Newly surfaced video appears to show convicted stalker Matthew Foster-Smith on his hands and knees scrubbing blood from a Colombian apartment hallway after allegedly murdering a model and stuffing her dismembered remains in a suitcase.
Foster-Smith, 46, a UK-born former medic, is believed to be the man caught on camera crawling across the floor with a rag at the Bogota residence of Natalia Villalba, 36, according to authorities. The footage shows him wiping several spots before disposing of the rag down a garbage chute and catching an elevator, inadvertently leaving cleaning marks behind.
The model’s body was found three days later by cleaners inside a gray suitcase left in a running shower in her seventh-floor rental. “The fact the suitcase was left under a running shower accelerated the decomposition,” Ariel Cortes, the director of Colombia’s National Forensic Medicine Institute, said.
Prosecutors allege Foster-Smith bludgeoned Villalba with a blunt object on June 18 after going to her apartment, then dismembered her body. That same afternoon, he was allegedly seen hurling garbage bags down the building’s chute, with authorities claiming blood-soaked bedsheets were inside.
Before his capture, the suspect attempted a brazen public alibi. He called The Sun newspaper to deny involvement, insisting he had been watching a World Cup match at the time of the killing.
“I was watching England versus Croatia [in the World Cup] on a big screen in an Irish bar, so it wasn’t me,” he told the UK newspaper.
“After the match I went into the shopping center, I mooched about, bought an ice cream and came back later for the later games,” he added.
The match he cited — England versus Croatia in Dallas — was played on June 17, a full day before Villalba is believed to have been murdered.
Foster-Smith had already fled Colombia for Ecuador by the time cleaners discovered the body, allegedly traveling on a fake British passport, according to Colombian outlet RCN Noticias. An Interpol red notice was issued for his arrest, but he was apprehended in Quito attempting to board a flight to the UK.
The suspect’s criminal history includes an 18-month prison sentence handed down in 2020 for stalking an ex-lover and distributing revenge porn online. Colombian authorities charged him in July with aggravated femicide and concealing evidence. He faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted.
The case has drawn international attention due to the suspect’s medical background, his prior stalking conviction, and the gruesome circumstances of the alleged crime. The video evidence, prosecutors hope, will demonstrate both premeditation and a calculated effort to destroy evidence.
Foster-Smith remains in custody as Colombian prosecutors prepare their case against him.