Man Charged With Murdering Fiancée, Stuffing Body in Suitcase Bragged About Their Romance on Twitter

Just weeks before a Wisconsin man allegedly murdered his fiancée in Colombia and stuffed her body in a suitcase, he was posting on Twitter about how great their relationship was.

On Dec. 17, 2022, 35-year-old John Poulos responded to a Twitter user who asked, “What was your craziest first date?” He wrote, “Invited a Colombian woman on vacation without meeting her first - now we’re getting married,” and accompanied the tweet with a photo of him and his fiancée Valentina Trespalacios in front of ancient ruins, according to The Independent.

But on Jan. 22, the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia alleged that Poulos strangled and beat the 23-year-old to death in an apartment in Bogota, Colombia, before stuffing her body into a suitcase and disposing of it in a dumpster.

He fled the country to Panama, where he was arrested at the airport two days later while trying to board a flight to Turkey. Poulos has been extradited to Colombia, where he has been charged with aggravated femicide and concealment of evidence.

As reported by Billboard, Trespalacios had been working as a DJ, specializing in the dance genre guaracha. She had been recognized at the Colombian Dance Awards, was working on her first album and had performed alongside celebrities like Steve Aoki and Erik Morillo.

Poulos had invited Trespalacios to join him on vacation after they had met on Tinder in April 2022. After making several trips to Colombia over the next 10 months, the pair had planned to buy a house together and get married.

However, Colombia.com reported that prosecutors allege Poulos showed signs of jealousy in the weeks leading up to Trespalacios’ death. At a court hearing in February, prosecutors said he hired a private investigator to follow her when she went to Aruba, who in turn reported to Poulos that he had seen her with another man.

Prosecutor Daniel Gómez Acuña told the court that Poulos saw Trespalacios as his “personal object” and was very controlling of her actions and friendships. He wrote many misogynistic “jokes” on Twitter and retweeted Andrew Tate, a misogynistic social media influencer who has since been charged with rape and human trafficking in Romania.

Gómez Acuña told the court hearing in February that on the night Trespalacios died, “Poulos had sexual relations with Valentina Trespalacios and proceeded to violently beat (her) body with his own fists, after which he put pressure with his hands around her neck until she died.”

After being arrested, RCN Noticias reported that Poulos initially claimed he was innocent. Prosecutors are seeking a 35-year sentence, but Poulos’ lawyers have been trying to seek a lesser sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.

The trial had been arranged to begin in April but was pushed back after Poulos claimed he received poor translation services while in custody and during his first few court appearances.

Poulos has been married before and has three kids. His ex-wife was granted a divorce in Wisconsin in 2021 after concluding that their marriage was irreparable.