Marielle case: other murders committed while Rivaldo Barbosa was head of Rio’s DH and Civil Police remained unsolved | National Newspaper

Federal Police detect sabotage in murder investigations by the Rio Homicide Division

In the Federal Police report, investigators state that police chief Rivaldo Barbosa was in charge of a criminal scheme in the Homicide Division of Rio de Janeiro. According to the PF, Rivaldo Barbosa constituted a true criminal organization within the Civil Police. The document cites an investigation by the Public Ministry of Rio opened to investigate the crimes of criminal organization, passive corruption and money laundering carried out by Rivaldo Barbosa and police officers subordinate to him, family members and businesspeople.

The procedure investigates whether the capital’s Homicide Police received undue advantages from the misdemeanor for not investigating or not allowing investigations into homicides arising from territorial disputes for the exploitation of Jogo do Bicho.

The Federal Police say that there was sabotage in homicide investigations during Rivaldo Barbosa’s tenure as delegate and head of the Rio Civil Police. The PF report points out that Rivaldo worked in this scheme between May 2016 and April 2019. The documents that supported Sunday’s arrests (24) cite five homicides with investigations called into question.

One of the crimes was the murder of José Luis de Barros Lopes, known as Zé Personal. Son-in-law of the late bookie Waldomiro Paes Garcia, Maninho. Zé Personal was shot dead inside a spiritualist center in September 2011. Rivaldo should have continued the investigations.

The PF report uses a sentence by judge Bruno Ruliere, from 2023, to reinforce suspicions about Rivaldo. The magistrate states that the investigation at the Homicide Police Station and at the 23rd Criminal Investigation Prosecutor’s Office dragged on for seven years without any effective investigation being carried out, despite the magnitude of the repercussions of the crime.

Another case mentioned was that of Marcos Vieira de Souza, known as Falcon. He was shot in September 2016. Falcon was a sub-lieutenant in the Military Police, president of the Portela samba school and candidate for councilor in Rio. The document mentions that the judge noticed “abnormal difficulties in clarifying the facts”.

The report also highlights another high-profile crime. In June 2017, security cameras caught the murder of criminal Haylton Carlos Gomes Escafura, son of bicheiro José Escafura, known as Piruinha. He was killed with rifle and pistol shots in a hotel room in Barra. The PF again mentions what the judge says is that the investigation has not progressed, “it has not developed towards a conclusion”.

The case of Marcelo Diotti da Matta was the same night that Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes were killed. Cameras in a restaurant recorded the shots. The Federal Police report cites a sentence from the magistrate: that, although the perpetrators were, in principle, identified, it was possible that “serious failures in evidence collection”.

Another crime appears in the investigation. That of military police officer Geraldo Antonio Pereira. He was killed in May 2016 with a rifle shot. The PM was appointed as a militiaman. The magistrate stated that the investigation launched to investigate Pereira’s murder was another in which the granting of “indefinite extensions of time, without effective progress in investigations”.

Still according to the PF, the Homicide Division has become a crime free environment. Investigators state in the investigation that Marielle’s murder was conceived by the Brazão brothers and meticulously planned by police chief Rivaldo Barbosa.

Rivaldo Barbosa’s lawyer disputes the accusations.

“This is something that has to be seen on a case-by-case basis. You cannot formulate an accusation using six words to destroy an entire life. Six words that do not bring any evidence to corroborate them. Therefore, this accusation seems to me to be an accusation empty”, says lawyer Alexandre Dumans.

Domingos Brazão’s lawyer did not answer his calls. National Newspaper. O JN failed to make contact with Chiquinho Brazão’s defense.