Uncle Paulo: Police make new accusations against elderly niece; find out details

Rio police filed new charges against Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes, niece of the elderly man who was taken dead to a bank branch to take out a loan of R$17,000. According to information released by g1 this Tuesday (30), the woman is now also being investigated for manslaughter, when there is no intention to kill.

Érika has been preventively detained in Bangu since April 16th, when she was arrested in the act following the discovery of the death of Paulo Roberto Braga, from 68 years old. At the time, she was accused of attempted theft through fraud and vilification of a corpse, that is, treating the corpse with contempt and without due respect.

In the documents that attest to the end of the first phase of the investigation, delegate Fabio Luiz Souza, from the 34th DP (Bangu), concluded that there was a “glaring omission of assistance”. “Considering that on 4/16/2024, certainly realizing that Paulo was in a serious life-threatening situation, which can be seen from the statements of all the witnesses who had contact with the victim, instead of going to the hospital again, she went to the shopping mall, configuring a blatant failure to provide assistance, I determine; a new incident must be registered to investigate the crime of culpable homicide”he wrote in the order.

In other sections, Luiz Souza points out new evidence that could constitute the crime of homicide. According to the agent, Érika made an attempt to put her uncle’s money in her own account and another to withdraw the amount on her own. For him, it is “of course, Paulo was already a corpse when Érika took him to the agency and, above all, that she knew this fact, as he has his head down and without any movement, however, right before entering she holds him by the neck so that he remains with their head raised, simulating a living person.”

“Inside the agency, she continues with this simulation while waiting for assistance, as she remains holding her neck and when she lets go, her head “falls” backwards, which is impossible to happen to a living person, so she holds it again and pretends that talks to, but lets go of her neck once again and her head falls again, holding her back”described the delegate.

To date, Paulo’s death has not been clarified, as the report was considered inconclusive. The elderly man’s body, however, has already been buried. “If in fact Paulo arrived at the shopping mall alive, his death occurred shortly afterwards, as in images from the establishment itself it is possible to see his head falling back with his mouth open, as well as on the journey to the bank, all witnessed by witnesses who were at the scene and had visual contact with Paulo ifalways motionless, with his head down, an image identical to the one seen inside the bench”asked the policeman.

The delegate concludes: “There is no doubt that Érkia knew about Paulo’s death, but, as it was her last chance to withdraw the money from the loan, she brought the corpse into the bank, simulated for several minutes that he was alive, even pretending to give water, took the pen and held the hand of Paulo’s corpse in his hand, however, as the bank employees did not divert their attention, he was unable to sign.”.

The case

Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes was arrested on the 16th, after taking the body of Paulo Roberto Braga, 68 years old, in a wheelchair to a bank branch in Bangu, West Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The employees were suspicious of the woman’s behavior and the elderly man’s appearance, and called the police.

According to information from agents working on the investigation, the elderly man was taken to the bank twice by his niece, after being discharged from hospital. He was admitted to a UPA (Emergency Care Unit) in Bangu, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, on the 15th.

The autopsy examination report was released on the 17th, by the IML. According to the document, Paulo died as a result of bronchoaspiration of stomach contents and heart failure, compatible with that of a previously ill man. However, experts are still awaiting the results of toxicological tests to confirm whether external factors could indicate homicide, such as a drug that may have been ingested by the elderly man.

The report did not confirm whether the elderly man died before arriving at the bank or at the scene. However, a witness interviewed by the police stated that Paulo was alive moments before being filmed inside the agency.