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Special-needs teacher Catiuscia ‘Cati’ Machado allegedly died at the hands of her partner in their Sydney flat, now her grieving mother claims she refused to follow Diogo de Oliveira to the United States before her death.
Snippets of their lives together, gleaned from family and photographs on social media, reveal the fracturing couple planned to leave Australia in the days before Oliveira allegedly killed the teacher.
Cati Machado (far right), who was allegedly killed by her partner in a Sydney flat, photographed with her family.
Machado, 43, was found dead in the bathtub of the Bechert Road unit she shared with her partner, Oliveira, 40, in the Sydney suburb of Chiswick.
Earlier this month Oliveira posted images of the apartment in a Facebook group for Brazilians in Sydney offering to sub-lease their home from November 24 until January.
Among the images are photographs of his-and-hers bicycles, the clutter of daily life and an image of the bathtub.
But the day the unit was up for lease, police allege Oliveira assaulted Machado causing her body to fall into the bath. A post-mortem examination is underway into the cause of her death, but police will allege Machado’s head struck the wall as she fell.
Cati Machado, allegedly killed by her partner Diogo De Oliveira, died in her flat in Chiswick. She loved travel and teaching children with special needs.
Machado’s mother, Eliaide, was woken on the other side of the world by a phone call from NSW Police, she told Brazilian radio on Tuesday.
“They said there was a fight between the couple, and she ran to the bathroom to protect herself,” Eliaide Machado said in an interview translated from Brazilian Portuguese.
“When [police] arrived at the apartment, she was in the bathtub with ice, they found her body in the bathtub filled with ice.”
Eliaide said her daughter “just told me she was doing well” and “loving Australia”.
Diogo de Oliveira allegedly killed his partner, Cati Machado, at their unit in Chiswick as she prepared to leave him, Machado’s mother says.
“She would share photos, show many pictures of her enjoying herself, and she seemed very happy there,” Eliaide said.
However, friends and family said Machado was planning to leave Oliveira.
“She once told me, ‘Mum, he got a visa; he wants to go to the United States, but I’m not going. I’m not going to follow him to the United States. I’m returning to Brazil now in the middle of the year’,” Eliaide said.
Eliaide said she wasn’t sure if her daughter would remain in Brazil, or return to Australia in 2024.
Machado worked as a language teacher at the Brazilian-Australian association ABCD until earlier this month.
The school announced her passing which, when translated, speaks of their “great sadness” at Machado’s death.
“At this time of immense sadness, the ABCD sends … deepest condolences to family and friends,” the school wrote.
Machado’s mother said her daughter was previously married to a man who suicided. She moved back to her family in Epirito Santo where she met Oliviera, her mother added.
Screenshots from Diogo de Oliveira’s social media showing inside the Chiswick flat where he allegedly killed Cati Machado as she planned to leave him, her mother says.
They arrived in Australia in March, but Machado planned to return to Brazil in mid-2024.
Machado had spoken lovingly of her mother online, talking of Eliaide’s “strength”. She was passionate about nature and travel, and had plans to see Asia before returning to Brazil.
Instead, her mother said, her body will return to Brazil after an autopsy in Sydney.
Oliveira did not apply for bail on Monday and is next due to face Burwood Local Court on January 24.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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