Shock in Brazil by a prosecutor who murdered his wife in a macabre ritual: “Her body did not have a drop of blood”

Brazil is shocked by a femicide committed by a prosecutor, who murdered his wife in what is believed to be a macabre ritual: the forensic pathologists who studied the victim’s body concluded that he had “not a drop of blood”.

Lorenza de Pinho (41) She was murdered by her husband on April 2 in her apartment in Belo Horizonte, but the circumstances of her death have yet to be deciphered by investigators. The perpetrator, the prosecutor André Luiz de Pinho, has been in prison since April 4.

The suspicion that the crime was part of a macabre ritual arose because the autopsy report noted a lack of blood on the victim’s body. The coroner only managed to collect 25 milliliters of blood for analysis.

“A woman of normal weight has an average of 5 or 5 and a half liters of blood in her body,” said coroner Marcelo Mares Castro.

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The investigation found in the prosecutor’s diary two contacts from embalming lessons, a technique for preserving corpses, based on the exchange of blood for synthetic substances. In his testimony in court, André de Pinho denied having attended the courses.

De Pinho was denounced for femicide along with two doctors who signed a fake death certificate to protect him.

A night of terror

The public prosecutor (MP) gave details of what happened in the department where the couple lived, in the Buritis district, in Belo Horizonte. According to documents and testimonies, between the night of April 1 and the early hours of April 2, André poisoned Lorenza, with whom he was married for over 20 years and had 5 children, and then made him drink alcohol so that mixing the drug and alcohol would lead to her death.

As the quantity ingested was not sufficient, the prosecutor hanged her with his bare hands. After that, he called a hospital and asked for help. The doctor who arrived at the scene found Lorenza in rigor mortis, according to the complaint.

However, he said in the medical records that the victim’s body had electrical activity, albeit without a pulse. The investigation revealed that the information was false because the doctor did not have the equipment to make the diagnosis.

According to the deputy, the doctor also lied when describing the victim choking on her own vomit. The murderer and his accomplice contacted a second doctor to approve the masquerade and allow Lorenza’s body to be cremated to hide evidence.

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The cremation is said to take place the same day, but it was prevented after a delegate suspected there may have been a homicide. The policeman demanded that Lorenza’s body undergo an autopsy and, a few days later, test results confirmed the murder.

In addition to femicide, the prosecutor will take care of exposing his children – young children – to risks, since a revolver of his property was found in a cupboard of the house, loaded and within the reach of minors.

A recognized prosecutor

The case gained prominence in media across the country because prosecutor André de Pinho played a decisive role in the strategy of silencing the opponents of the candidate Aécio Neves during the 2014 presidential elections.

The prosecutor was part of the 11th Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Criminal Investigations in Belo Horizonte. At that time, people who publicly criticized Aécio were arrested