British man arrested in Ecuador after woman’s body found in suitcase in Colombia

Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith, from Dorset, is accused of killing Natalia Villalba in an apartment in Bogotá

A British man has been arrested in Ecuador after the body of a woman was found inside a suitcase in Colombia .

Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith is alleged to have caused the death of 36-year-old Natalia Villalba in an apartment in the Chicó neighbourhood of Bogotá on 18 June, local authorities said.

Foster-Smith, from Bournemouth, Dorset , reportedly phoned the Sun a day before his arrest and said he was watching an England World Cup match on television at the time of the incident.

“I was watching England versus Croatia on a big screen in an Irish bar so it wasn’t me,” the 46-year-old told the newspaper. “After the match I went in to the shopping centre, I mooched about, bought an ice-cream, and came back later for the later games.”

England’s opening World Cup match took place in Dallas, Texas on 17 June.

The Sun reported that the suspect made a second call to the newspaper on Friday prior to his arrest, with a source telling the newspaper he had been located via the phone calls he had made.

A post on the official X account of the attorney general’s office in Colombia said Foster-Smith was accused of beating Villalba to death before placing her body in a suitcase, trying to conceal what happened, and fleeing the scene.

Dorset police are said to have been among the authorities that assisted with locating him before he was held at Quito international airport in Ecuador’s capital.

It came after an arrest warrant was obtained by prosecutors in Colombia and the issue of an Interpol red notice, local authorities said.

Carlos Fernando Galán, Bogotá’s mayor, said Dorset police had assisted with the operation. “This painful case will not go unpunished,” he said.

A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: “We are supporting a British man who has been detained in Ecuador and are in touch with the local authorities.”

Dorset police were approached for comment on Sunday.