3 days ago
Beauty queen strangled to death by longtime family friend after he revealed shocking secret
A young beauty queen was allegedly strangled to death by a longtime family friend who confessed his love for her - only to fly into a murderous rage when she rejected his advances.
Suspect Marcelo Alves, 40, told police that he made up a story about a job opportunity in Sorocaba, Brazil, and pitched it to Raissa da Silva, 23.
Video footage showed da Silva getting in a vehicle with Alves, an up-and-coming comedian, on June 2 and waving at her family before they reported her missing.
They went out for lunch and then visited his home in Curitiba, where Alves admitted to da Silva that he loved her, according to Paraná Civil Police chief Aline Manzatto.
Alves, who is known on stage as Alves Li Pernambuco, said that da Silva got upset and insulted him before he strangled her with a plastic wire.
'He said he was angry and out of control, that he took the plastic wire and strangled the victim, leaving her in one room of the house and going to another,' Manzatto said.
Alves returned to the room 10 minutes later to find her dead.
Manzatto indicated that Alves placed da Silva's body in a tarp and wrapped it before sealing it with duct tape. He then called his son, Dhony, who begged him to turn himself in to the police.
Alves then borrowed a vehicle from a friend, and with the assistance of his son transported the body to a forest in the town of Araucária - about 18 miles from Curitiba - and buried da Silva.
On Monday, Alves went to a police station in Curitiba and admitted to killing da Silva and hiding her body.
He gave his confession just moments after sending da Silva's sister audio message copping to the crime, the victim's family's lawyer told Brazilian news outlet G1.
Alves provided the location of da Silva's body and led cops to the site.
Da Silva, a native of Paulo Alfonso, was only 10 years old when she met Alves, a friend of the family, at a martial art class he taught.
She was crowned Miss Serra Branca Teen in 2020 and had been doing modeling work in Curitiba, where she lived the past three years.
Da Siva's cousin, Herbert Guilherme, told G1 that Alves even offered to assist the family in their search after she went missing because da Silva saw him as a father figure
'When I found out about her disappearance, I called him,' Guilherme said. 'He lied the whole time. He kept saying he was going to help me find her.'
Alves remains jailed on charges of homicide and concealment of a body.
Dhony was charged with concealing a corpse and was released after posting bail.
The comedian's lawyer, Caio Percival, told RPC television that he has a clean record and had never stepped inside a police precinct before his confession.
'There is no secret to this, it is a crime of passion,' Percival said. '[He] unfortunately was dragged by passion into this situation that is clearly out of the ordinary.
