A man accused of knifing his beauty queen ex-partner to death has gone on trial in Brazil.

The trial of the murder of 22-year-old Kimberly Karen Mota de Oliveira began in the city of Manaus in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas on 9th December.

Rafael Fernandez Rodrigues, 31, who confessed to killing the 2019 Miss Manicore, the municipality from which Oliveira hailed, is the defendant.

Eight witnesses are expected to take the stand and the defendant will also be interrogated after a medical report ruled out claims he was suffering from a mental disorder.

Rodrigues admitted killing Oliveira out of jealousy on 12th May 2020 after the beauty queen broke up with him.

Her dead body was found inside Rodrigues’ apartment along with the knife used in the crime, according to local media.

Rodrigues comes from the municipality of Sao Bernardo do Campo in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, but had moved to Manaus in 2017 to work at the local labour court.

He met Oliveira at a nightclub in Manaus and the pair had been going out for two months.

Rodrigues was arrested on 15th May after being found hiding in a makeshift hut in the municipality of Pacaraima in the northern Brazilian state of Roraima, close to the Venezuelan border.

The police believe he was intending to cross the border into Venezuela and flee from there to Spain.

Investigators do not believe the alleged murder was premeditated and was instead a crime of passion.

Oliveira was studying dentistry and had plans to compete for Miss Amazonas.

The trial is ongoing.

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