porn online.

After his release he began stalking another woman in her 40s by hanging around outside her workplace and engineering “chance” meetings with her in public.

Dorset Police publicly warned people not to approach him and call 999 if they saw him after he was charged with stalking in September 2024 but skipped bail and went on the run for a month.

The search was called off in October 2024 after he was tracked down to London and arrested.

In October last year Foster-Smith was handed a new two year two month prison sentence at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16619839/brit-doctor-dismembers-model-hides-body-suitcase/