Investigation Finds Federal Deputy Flordelis Had Husband Killed; Police Arrest Seven

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL  – Federal Deputy Flordelis was indicted by the MP-RJ (Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor’s Office) and the Civil Police as the perpetrator of her husband’s murder, Pastor Anderson do Carmo, who died in 2019. Given her position as a legislator, she will not be arrested at this time, according to information from both bodies.

In addition to Flordelis, ten other people were indicted, all of whom were targets of arrest warrants served yesterday morning. These include five of the deputy’s children and a granddaughter were arrested.

Two other of Flordelis’ sons – Flávio dos Santos Rodrigues and Lucas Cézar dos Santos de Souza, and the ex-state police officer Marcos Siqueira Costa, were already in prison. The tenth person denounced and who was also arrested yesterday morning is Andrea Santos Maia, Marcos Siqueira’s wife.

The warrants were served in Niterói (RJ), in the deputy’s home in Brasília, where she has a work apartment, and São Gonçalo (RJ). The judicial orders were issued by the 3rd Criminal Court of Niterói.

Flordelis is accused of triple homicide, attempted murder, criminal association, use of a false document and identity theft.

“20 percent of the family involved”

According to detective Antônio Ricardo, the deputy was surprised by the operation and “cried a little”. In his opinion, “the investigation has come to an end”. “The investigation found that she planned her husband’s murder. Her motivation was that she was unhappy with the way pastor Anderson lived and handled the family’s financial affairs”.

According to him, “all children have a share [in the crime], which was evidenced during the investigation.”

“We have 11 people criminally liable, considering that the family consists of 55 [people], we have 20 percent of the family involved in this crime,” said Antônio Ricardo.

The detective recalled that the deputy has parliamentary immunity and can only be arrested in the act and for a non-bailable crime. “Later she will be held accountable for the crime as the principal and we will petition for precautionary measures.”

Yesterday morning’s Civil and State Police operation was assisted by the CSI (Security and Intelligence Coordination), the GAESP (Gaeco’s Specialized Support Group for Public Safety), the MPDFT (Federal District and Territories Prosecution Service), and the CECOR (Special Coordination to Fight Corruption and Organized Crime) of the Federal District Civil Police.

In a note, the PSD (Social Democratic Party) national chairman, ex-Minister Gilberto Kassab, said that the party will suspend the deputy’s affiliation due to her indictment. “And, from the unfolding before the courts, appropriate measures will be adopted to expel the deputy from our party ranks.”

Denunciation

According to detective Allan Duarte, the first stage of investigations identified Flávio dos Santos Rodrigues, the deputy’s biological son, as the executor of the crime and Lucas César dos Santos, the couple’s adopted son, as the person who bought the gun used in the murder. The two have been in prison for over a year.

According to the investigation, Flordelis planned the murder and was responsible for recruiting and convincing the direct executioner and the other accused to take part in the crime under the pretense that an armed robbery had occurred. She also financed the purchase of the gun and informed of the arrival of the victim at the scene where he was executed, according to the report.

The reason for the crime, the report describes, would be that the victim maintained strict control of the family finances and rigidly managed conflicts, preventing privileged attention to those closest to Flordelis to the detriment of other relatives.

The actions of the other defendants are described in different stages such as planning, encouraging and persuading the execution of the crime, as well as in homicide attempts prior to the fact, by administering poison to the victim’s food and drink on at least six occasions, unsuccessfully, according to the investigations.

The deputy and the other defendants are accused of using a forged document, for trying, through a letter written by Lucas, to assign the perpetration and the order for the murder to other people. According to the indictment, the executioner Flávio was intended to free himself and Flordelis from responsibility for the crime.

Still according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Flordelis also intended to take revenge on two of her adopted children who would not have agreed to lie or conceal information on the crime during the depositions. The defendants will also be held liable for criminal association.

Other side

The deputy has always denied involvement in the crime. By phone, attorney Anderson Rollemberg told UOL that the defense is still learning about the reasons that led to the State and Civil Police’s operation. “I still need to ascertain what they considered as evidence and what prompted the indictment and arrests. I still need to have access to this information, but I must say that we were surprised with this operation today.”

Source: UOL