Two political brothers and a former police officer arrested for having Marielle killed

Six years and ten days after the execution of councilwoman Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes, the Federal Police of Brazil (PF) arrested the alleged perpetrators of the crime in Operation Murder Inc, launched in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry Public, early Sunday morning, in Rio de Janeiro. Domingos Brazão, advisor to the Rio Court of Auditors, and his brother, federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão, from the União Brasil party, were arrested as creators of the attack on March 14, 2018. Rivaldo Barbosa, former police chief of Rio Rio is appointed by the PF as the execution planner. The three have already been sent to a penitentiary in Brasília.

Furthermore, Murder Inc, in an allusion to the armed wing of the New York mafia in the 1930s, issued 12 search and seizure warrants against, among others, police officer Giniton Lages, head of the Homicide Division at the time of the attack and the first to investigate it, Marcos Antônio de Barros Pinto, one of his main subordinates, and Erica Araújo, Rivaldo Barbosa’s wife, whose assets were blocked because, according to the PF, her company laundered money for her husband.

The motivation for the crime is not yet completely clear, but the PF believes that Marielle was hindering the territorial expansion of the militias in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, a region in which the Brazão family has strong political, electoral and real estate influence.

“The police, in their investigations, identified the masterminds and others involved in this matter. Of course, more elements may emerge, but at this moment, the work has been considered closed”, said Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski at a press conference. “This moment is a victory for the Brazilian State, for the country’s security forces, against organized crime.”

The testimony of Ronnie Lessa, the perpetrator of the crime, in recent weeks was considered a fundamental starting point for the development of the case. Élcio Queiroz, driver of the car from which Lessa shot 13 times to kill Marielle and Anderson, had already collaborated with the authorities last year.

Ubiratan Guedes, Domingos’ lawyer, said he is “absolutely certain” that his client is innocent. Alexandre Dumans, Rivaldo Barbosa’s defender, stated that his client did not obstruct the investigations: “On the contrary, it was during his administration that Ronnie Lessa was arrested”. Chiquinho’s defense did not comment until the end of this edition.

The Brazão brothers, politicians with a long history in the state of Rio de Janeiro and influence in Jacarepaguá, a region dominated by paramilitary groups, had already been named as suspects over these six years.

Domingos, while a counselor at the Court of Auditors, was arrested for embezzling money from the body. The suspect also admitted to having committed a homicide at the age of 22, of which he was acquitted. “I did kill someone, a criminal who came to my house on my birthday.” Chiquinho, a gas station businessman, was elected federal deputy in 2018 by the center-right Avante party and in 2022 by the right-wing União Brasil.

Barbosa’s inclusion in the group of principals caused surprise as he was supposedly a friend of Marielle. “My daughter trusted him and his work. He told the family right after the crime that it was a matter of honor to clarify the case”, said Marinete Silva, mother of the councilor, in an interview with GloboNews.

“It was Rivaldo Barbosa that I called when I heard about the murder of Marielle and Anderson and I was going to the scene of the crime,” Marcelo Freixo, the councilwoman’s political mentor, said on social media. “He was head of the Civil Police and received the families the next day with me. Now Rivaldo is in prison for having acted to protect those who ordered the crime, preventing the investigations from progressing. It says a lot about Rio de Janeiro”.

Barbosa took over as head of the civil police exactly on the eve of the crime following a decision by General Braga Netto, the then federal intervener in Rio de Janeiro, and against the opinion of the state intelligence department. Braga Netto was later Jair Bolsonaro’s minister and candidate for his vice president in the 2022 elections.

“All arrests are preventive and there is still a lot to be investigated and clarified, especially about clarifying the motivations for a crime as cruel as this”, said Anielle Franco, Marielle’s sister and Minister of Racial Equality. “But, the coordinated efforts of the authorities are a spark of hope for us families.”

Marielle and Anderson were executed on March 14, 2018 after the councilor left an event with black women in the center of Rio. Halfway home, Ronnie Lessa, in a car driven by Élcio Queiroz, shot 13 times against the vehicle, killing the councilwoman and the driver. Fernanda Chaves, Marielle’s advisor, survived with minor injuries.