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On the night of August 28, 2009, former Minister of the Superior Electoral Court () José Guilherme Villela, his wife, lawyer Maria Villela, and the couple’s housekeeper Francisca Nascimento were brutally murdered in what became known as. The tragedy marked by twists and errors turns 16 on Thursday (28/8), with four convicts in a long process that will have a decisive chapter next week.
On Tuesday (2/9), the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) will analyze the conviction of architect Adriana Villela as mastermind of the death of her parents by the Jury Court. In 2019 – 10 years after the crime – she was sentenced to 67 years and 6 months in prison, in the trial considered the longest in the history of the Federal District, lasting 10 days.
What the STJ can decide:
- If the STJ form majority to maintain Adriana’s conviction, the case goes to the Federal District and Territory Court (TJDFT) to execute her immediate arrest. The decision would comply with the request of the Public Prosecution Service of the DF and Territories (MPDFT), the Federal Public Prosecution Service (MPF) and the assistance to the prosecution.
- Jury Annulment: The STJ can vote with Minister Sebastião Reis and choose to annul the process from the instructional phase. Thus, the case would return to the TJDFT and it would be necessary to pronounce the defendants again – that is, to decide whether they became defendants or not.
- It is forbidden to have a new request for a view.
Adriana became 19 days arrested, but was released from the absence of criminal record and having attended all the hearings. In 2022, the Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT) rejected, in the second instance, the request for annulment of the trial and decreased the penalty of the defendant to 61 years and 3 months of imprisonment, in addition to the payment of 17 fine days.
Since then, the defendant’s defense has appealed from decisions, and she responds to the case in freedom. In a process that drags on in comings and goings, the result of an investigation marked by errors, such as the support of a seer to help the Federal District Civil Police. and see the possible consequences of the crime.
The crime
The murders took place in the roof apartment of Block C of 113 Sul, court in prime area of the federal capital. The couple Villela and the family maid were murdered on Friday, but the bodies were only found on Monday on August 31. The granddaughter, Carolina Villela, distrusted her grandfather’s absence in the family office and went to check what happened. Upon entering the apartment, he saw the bodies of his grandparents on the floor with more than 70 stab wounds.
Since then, the country has accompanied the developments of history, which exposed weaknesses in the investigations, was marked by film judgments.
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Throughout the investigations, police identified three suspects: Leonardo Campos Alves, former portfolio of the building; Paulo Cardoso Santana, nephew of the former portfor; and Francisco Mairlon, allegedly partner of Leonardo. The trio denounced Adriana as the mastermind of homicides.
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For the prosecutor, the crime was committed due to financial disagreements between daughter and parents. Former Bloc C spooncarer 113 South was accused of receiving money from the architect to simulate a robbery at the family home before killing the victims to stab wounds. Leonardo was sentenced to 60 years in prison; Paul at 62 years; and Francisco Mairlon, 55. The three remain arrested.
Adriana’s defense, however, claims that she is innocent; that the crime was a murder and that investigations failed to consider the architect’s alibis who would leave it far from the crime scene on the fateful day.
Remember the procedural steps of the case:
- The two versions were taken to the Brasilia Jury Court in 2019 in a trial that lasted 10 days and more than 100 hours, being the longest in the history of the Federal District.
- The total penalty was fixed in 67 years and 6 months of imprisonment, in a closed initial regime. Shortly after the sentence, the lawyers filed an appeal.
- In 2022, three years after the jury’s judgment, the 1st Criminal Class of the TJDFT analyzed the first appeal of the case.
- Unanimously, the judges decided to maintain the accusation, but reduced the sentence to 61 years and three months.
- Then the defense required the STJ to annul the jury – claiming that one of the jurors was biased; and that the investigation was disastrous and did not consider evidence that would innocent Adriana Villela. The request was stopped at the top court until this year.
Immediate arrest request
In October 2024, after the publication of the judgment of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) ruling, which validated the immediate execution of a penalty imposed by the jury to convicts, the Federal District Public Prosecution Service and Territories (MPDFT) requested the same measure for Adriana.
However, the request was initially filed with the TJDFT. In November 2024, the Court declined competence for the STJ.
