Sylwia Ciapcinska was known as Magda to friends
The body of a Polish woman living in Staffordshire was found taped up inside a suitcase by three men out walking, a court has been told.
Sylwia Ciapcinska went missing last July and her remains were found in Burton-upon-Trent in September.
Birmingham Crown Court was told she lived at the same address in Ash Street in Burton as her alleged killer, 29-year-old Pole Tomasz Sobczak.
Mr Sobczak denies the murder of the 24-year-old university graduate.
Prosecutor Christopher Hotten QC said Ms Ciapcinska, known as Magda, was reported missing after her friends went to her home on 28 July.
Broken spectacles
The suitcase was spotted on 17 September by three passers-by "poking out of a bush" by the River Trent in an area known locally as The Washlands.
One of the group unzipped the case and noticed a pair of broken spectacles before two other men joined them and the case was fully opened.
Mr Sobczak was already in custody charged with murder when the body was found, the court was told.
The trial continues.
- Published11 October 2010
