Back in 2022, an X (Twitter) user asked people on the platform to share their ‘craziest first date’ story.
John Poulos, from Franklin, Wisconsin, replied to the tweet and answered: “Invited a Colombian woman on vacation without meeting her first - now we’re getting married.”
The woman was 23-year-old, Valentina Trespalacios, whose dead body was found in a suitcase in the trash in 2023.
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Trespalacios was a popular young DJ with a large following on Instagram.
Poulos testified in court on 6 March that he woke up in January 2023 next to the lifeless body of his long-distance girlfriend.
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The father-of-three claims he found a zip tie wrapped tightly around Trespalacios' neck.
However, an autopsy later determined that the DJ had died from 'mechanical asphyxia' or 'strangulation'.
The 36-year-old doesn't remember killing her, but has admitted to stuffing her body in a suitcase and throwing it in the trash.
“I tried to wake up Valentina, and she didn’t respond,” Poulos said in a court hearing in Bogota, Columbia.
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“When I initially saw her, I knew right away that something was wrong. She was very pale.”
“I’d never done drugs before I met Valentina,” he added. “My guess is what happened, I was in a drug-induced, alcohol-induced… I wasn’t completely lucid at that time, and I don’t know if I did it, I don’t know if she did it.
“I decided to try to escape and I put her body into the blue suitcase that I had brought.
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“That’s when I put Valentina into the garbage.”
A surveillance camera close to the Columbia apartment reportedly showed Poulos using a supermarket trolley to move luggage bags, one of which contained his girlfriend’s body stuffed into it, to a car. The bag was covered with a blanket because Trespalacios’ head was visible.
Footage shows the man prosecutors believe to be Poulos park the supermarket trolley next to his rental Volkswagen Voyage car and struggling to pick up the luggage bag before eventually placing it in his trunk.
He drove to the south side of Bogota where he abandoned the suitcase that had his girlfriend’s body inside in a dumpster. A homeless man searching for recyclables discovered Trespalacios’ body the same day.
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There is a possibility that Poulos could be convicted of femicide, which could lead to 50 years in prison.
“If I go to prison, I’m likely to be killed there,” he said.
“If I go to trial, I don’t think my rights would be observed.
“But either way, I regret making that decision to put her in the suitcase.”
Featured Image Credit: X/JohnPoulos/Colombian Attorney General's officeTopics: Crime, US News, World News, Twitter