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Brazilian Goalie Charged With Grotesque Murder Of Former Lover

Patrick Crawley |
July 30, 2010 | 8:02 p.m. PDT

Sports Editor

Bruno Fernandes das Dores de Souza, the captain and goalie for Brazil's most popular soccer team was charged with murder on Friday in conjunction with the disappearance of his former lover.

In a saga that has captivated Brazil in the aftermath of the World Cup, Souza, 25, and eight of his friends and family members allegedly kidnapped and murdered 25-year-old Eliza Samudio in his home in Minas Gerais.

He is also suspected of mutilating Samudio's body after her death and feeding her to his dogs.

Samudio's remains have yet to be found.

Souza, who is married with two kids, met Samudio at a party last year in Rio de Janeiro while playing for Flamengo, which won the Brazilian championship last year. They carried on a relationship and she became pregnant.

When Samudio told Souza it was his child he told her to have an abortion, which is illegal in Brazil but not entirely unheard of--more than 200,000 women are treated each year in Brazil for abortion-related complications. When she refused, he allegedly kidnapped her and tried to force abortion drugs down her throat.

They obviously didn't work because Samudio escaped and gave birth to a son in May in Sao Paulo.

When the boy was four months old, Samudio again sought out Souza in Rio; apparently to prove that the child was his. Souza and his cronies then allegedly kidnapped her and dragged her to his estate in Minas Gerais.

According to a confession from Souza's 17-year-old cousin, Wagner Pinto, Souza then watched as his friend, a former police officer, strangled Samudio to death.

Pinto claims the policeman, Marcos Aparecido dos Santos, and another friend, Luiz Henrique Ferreira Romao, later deboned and disemboweled Samudio before taking her to an undisclosed location and feeding her to a group of Rottweilers.

Souza's lawyer admits that Samudio was at Souza's house, but denies that Souza and Co. had anything to do with her being kidnapped or killed.

Samudio's son was found alive in a house with strangers in a nearby town.

Souza did not play for Brazil in the 2010 World Cup, but there was speculation that he would make the team in 2014, when Brazil hosts the tournament.

If the charges against Souza are true, he is one sick puppy.

Kidnapping your ex is bad enough. But torturing her, watching her get strangled and feeding her to a pack of Rottweilers is a whole other level of maliciousness. Even Eminem couldn't write a melodrama this intense.

What makes the crime even sicker is that Souza's wife and another of his mistresses were reportedly involved.

I understand the logic of standing by your man, but helping him kill a woman while another girl he's sleeping with stands by and watches is taking that philosophy to grizzly new heights. Couldn't she just divorce him and get an Elin-level settlement instead?

And what's with the Rottweiler-style dismemberment of the body? Is this Snatch? Is Souza secretly Bricktop or something?

As an American sports culture, we've seen some pretty heinous crimes in our day. Ray Lewis. Rae Carruth. Jerramy Stevens. But this alleged Souza murder takes the cake.

It has everything an aspiring murder novelist dreams of: infidelity, pregnancy, abortion drugs forced down throats, paternity tests, kidnapping, strangulation, dismemberment; not to mention professional soccer. Souza is captain of Brazil's favorite team and reigning champion. They have 33 million fans for crying out loud! He's a bona fide star. Him committing murder is the American what if? equivalent of Derek Jeter taking a bat to Minka Kelly. It's a big deal.

If this happened in America, TMZ and ESPN would be all over the story. They'd have a photographer at every window and a camera crew waiting outside for any Souza family member who dared set foot out of the house. Coverage would run continuously on SportsCenter and ESPN News. We'd be bombarded.

As it is, we have the opposite coverage: detailed, reliable, non-hyped pieces from outlets like The New York Times, CNN and Fanhouse. It's refreshing. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the difference.

Despite the lack of hype, I'd still give this story an 11 on a scale from one to the O.J. Simpson case. Like I said, it's a murder novelist's dream; only it happened in real life. And I bet there are thousands of yet-to-be-released details that will make it even more intriguing.

Needless to say, I can't wait for the trial to begin.

To reach editor Patrick Crawley, click here.



 

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