New surveillance video has revealed the moment a Texas man allegedly placed a suitcase with the dead body of his DJ girlfriend into the trunk of a rental car before he abandoned it in a dumpster in the Colombian capital of Bogotá.
John Poulos, 35, is seen pushing a food cart with the suitcase Sunday morning just after 10 am through the parking lot at the building where he had rented out an apartment for him and Valentina Trespalacios, 23, in the north side of Bogotá.
Poulos placed the cart near the left side of the car and walked down the garage and appeared to check to see if there are any other tenants in the area.
He walked back and drags the cart near the trunk and checked his surroundings. He then drank a beverage out of a bottle and walked back to the cart.
John Poulos is captured on camera lifting a suitcase that contained the body of his dead girlfriend, Valentina Trespalacios, inside a Volkswagen Voyager, on Sunday morning. The luggage bag was found inside a dumpster by a homeless man who was searching for recyclables. Poulos fled that same day to Panamá, where he was arrested Tuesday night
Valentina Trespalacios was beaten and strangled to death before she was stuffed into a suitcase that was dumped in a construction waste container near a park in Bogotá, Colombia, on Sunday. The 23-year-old was dating John Poulos, a resident from Texas, who is accused of killing her and was scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday for his arraignment
John Poulos (pictured) was taken into custody in Panama on Tuesday moments before he was about to board a flight to Turkey and then connect to Montenegro. On Wednesday, a Colombian judge approved a request by the Office of the Attorney General in Colombia that was required to present to Panamanian authorities to process Poulo’s extradition
Poulos pulled the cart near the trunk and at first struggled to lift the luggage bag, which he covered with a sheet, before he was finally able to put it into the trunk.
He then drove off and allegedly dumped the suitcase inside a construction waste container in the south side of Bogotá.
Additional security camera footage showed Poulos arriving at the eighth floor apartment with his luggage Thursday evening. The camera also showed him with Trespalacios arriving Friday shortly after 7pm with her belongings.
A second video clip also showed the alleged murderer leaving the apartment at 10:43pm and returning at 10:46pm with their food delivery order.
On Sunday, around 10 am, Poulos appeared on camera but without Trespalacios, and could be seen pushing a cart with their belongings.
Trespalacios’ body was discovered by a homeless person who was searching the dumpster for recyclables Sunday around 2pm.
John Poulos (left) had plans of living in Colombia full time and marrying his DJ girlfriend, Valentina Trespalacios (right). He was arrested in Panama on Tuesday, two days after her body was found inside a suitcase in a dumpster in the Colombian capital city of Bogotá. Poulos is awaiting his extradition to Colombia
A surveillance camera showed John Poulos arriving with his girlfriend Valentina Trespalacios on Friday evening, two days before he allegedly beat and strangled the 23-year-old DJ and stuffed her body into a suitcase that was found in a dumpster in Bogotá, Colombia
Poulos pushes a food cart with the luggage bag where he stuffed Trespalacios body on Sunday, about four hours before a homeless man discovered the suitcase in a dumpster
After abandoning the suitcase, Poulos headed to El Dorado International Airport and fled on a flight to Panamá City, Panamá.
On Tuesday, Panamanian immigration agents and Interpol officers responded to a request from the Colombian National Police and intercepted Poulos at Tocumen International Airport moments before he was about to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, Turkey. He also had a connecting ticket to Montenegro, which does not have an extradition agreement with Colombia.
Poulos told authorities in Panamá that the defunct Medellín Cartel was behind Trespalacios’ murder and that he had fled Colombia because cartel members wanted to kill him.
John Poulos places the luggage back containing the dead body of his girlfriend, Valentina Trespalacios, in the trunk of a Volkswagen Voyager, on Sunday morning
Turkish Airlines ticket purchased by John Poulos to travel from Panamá City, Panamá, to Istanbul, Turkey. The 35-year-old from Texas also had a connecting flight to Montenegro
Valentina Trespalacios had opportunities to DJ in Chile, México and Brazil, her family said
A homeless man was searching through a waste container in the Bogotá neighborhood of Los Cámbulos when he discovered the suitcase with Valentina Trespalacios’ body
Colombian authorities have yet to corroborate his version of the events.
Poulos was turned over to Colombian law enforcement on Wednesday night and arrived in Bogotá during the early hours Thursday.
A spokesperson for Colombia’s Office of the Attorney General confirmed to DailyMail.com that Poulos was scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday and arraigned for killing Trespalacios.
Poulos is facing four counts – aggravated femicide, concealment, alteration and destruction of evidence.
Trespalacios’ hairstylist, Victoria Jiménez, confirmed to DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Poulos was married and had three children in the United States. She added that the mother of the children had obtained a restraining order because he was violent.
She said Trespalacios met Poulos through an online dating app.
Colombian DJ Valentina Trespalacios (pictured) was found dead in a suitcase that was tossed inside a dumpster in Bogotá. Her boyfriend, John Poulos, of Texas, has been accused of her murder
The couple had been dating for eight months and planned to marry in the near future.
Poulos, Jiménez said, had planned to travel to Colombia in February as part of his plans to find a home in Bogotá and live there permanently with Trespalacios.
She added that she and Trespalacios were going to go on a mini vacation double date in February with both of their boyfriends – Jiménez also dates an American.
Jiménez said that Poulos has become increasingly upset with Trespalacios because she had refused to publicize their relationships on her social media networks. She declined to go public because her accounts were only being used to promote her DJ work.
