A suspected drug dealer accused of wrapping the body of a young woman who collapsed at his home in a carpet before dumping it in a wood and of raping another woman two years later has been sentenced to 44 months in prison.
The district court in the Swiss city of Frauenfeld sentenced J.B., aged 40, to three years and eight months in prison after finding him guilty of disturbing the peace of the dead and rape in the two separate incidents.
He was also fined CHF 500 (GBP 392), and he will be expelled from the country for 10 years after he has served his prison sentence.
J.B. was convicted for raping a 20-year-old Brazilian woman in the town of Chur in August 2019 and for disposing of the dead body of Isabella Todorovic, also aged 20.
The latter died in J.B.’s apartment in the village of Thundorf in November 2017. J.B. claimed she had suffered an epileptic seizure after the two took cocaine together.
However, instead of calling the emergency services, he called two friends, aged 39 and 51, who helped him to roll Isabella’s body up in a carpet and dispose of it in a wooded area.
The young Serbian woman’s body was found three months later and the subsequent post-mortem was unable to determine the cause of death.
He denied raping her, telling the court: “I want to say a few words to Isabella’s family. I know I made a lot of mistakes and I took the wrong road with drugs and alcohol. I am trying to become a better person. I will always carry this guilt with me and I am very sorry. But there was no rape.”
According to reports, J.B. told the Brazilian woman he raped in 2019 that he had previously killed a woman, presumably referring to Isabella.
He is said to have blackmailed the Brazilian woman by taking a photograph of her ID next to a pile of cocaine. He is then believed to have hit her in the stomach and the face.
According to reports, he then asked her to insert a glass bottle into her vagina, and when she refused, he allegedly broke the bottle and threatened her with a glass shard before raping her.
The victim is reportedly still receiving psychiatric treatment almost two years later.
J.B., who is Dutch of Caribbean origin, denies raping the Brazilian woman and is expected to appeal the verdict.
