Case became known as a crime of 113 South; Defense calls for annulment of the 61 -year conviction for lack of access to evidence.
The Superior Court of Justice () will resume on 2 September the trial of Adriana Villela, accused of being the mastermind of the parents and the maid in Brasilia, in the episode known as a crime of 113 Sul. The architect was sentenced to 61 years in 2019 by the Jury Court, but is waiting for the decision.
At the last session, in August, the only registered vote was by Minister Sebastião Reis Júnior, favorable to the annulment of the conviction since the instruction phase of the criminal action. According to him, the defense was harmed by the lack of access to videos with testimonials from other defendants. The trial was suspended after Minister Og Fernandes’s request, leaving the score 1-1.
Remember the case
On August 31, 2009, the bodies of the retired TSE minister, José Guilherme Villela, his wife, Maria Villela, and the maid Francisca Nascimento, were found in an 113 south apartment in Brasilia. The victims were killed with 78 stab wounds.
The initial investigation was marked by irregularities: the responsible delegate, Martha Vargas, even used a testimony of a seer, tamper with evidence and enter false information. In 2016, she was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for procedural fraud, ideological falsehood, torture and violation of confidentiality.
After changing the case, three men – Leonardo Campos Alves, Paulo Cardoso Santana and Francisco Mairlon Aguiar – confessed to the crime and were sentenced to 55 years in prison in 2012. According to the accusation, Adriana Villela hired Leonardo to kill her parents in exchange for money and jewelry.
Ten years later, in 2019, she was tried as the mastermind of the crime in a lawsuit that became the longest in the history of the Federal District, with ten days of sessions and 103 hours of trial. The initial penalty of 67 years and six months was reduced to 61 years in 2022.
What does the defense ask
In the appeal to the STJ, Adriana’s lawyers ask for the jury to annul and a new trial, alleging defense curtailment. For them, the lack of complete access to testimonial videos committed the contradictory. Adriana denies participation in the crime.
