Arrest in Igarassu Feminicide as João Pessoa Granja Suspect Confesses, Cites Stepson

Overview

• Police in Pernambuco arrested Michael Martins da Silva, 33, after cameras recorded him taking an unconscious woman on a white horse into woods behind the Igarassu police station around 3:30 a.m. on November 6.
• The victim was found naked with multiple stab wounds to the chest, and police reported her skull was crushed by a large stone; the case is being treated as feminicide.
• Investigators acknowledged an early, publicized image from a municipal official misdirected the Igarassu probe before interviews and new analysis corrected the line of inquiry.
• In João Pessoa, Paraíba, the granja owner Josualdo Fábio, 60, was fatally stabbed during an overnight robbery in Gramame, with family members held and appliances and money taken in what police suspect was a latrocínio.
• A 24-year-old was arrested in Igarassu with the victim’s vehicle, the weapon and stolen items, and he confessed while alleging the victim’s stepson ordered the crime for R$3,000, a claim the stepson denies as investigations continue.