Colonel Malhães held to have died from heart attack

According to his disposition permit, retired Army Colonel Paulo Malhães died from a heart attack. The document – issued along with his death certificate to allow burial or cremation procedures to go ahead – the cause of death is described as “pulmonary edema, myocardial ischemia, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, outcome of morbid state [disease].”

A month ago, the official had given testimony to the National Truth Commission (CNV), set up to investigate crimes committed during the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964 – 1985). He was the first military officer to admit to torture, murder, and concealment of political prisoners' corpses during the dictatorship.

Malhães died on Friday (Apr. 25), when three men broke into his home in the city of Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, finding him with his wife and the house caretaker. This raised initial suspicions that the colonel had been murdered. A number of weapons were stolen from Malhães's collection in the burglary.

At the funeral on Saturday (Apr. 26), relatives were avoiding the press. “We are now burying our father – our husband – the girls' grandfather. The colonel – the tyrant – is your picture of him. Our memories will be of the father. The dictatorship colonel is a distinct person from whom we used to know,” said Malhães's daughter, who identified herself merely as Carla.

Malhães's son-in-law, Nelson Viana, said the family has no idea of the circumstances of the burglary. “They say it was robbery. We have no guesses.” Asked whether Malhães had been receiving any threats, Viana said that “he has never mentioned anything – whether before or after [speaking to the CNV] – and we would simply comply. He has always been a private person and keep to himself. We were really surprised by the revelations.”

Translated by Mayra Borges