Caretaker arrested for involvement in dictatorship colonel’s death

The police arrested on Tuesday (Apr. 29) Rogério Pires, the caretaker who used to work on the farm where former Army Colonel Paulo Malhães, 76, died last week. The police declared he was taken into custody for the crime of theft followed by murder under a provisional arrest warrant issued after he gave his second testimony.

The caretaker confessed to having taken part in the crime committed last Thursday (24), on the colonel’s farm, in a rural area in Rio de Janeiro, after the police noted a number of contradictions in his testimonies.

The death of the military man drew national attention as initial suspicions arose that the colonel had been killed in an act of revenge, since he had admitted late in March to crimes of torture perpetrated during the military dictatorship. The National Truth Commission requested the Federal Police to follow the investigations into his death.

The official died after three burglars broke into his house on his farm. His death, however, might have been caused by a heart attack, according to a document issued for his funeral.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira