Understand the case of the Brazilian man arrested with human flesh in Europe

The Brazilian Begoleã Mendes Fernandes, 26, gained notoriety after being detained on Monday (27 Feb. 2023) at the airport in Lisbon (Portugal).

When he was arrested, he was trying to board a flight to Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais (MG) state capital.

Portuguese authorities were suspicious of the documents presented by Begoleã and contacted those in the Netherlands, where the Brazilian lived.

They found out that he is suspected of murder.

The victim is another Brazilian: Alan Lopes, 21 years old.

He was stabbed to death in Amsterdam on 26 Feb.

The suspicion of the Portuguese authorities was confirmed: the documents were fake.

A search in the Brazilian’s luggage identified clothes with traces of blood and a plastic package with “several pieces of meat”.

According to the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã, the origin of the meat is human, but it is not related to Alan.

Poder360 lists below what is known so far:

WHO IS BEGOLEÃ MENDES FERNANDES

Brazilian, 26 years old, and, according to the Facebook profile with his name, a native of Matipó (MG).

Among the pages he likes are those of the Atlético-MG team, of the game Minecraft, and artists such as AC/DC, Bob Marley, and Axl Rose.

He went to Holland to try his wrestling career.

WHO IS ALAN LOPES

Brazilian, 21 years old, born in the Federal District.

He worked as a butcher and lived in the Vegastraat area, north of Amsterdam.

HOW LOPES DIED

He was stabbed to death in his home on 26 Feb.

WHO KILLED LOPES

In an audio file obtained by Correio da Manhã, Begoleã claims that he stabbed Lopes to death.

He said that the victim would get him, which is why he reacted.

WHAT ELSE BEGOLEÃ SAYS IN THE AUDIO

He accuses Lopes of killing a “Moroccan”, that he was shown a video of the crime, and claims to have been invited by Lopes to his house to “eat a piece of the guy’s flesh”.

Begoleã then reports that he accepted the invitation and went with a knife.

He asks for financial help to escape and says that he was at an airport when he recorded the audio.

CANNIBALISM

In an interview with Portuguese broadcaster SIC, Begoleã’s mother, Carla Pimentel, said she received a call from her son on 27 Feb.

According to reports, Lopes served “black meat” and would have said it was human.

FIGHT

According to Carla, Begoleã had decided to sleep at Lopes’ house to take the supposed human flesh to the police the next day.

He would have been woken up with Lopes “on top of him”.

There was a physical fight. Lopes was killed.

ESCAPE FROM AMSTERDAM

Carla reports that Begoleã left Holland for Brussels, Belgium, and then to Portugal

The plan, according to her, was to come to Brazil and then return to Europe to “give account.”

ESCAPE INTERRUPTED

Begoleã was arrested at Lisbon airport in Portugal.

MEAT IN THE SUITCASE

Begoleã’s family version is that he had the meat in his suitcase to prove that Lopes was a cannibal.

DIFFERENT VERSIONS

In the audio, Begoleã said he knew about the supposed human flesh before going to Lopes’ house.

To SIC, his mother hinted that her son would have been surprised by the news during dinner.

LOPES’ FAMILY DENIES THE ACCUSATION

To UOL, Lopes’ sister, Kamila Lopes, declared that she and her family knew Begoleã.

She denied that her brother killed anyone and that he was a cannibal.

She says she does not understand where the accusation of cannibalism came from.

HOW LONG BEGOLEÃ AND LOPES HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER

More than three years, Kamila told G1.

IMPRISONED AND ISOLATED

Correio da Manhã published that Begoleã is alone in his cell; he is isolated 22 hours a day.

EXTRADITION

The Lisbon Court ordered that Begoleã be held in preventive detention in Portugal until his extradition to the Netherlands.

Poder360 contacted Itamaraty to ask if it was called to follow up on the case. No answer was received as of the publication of this report.

With information from Poder360