The sentences of brothers Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão for the double murder of Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes are closely equivalent to the conviction of the confessed perpetrator of the crime, former military police officer Ronnie Lessa.
A. For the investigation, they were the ones who ordered the crime. They were reported by Lessa.
Two years apart, the former military police officer was sentenced to 78 years and 9 months in prison. The militiaman’s trial was in October 2024 and
Lessa confessed to the crime to the Federal Police at the end of 2023, after the PF joined the investigation. He reached a plea bargain and named the masterminds for the first time in six years. He was serving time in a federal prison when he accepted the agreement and was transferred to a prison in the interior of São Paulo to be closer to his family.
In his statement, Lessa said that he acted for financial motivation and that he was hired as a hired killer.
Former councilor of the TCE-RJ (Rio de Janeiro State Audit Court), Domingos Brazão is named as one of those responsible for the councilor’s death. But not alone.
According to the PGR (Attorney General’s Office), he ordered Marielle’s murder for economic interests linked to land regularization in areas of Rio dominated by militias.
His brother, Francisco Brazão, known as Chiquinho, was a councilor in the capital of Rio de Janeiro at the time of the crime. The PGR points out that he and Domingos acted together in the decision to eliminate Marielle.
Chief Rivaldo Barbosa, former head of the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police, was acquitted of double homicide.
