The ringing of the phone on hold mingled with the anxious beating of her heart, rumbling in her ears. The hands of the clock seemed to tick slower and slower as she waited for someone to answer her call.
It was at that moment that, on the other end of the line, a public official finally answered the phone. Without delay, with a broken voice, Fernando Alves Ferreira He said, “She’s missing.”
(Also: The story of the man who attended the funeral and comforted his victim’s mother.)
The first call alerted the authorities. It was early morning and, from his tone of voice, he seemed to be very urgent. That was how the intense -but brief- search for Eduarda Santos Almeidaa 26-year-old girl who, apparently, was being sought by her friend.
However, it was not long; just a few hours later, a group of horrified tourists found the corpse of a woman with brown hair and brown skin. It was her.
The early morning of February 16
The volume of the radio filled the Chevrolet Joy that Alves Ferreira was driving. The dark streets were slightly illuminated by the light poles that were between kilometer 25 of Bustillo Avenue, Argentina, until an access path to the Circuito Chico viewpoint. Next to her, the young Brazilian Eduarda Santos was in the passenger seat, while her three children were in the back.
It was one in the morning on February 16, 2022 when they finally reached their destination: the Lago Escondido viewpoint. However, the atmosphere inside the vehicle was far from pleasant. The tension was mounting as an argument between the two adults escalated. So much so that Santos felt that his life was in danger.
Quickly, she opened the door and ran out into the bushes in the area, known for its natural conservation.
A few kilometers away, dozens of tourists rested peacefully in the Hotel Llao Llao, located in Puerto Pañuelo, one of the most touristic places in Bariloche. Everything was quiet, until the loud sound coming from a 357 Magnum pistol broke in with the serenity of silence.
One, two, three, four… the count was lost after a few seconds. Eduarda Santos fell to her knees to the ground, her breathing ragged and her life slowly leaving her. Alves Ferreira had reached her and at point blank range decided to shoot her more than once.
Investigators determined that of the nine bullets, six of them impacted his body, perforating the two lungs, an arm, the hip and the face of the young woman.
(Be sure to read: Gilgo Beach murders: the mysterious case that has not been solved for more than 10 years).
A crime without a plan
The clues were compelling and, in less than 24 hours, there was already a suspect to capture.
After shooting him, Alves returned to his vehicle, in which were the two twins and a baby who had been born through a surrogate womb process with Santos.
This was because, according to the investigation, the 27-year-old man had established a relationship with another man with whom he had failed to have children.
Unfortunately, after the twins were born, her partner passed away.
After this, he started the car and drove until 2:30 am, the time he got home. There, he discarded the weapon among some bushes, went in and left the children, and then took Santos’ cell phone and started writing to his contacts. The Prosecutor’s Office believes that it was to be able to separate her from her loved ones.
Nevertheless, He did not expect that hours later the body would be reported, much less that the Police would question him.at which time he was captured due to inconsistencies in his statements.
‘My name is Amanda’
Two days later, he confessed at a hearing for charges that he had, in fact, murdered Eduarda Santos.
“I am guilty of Eduarda’s death. I am responsible, but I did not plan it. I could have escaped and I did not,” he said at first.
There, on February 18 of that year, 2022, he introduced himself as Fernando Alves Ferreira, 29 years old. He then faced triple aggravated murder charges: femicide, treachery and use of firearms.
(It may be of interest to you: ‘La Lambada’: this was the tragic end of Kaoma’s vocalist, Loalwa Braz).
But everything took an unexpected turn when, ten months after the murderduring a hearing held on April 14, the defendant arrived wearing a sweater, hair pulled back, and subtle makeup.
Cautiously they sat down once more in front of the judge, took out their papers, leaned back, and comfortably made a statement that would slightly change the charges on which he was being tried.
His lawyers Nelson Vigueras and Mónica Goye, and until then Fernando Alves, announced that the defendant perceived himself as a woman.
It was then that the defense began to work so that he was not charged with triple qualified homicide, explaining that Alves Ferreira had identified himself that way since his adolescence. “Amanda is and was a woman before”Vigueras said.
‘I plead guilty’; Life imprisonment for Alves Ferreira
After hearing the arguments of the parties, Judge Juan Martin Arroyo He imposed the maximum sentence for the defendant on September 7 and requested an extension of preventive detention while the sentence was formalized.
Two months earlier, on June 30, the popular jury found Alves Ferreira guilty of crimes that are only sentenced to life imprisonment, an issue that was ratified in September.
The defender tried to challenge the constitutionality of this sentence, alleging that it would be cruel and inhumane and requested that the criminal scale be considered for the crime of simple homicide, which gives a maximum of 25 years in prison.
This occurred after Alves agreed to murder her and tried to justify his actions.
“Eduarda was not submissive, quite the opposite (…) The violence that we suffered at home after Eduarda’s arrival was constant. My priority was my children,” said Amanda.
According to the defendant’s statements, Santos would be involved in drug trafficking issues, which is why she had “tried to protect her children.” However, the judge dismissed these statements.
In the trial that follows Fernando Alves Ferreira for the death of Eduarda Santos. The allegations of the prosecution and the defense have already been presented. At the moment, the decision of the jury is awaiting, which is deliberated. pic.twitter.com/GRKbVGsmOR
– Leonel Tornes Antúnez (@AntunezTornes) June 30, 2023
Seeing this, the defense also tried to explain that on the day of the crime, Amanda experienced a transient mental disorder which led her to not understand his actions. However, this argument was not accepted.
After fourteen months of trials and investigations, a people’s jury, after almost three hours of deliberation, dismissed the aggravating circumstance of femicide, but found him guilty of felony homicide. This type of homicide is characterized by betraying the trust and gratitude of the victim, in addition to taking advantage of their vulnerable or defenseless situation.
But why couldn’t they charge him with femicide? Well, the judge explained to the jurors that “for there to be a femicide, it must not only be proven that the perpetrator is a man, but also that there was a context of gender violence.” And, in this case, the defendant perceived herself as a woman.
In Argentina, Law 26,791 modified article 80 of the Penal Code in 2012in order to include andThe feminicide as an aggravating circumstance of the crime of homicide. This law qualifies an act as femicide when it is perpetrated by a man from gender violence and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
Finally, until the process ruled by the judge is completed, Alves will be in pretrial detention until the sentence is final.
Laura Natalia Bohorquez Roncancio
LATEST NEWS EDITORIAL
More news in EL TIEMPO
#vile #murderer #perceived #woman #avoided #convicted #femicide