Brazil Brothers Charged With Burying Father Alive

RIO DE JANEIRO — Two brothers were charged with killing their father, a local Afro-Brazilian religious leader, by knocking him out with sleeping pills and then burying him alive, investigators told a Brazilian news website.

Antonio Valente Filho, chief of police of Timon, in Maranhao state, told Globo TV's G1 website that the brothers, ages 18 and 21, confessed this week to planning the murder. They told police their father was a violent man who drank too much and didn't accept their homosexuality, said Filho said.

A neighbor was also questioned about whether he helped the brothers dig the hole, Valente Filho told G1. Neither the suspects nor the victim were named.

The two men gave their father a stronger dose than usual of his sleeping pills and buried him while he was unconscious, G1 reported. An autopsy confirmed the victim died underground of asphyxiation.

"He really was buried alive," Valente Filho told G1. "We are investigating the real motive for the crime."

The chief said police are investigating whether the victim's role as head of a local Afro-Brazilian religious congregation may have been a motivation for the killing.

"We believe they might have been fighting for control of the ceremonial grounds," Valente Filho said. "We don't think this was just over their fights regarding the sons' sexual orientation."

He told G1 that after the neighbor told others about the grave they dug together, the brothers confessed to an uncle, who called police.

Calls to Timon police on Saturday were not immediately returned.

Comments

[Benaknoon]

01:57 PM on 01/10/2011

a brutal act condemnable by all accounts

[Ramon Moreno]

04:33 AM on 01/10/2011

Amazing that Bossa Nova came from there

[Talossa]

02:43 AM on 01/10/2011

And I thought this sort of thing only happened in Austria.

[andthatsnotall]

12:58 AM on 01/10/2011

Anything the sons say should be suspect. The dead have no voice but the survivors do and will say anything to plead a strong case of "It's not my fault. Dad was a bad guy." Perhaps he was, we may never know. But their actions were premeditated and the man's death was a cruel one. As grown men they could have walked away from the situation whenever they liked. We haven't gotten all of the facts. Too many missing pieces of this puzzle.

[CuteAndVicious]

07:02 AM on 01/10/2011

Thank you, Captain OBVIOUS. ;)

[SteveStephens]

04:13 PM on 01/09/2011

Hey let's have the next summer Olympics in the middle of a crime invested ghetto, where robberies and carjackings are the rule and not the exception.... great idea!! The last 5 people I know that have been to Rio De Jeniro have all been the victims of violent crime. It's going to be a disaster down there, and you heard it here first.

[J J J J]

05:38 PM on 01/09/2011

like there's nothing like this happening over here... get a clue!

[greatdane5]

01:47 PM on 01/10/2011

Not on the same scale as down there. They call Brazil "the Afghanistan of Latin America."

[greatdane5]

01:48 PM on 01/10/2011

Not on the same scale as down there.

[worldtraveller]

09:32 PM on 01/09/2011

Funny since they stormed the favela a month ago Rio has been practically crime free. wait for the numbers to come out shortly and you will see. Will be a stunning Olympics in a stunning city. You heard it here first!

[Mark DuPriest]

02:45 PM on 02/23/2011

The police stormed the Alemao favela complex that includes 7 individual slums linked together. The first time they have EVER done this. There exist 893 more just in Rio. The arrested a few that may do some time, most escaped. What you may not know is that the police tried to do the same thing two weeks ago but the police tipped off the head trafficantes. 24 policmen were arrested. Just this last week the RJ Fire Chief was arrested for emany vigilante killings.
I live here (RJ state) you have no idea of the lawlessness of this place, the media barely reports it.
Yes, crime exists everywhere, everyone knows that it is a vapid response made by apologists.
The point is the degree.
RJ city, 5000 deaths p/yr, 1000 suspects arrive dead to the precinct after being arrested, dangerous roads?

[Pinkasaurus]

02:51 PM on 01/09/2011

Well, that's awful.

[bluntobject]

01:11 PM on 01/09/2011

Hummmm...sad to ever hear about such a thing no matter where it takes place.
 
 But let's all be careful not to give the Tea Party members in AZ anymore hot ideas.

[phillyfanyo]

01:02 PM on 01/09/2011

RIO ? Not surprised, beautiful country, but crazy people

[Tmboy]

09:40 AM on 01/10/2011

have you missed the news about the happenings in this country over the last couple of days?

[Kevin Atlanta]

09:57 AM on 01/09/2011

Whatever the cause it appears the world has one less Missionary of Hate.

[Just a passerby]

10:14 AM on 01/10/2011

Remarkably ugly thing to say, particularly since you don't know anything about the victim.

[Billy D]

08:24 AM on 01/09/2011

dadt

[darthmaul]

12:42 AM on 01/09/2011

I hope that the sons realize the grave nature of their crime.

[americawasgreatonce]

04:58 AM on 01/10/2011

they are hip... they dig it.

[zenflo]

10:04 AM on 01/10/2011

The father, understandably, was mortified.

[Mark DuPriest]

02:53 PM on 02/23/2011

I was quite impressed with the quality of the grave. Normally in Brazil things are done haphazardly.

[1donewrong]

07:02 PM on 01/08/2011

Sounds like a hate crime

[matthew callender]

05:49 PM on 01/08/2011

On a totally related note, anyone want to buy stock in my new invention called the "shovel shoe"???

[matthew callender]

05:48 PM on 01/08/2011

This is a clear message to fathers everywhere. Up your Christmas budget, or face possible cannibalization.

[Mongoose king]

05:21 PM on 01/08/2011

This is the reason Condoms were invented.

[americancolonyinhell]

11:10 PM on 01/08/2011

But, in this case, the condom was inverted.