British man arrested in Ecuador after Bogotá woman found dead in suitcase

Matthew Ashley Foster-Smith was arrested at Quito International Airport in Ecuador after Colombian authorities linked him to the death of Natalia Villalba, 36, whose body was found in a suitcase in the bathroom of her rented apartment in Bogotá’s Chico-Chapinero area.

Prosecutors say the case began to take shape after CCTV captured Foster-Smith arriving at the apartment on 17 June and leaving on 18 June, the day investigators believe Villalba was killed. The flat had first been booked for four days, from 3 June to 7 June, by a U.S. national from Texas, and Villalba later extended the stay by another fortnight. Footage also showed him taking bedsheets to be washed in the building’s laundry area.

Colombia is expected to drive the homicide investigation because the alleged killing took place in Bogotá, while Ecuador now controls Foster-Smith’s detention and any move toward extradition. Interpol issued a Red Notice for his arrest, and he was tracked through phone activity after crossing the Rumichaca Bridge into Ecuador the day before Villalba’s body was found. He was detained at Quito airport on 27 June while trying to arrange a flight back to Europe.

Bogotá mayor Carlos Fernando Galán welcomed the arrest. Villalba’s family said the day was one of relief and grief. Claudia Villalba said she last spoke with her daughter on 16 June. She described her as hard-working and determined. A cousin said the family was relieved that the person believed responsible had been found.

Foster-Smith, 46, from Bournemouth, Dorset, had already drawn police attention in the UK before the Colombia case. He was sentenced in 2020 to 18 months in prison for stalking his partner, sharing revenge porn and threatening to attack her with an axe. He was jailed again in October 2025 for two years and two months after stalking a second woman and breaching a restraining order, and in January 2026 Poole Magistrates’ Court imposed an indefinite stalking prevention order requiring him to stay in contact with Dorset Police and keep them updated on his address and vehicle details.

Colombian authorities say a conviction in the Villalba case could carry a sentence of 40 to 50 years in prison. Before his arrest, Foster-Smith said he had been watching England versus Croatia in an Irish bar, but investigators believe Villalba was killed on 18 June, not on the date of the match.