A Brazilian pilates teacher’s husband and his mother have been accused of fatally poisoning her, according to multiple local media reports.
Larissa Rodrigues, 37, was found dead in her Ribeirão Preto apartment in the Brazilian state of São Paulo on March 22, per O Correio Brazilense.
On Tuesday, May 6, Rodrigues’ husband, Luíz Antônio Garnica, 38, who is a doctor, and his mother, Elizabete Arrabaça, 67, were arrested on suspicion of qualified homicide, G1 reported, citing the country’s Civil Police. G1 added that Rodrigues had recently discovered Garnica had been have an extramarital affair, citing investigators.
Local police chief Fernando Bravo alleged that Rodrigues had told friends she “felt sick every time her mother-in-law visited her,” per one of G1’s translated posts. It’s thought Arrabaca was the last person to see Rodrigues alive, the outlet stated.
“This is an indication that she was gradually poisoned, which corroborates all the information we received, that she felt ill during the week, after her mother-in-law’s visit. This is an indication that, for us, she was gradually poisoned,” Bravo said, the publication reported.
According to UOL, a toxicology report “concluded the cause of death as poisoning after finding the substance popularly known as ‘chumbinho’ in the victim’s body.”
“Chumbinho is a substance used as pesticide, but it is not sold over the counter in Brazil for domestic use,” toxicologist Daniel Junqueira Dorta, professor at the USP Chemistry Department, said, per G1.
“It is restricted and difficult to access. It leads to a cholinergic crisis [loss of motor function] and, depending on the extent and intensity of this crisis, it can lead to several factors, including the possibility of culminating in the death of the individual,” he added, according to the outlet.
The toxicology report also indicated traces of lead had been found in Rodrigues’ system, per G1. UOL reported, citing police, that Arrabaça had tried to buy lead 15 days prior to her daughter-in-law’s death, and had allegedly called a friend, who owns a farm, to ask if she had the substance.
Police officer Bravo claimed Garnica had attempted to get rid of evidence by cleaning their apartment after finding his wife in rigor mortis, UOL reported.
“His involvement was very obvious to us,” Bravo said, per the outlet.
Garnica had reportedly been having an affair, and police allegedly found his lover at the apartment when they carried out a search warrant, the outlet noted. The pair had allegedly gone to the movies together the day before Rodrigues’ death, UOL stated.
Arrabaça denied involvement in the murder case as she spoke briefly to reporters while on her way to a custody hearing on Wednesday, May 7, G1 noted. In an emailed statement to PEOPLE, Garnica’s lawyer, Julio Mossin, also denied all the charges against his client, insisting, “There is no evidence that he poisoned his wife or helped anyone else to do so.”
Rodrigues’ longtime friend, Maísa Ramos, said in an interview with TV Globo-affiliated EPTV of the last in-person conversation she had with Rodrigues about her marriage in February, “She knew it was a relationship that wasn’t working out, but she couldn’t leave. So much so that the last time we talked, she said ‘I can’t leave.’ … In the message we exchanged, she said it was out of fear, but she didn’t say what kind of fear,” per O Correio Brazilense.
Amid Rodrigues’ murder case, the Civil Police have also requested exhumation of the body of Garnica’s sister, who died in February, per G1.
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