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Brazil Reels From Deadly Weekend of Violence as 'Serial Poisoning' Case Draws Global Scrutiny

Investigators say arrests followed in several states after lethal attacks, with inquiries ongoing.

Overview

  • Law student Ana Paula Veloso was indicted for four poison murders and labeled a serial killer by the lead investigator after she admitted testing toxins on animals, though she denies two of the killings as international coverage intensifies.
  • In central São Paulo, a man was shot in the head during a robbery near the 25 de Março area as an off-duty military police officer wounded a suspect; police cite roughly eight assailants and opened a case with the Civil Police.
  • Verônica da Silva Barreto, 24, died after being shot in the head while relatives drove through a barricade in São Gonçalo’s Complexo do Salgueiro, and the homicide unit is examining circumstances and authorship; police reported no operation in the area at the time.
  • In Saboeiro, Ceará, cook Antônia Ione Rodrigues was killed at home as two men were arrested in flagrante and a third person detained, with investigators probing family reports that she had been threatened for refusing to poison food for police; the detainees deny faction links.
  • Authorities reported additional killings and arrests across multiple states, including a bar execution in Amapá that police suspect relates to faction disputes and the drone-assisted capture of a robbery suspect in Baturité found with two .38 revolvers and a balaclava.