Stalker fatally beats popular Colombian influencer, stuffs body in suitcase — then tries to use World Cup alibi: cops, outlet

A British stalker fatally beat a popular Colombian influencer and stuffed her body in a suitcase — then tried to use a World Cup game as his alibi, officials and a report said.
Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith, 46, of Bournemouth was taken into custody in Ecuador on Saturday over the murder of Natalia Villalba, 36.
Villalba was staying at an apartment in a trendy part of Bogota when she was killed June 18, with authorities locating her body days later in a suitcase under a still-running shower, The Sun reported.
Foster-Smith, who was previously twice convicted of stalking women in the UK, was reportedly caught on CCTV cameras in the same building taking bedsheets to a laundry room around the same time.
Villalba’s mother said she last heard from her content-creator daughter June 18, with cleaning staff in the building entering her room three days later when her reservation was up.
There, they discovered the gruesome crime. But by then, Foster-Smith had already crossed Colombia’s southern border into Ecuador, where he delivered an alibi to The Sun, which he had called hours before his arrest.
“I was watching England versus Croatia [in the World Cup] on a big screen in an Irish bar, so it wasn’t me,” the man told the outlet.
“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 said.
Foster-Smith also claimed he had received “death threats” from local gangsters over a debt — and was preparing to fly from Quito back to the UK when police arrested him at the airport.
At the time of his arrest, Interpol had put out a red notice against Foster-Smith.
Colombian prosecutors allege that Foster-Smith murdered Villalba and tried to hide the evidence before fleeing the scene.
Bogota Mayor Carlso Fernando Galan said the arrest was a joint effort by Colombian and British police, with the official vowing justice for Villalba.
“This painful case will not go unpunished,” the mayor said in a statement.
Foster-Smith had just gotten out of prison earlier this year after serving more than two years behind bars for stalking in Dorset.
Foster-Smith had also served an 18-month stint in jail back in 2020 for stalking an ex-lover in Dorset and putting revenge porn online, The Sun reported.