A man who murdered and buried his wife before using her phone to text her family has confessed to the killing to police in Brazil.
Cristiano Alves dos Santos, 33, killed mum-of-three wife Viviane Vitoria Tavares, 34, and buried her in woodlands near the family home in the municipality of Confresa, Mato Grosso State.
Then he used her phone to text her parents to say she had walked out on the marriage and hitched a lift with a trucker.
Viviane’s worried family reported her missing ten days later.
Alves dos Santos was recently arrested in Ipameri, Goias State, around 720 miles (1,160 kilometres) south of Confresa.
He admitted to killing his wife before burying her in the woods near the family home.
Investigators discovered her body buried in a forest outside Confresa on 14th November.
A suitcase full of clothes and a bag with personal documents were found around 20 yards from her corpse.
The authorities did not reveal whether Cristiano – who remains in custody at a prison in Cristalina, Goias State – was the father of any of Viviane’s children. He faces murder charges.
