Bungling police in Brazil have let a murder suspect go free after he turned himself in and confessed to killing a young nurse technician.

Iago Lace Falcao, 26, showed up at the Homicide Police Station in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, on 15th November, flanked by a lawyer.

There, the nursing student reportedly confessed to killing 27-year-old Rita de Kassia Nogueira and even told police where he had left her body.

But bungling officers then let him walk free, arguing that because he had come forward of his own free will, there was no need to remand him in custody.

The Homicide Police Station claimed its decision to let him go adhered to the law, as he was no longer considered in flagrante delicto when he turned himself in.

Rita’s lifeless body was found in an empty home belonging to Lace Falcao’s mother in Bento Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro, on the night of 15th November.

Family members told local media that her arms and legs were bound and that her body showed signs of torture and strangulation.

CCTV footage seen by police reportedly shows Lace Falcao parking his car at her home on the night of 13th November.

It then shows Rita going over to the vehicle to talk to him for 30 seconds before heading into her home.

It then shows Lace Falcao going after her and, an hour and 15 minutes later, shows both getting into the car and leaving.

The images are believed to be the last of Rita still alive.

Rita and Lace Falcao were colleagues at Leila Diniz Maternity Hospital and had been in a relationship for a little over a month.

Rita also worked at the Emergency Care Unit in Nilopolis.

Before their relationship, Rita had been in a decade-long relationship with a man named Igor, to whom she had even got engaged before their break-up.

Her family believes jealousy motivated Lace Falcao to strangle her to death inside the empty property.

Her aunt, Aldenice Nogueira, told local media: “Her ex said they were about to get back together, they were together for 10 years, we think he may have seen some message.”