Francisco de Assis Pereira da Costa, 53 years old, was arrested on Wednesday (8) in Parnaíba, on the coast of Piauí, . The crime, which occurred on January 1st, resulted in nine people becoming intoxicated, four of whom did not resist, including Francisco’s stepdaughter, Francisca Maria. The preventive detention was ordered after the police pointed out contradictions in the suspect’s versions and evidence of contempt on his part towards the victims.
Francisco lived with his partner, Maria dos Aflitos, and her children, with six of Maria’s eight children living in the house where the crime occurred. In addition to Francisca Maria (32 years old, Francisco’s stepdaughter and Manoel’s sister), the poisoning also killed Manoel da Silva (18 years old, Francisco’s stepson and Francisca’s brother), Igno Davi da Silva (1 year and 8 months old, son of Francisca), Maria Lauane (3 years old, Francisca’s daughter) and affected other people in the house.
A 4-year-old child, Francisca’s daughter, remains hospitalized at the Teresina Emergency Hospital (HUT), while four other victims were discharged.
According to delegate Abimael Silva, responsible for the case, the house where everyone lived was small, which already created a difficult living environment. “Francisco de Assis Pereira da Costa is one of the residents of the residence where the crime occurred. He is the partner of Maria dos Aflitos, mother of eight children, six of whom live in the house. Among them was Mrs. Francisca Maria, who was the last adult victim, and who also had three children who lived there. So, it was a small house, which accommodated 11 people. There was insufficient space”, explained Abimael.
See the moment of the suspect’s arrest:
The poisoning occurred during lunch on January 1st, when everyone consumed contaminated baião de Dois. According to investigations, the night before, December 31st, the family had prepared the dish in a large pan, which was left on the stove throughout the night. Everyone helped themselves to the food, including the children, but, at that moment, no one showed signs of poisoning. It was only the next day that the symptoms began to appear.
“The poison used, terbufós, has a peculiar characteristic: its symptoms begin to appear between 30 minutes and one hour after consumption, and reach their peak between one and four hours. The preparation of the food took place the night before the party, which ended around 3am or 4am, when Francisco de Assis, responsible for closing the house, revealed that he went to bed and was the last to lock the house. There were no reports of strange people entering the place”, explained the delegate.
Francisco also consumed the same food, but, after feeling unwell, he was taken to the hospital, where he was quickly discharged. The first investigations pointed to the possibility that the poisoning had been caused by fish that had been donated to the family, but laboratory tests ruled out this hypothesis. The expert report from the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) confirmed that the substance responsible for the deaths was terbufós, a highly toxic poison used as an insecticide, found exclusively in the baião de Dois consumed by the family.
Based on the evidence, the Civil Police concluded that Francisco was the main suspect responsible for the crime, mainly after finding several contradictions in his statements and a history of hostility and contempt on his part towards the victims, especially his stepdaughter Francisca Maria .
“He gave more than three versions of what happened in that interval. (…) In addition to having complete contempt for Dona Francisca’s children, whom he called primates, they lived like a tribe of Indians, unhygienic people, people he didn’t want to live with, but tolerated. Specifically for Mrs. Francisca Maria, he said that she was a creature who had a stupid, foolish, cunning mind, dead of laziness, useless, practically almost useless”, reported the delegate about Francisco’s testimony.
Therefore, Francisco de Assis Pereira da Costa is, to date, the main suspect in the crime. However, delegate Abimael Silva reinforced that the investigation remains ongoing, with a deadline of 30 days for the conclusion of the police investigation, which may be extended – the same period as Francisco’s temporary arrest.
