Brutal murder of evangelical pastor sparks outrage among residents of Careiro Castanho

The pastor of the evangelical church Ministério Internacional do Avivamento, Eliane Félix de Lima Barbosa, who was 51, was found dead by her son, Marcel Barbosa, in the house where she lived, in the Bom Pastor neighborhood, in the municipality of Careiro Castanho (88 kilometers south of Manaus) on the afternoon of this Tuesday (2).

A man identified as “Romário” was arrested and named as the main suspect in the crime. “Hours after the crime, he (Romário) was already selling jewelry and a shoe that he stole from the victim,” said a neighbor of the victim.

The suspect was arrested hours after the victim’s body was found (Photo: Reproduction)

The police suspect that the criminal broke into the woman’s house in the early hours of Tuesday (2) while she was sleeping. The pastor’s body was only found in the afternoon of the same day, after fellow teachers at the municipal school Cemei São Francisco, where she taught, became suspicious of her absence and informed her son Marcel.

According to the information, the son found his mother in a sad situation. She was dead, naked, with bruises all over her body, signs of struggle, with signs of sexual violence, bloody, with punctures in the neck area and strangled with a towel.

Eliane was considered a well-liked person at the school where she worked, at the church and in the community where she lived. The news of her death and the suspect’s arrest brought a crowd to the front of the Military Police barracks, where he was being held.

The crime generated a lot of outrage among the population of the municipality (Photo: Reproduction)

Members of the church, parents of students, civil organizations defending women, called for justice and for the suspect not to be released.

According to the police, Romário already had a police record and is a drug user.

His parents attend the same church and Eliane was a pastor. He had already robbed the church.

He will be sent to a custody hearing and will be at the disposal of the Court.