A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly killing and beheading her boyfriend in Brazil, claiming she caught him trying to abuse her young son
A woman is accused of murdering her boyfriend and decapitating him after she allegedly caught him trying to abuse her young son in their flat. Police arrested 24-year-old Paula Ellen Neves da Silva following the death of her partner, 32 year old Daniel dos Santos.
Officials say the woman subsequently admitted to the attack, which occurred in the flat she shared with her two children, aged three and six, in Itaquaquecetuba, Brazil. Detectives suspect that the couple had spent the evening drinking alcohol and taking drugs with a friend, who left the property about 90 minutes before the murder.
According to police, the accused told them she had been pretending to sleep on the living room floor while the victim was sitting on a nearby sofa.
She claimed she then saw him trying to open her son’s nappy. She said she immediately grabbed a knife and stabbed him.
During the ensuing struggle, the man allegedly tried to defend himself with a serrated knife, causing an injury to her hand. Following the assault, police allege the woman decapitated the victim and placed his head in a rucksack.
Detectives claim she then dragged the body into the bathroom, cleaned the knife and attempted to remove some of the blood from the sofa and floor, reports the Mirror. Authorities disclosed that the woman reached out to her ex-husband – the father of her children – as well as her mother and brother, to tell them about what had occurred.
Family members informed police they initially struggled to believe her claims until she sent them photos and video footage of the dismembered body. Upon reaching the flat, officers found that the scene had been partially tidied up.
The victim’s body was discovered in the bathroom with “multiple stab wounds”, while his head was found inside a rucksack. Police confirmed the couple had been dating for around two months.
The woman was apprehended and questioned by Civil and Military Police. When asked by the Alô, Você news programme if she felt any remorse, she responded: “I would do it all again.”
Detectives have recorded the case as aggravated homicide, procedural fraud, and concealment of a corpse.
Officers are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the murder, stating there is currently insufficient evidence to support a self-defence claim.
Prosecutors have requested her remand be converted into preventive detention.
The investigation continues.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.