Brazilian congresswoman is impeached after she 'enlisted her own CHILDREN to murder her pastor husband'
A Rio de Janeiro congresswoman who is charged with arranging her husband's 2019 murder and enlisting their children to carry out the hit has been impeached from Brazil's lower house.
Flordelis dos Santos' removal was approved by 437 votes to 7 during a special session held in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday. Twelve lawmakers abstained from removing dos Santos from office.
Anderson do Carmo, 42, was assassinated on June 16, 2019, when he was shot more than 30 times as the couple walked into their home in the Rio de Janeiro city of Niterói. Nine of the shots struck do Carmo in the pelvic area.
The 60-year-old dos Santos was not injured in the shooting.
The couple raised 50 children, including four of their own. Five adopted children and two biological children are under arrest along with one granddaughter.
She to obstruct the investigations with theses of robbery, confusing the police, directing the police in different paths from those in which, in fact, they would find the truth of the facts,' São Paulo congressman Alexandre Leite said on the house floor.
Dos Santos' legal team filed a habeas corpus with the 2nd Criminal Court of the Court of Rio de Janeiro to prevent her arrest.
Congresswoman Flordelis dos Santos speaks during Wednesday's emergency session at the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies after she was impeached. The 60-year-old was charged in August 2020 for her role in the June 2019 murder of her pastor husband Anderson do Carmo
Flordelis de Souza reportedly poisoned Anderson do Carmo on multiple occasions before she plotted his June 16, 2019 execution. Do Carmo was shot 30 times by their biological son, Flavio dos Santos, in front of their home in Niterói, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro
Flordelis de Souza and Anderson do Carmo pose on October 2019 with some of their 50 children at their home in Niterói, a city in Rio de Janeiro
She was formally charged with her husband's killing on August 24, 2020, the same day authorities announced the arrests of biological children Adriano dos Santos and Simone dos Santos, and adopted children André de Oliveira, Carlos Silva, Marzy Teixeira and Simone dos Santos. Their granddaughter, Rayane dos Santos was also taken into custody.
The couple's biological son, Flavio dos Santos, who shot do Carmo, and adopted son Lucas dos Santos, who purchased the gun used in the shooting, were already in police custody. Former police officer, Marcos Siqueira, had also been under arrest for forging a document.
Despite dos Santos' alleged involvement, she has remained out of prison due to her immunity as a member of congress.
Police said dos Santos motive was 'a struggle for power and her financial emancipation.'
Authorities said that the couple's relationship had been fractured and that Flordelis dos Santos' motive for ordering the murder of her husband, Anderson do Carmo, was the result of 'a struggle for power and her financial emancipation'
Flordelis dos Santos, removed as congresswoman by Brazil's Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, poses with her husband, Anderson do Carmo, whom she ordered killed in July 2019, and some of their 50 children
'Flordelis, in addition to devising this entire plan, financed the purchase of this weapon, convinced people to carry out this crime, warned of the victim's arrival at the scene and tried to hide evidence,' lead investigator Allan Duarte said at the time of the August 2020 apprehensions. 'There is no doubt that she was the intellectual author, the great head of this crime.'
Dos Santos reportedly had attempted to poison Anderson do Carmo several times beginning in May 2018, according to Brazilian digital news outlet G1. She reportedly laced his food with arsenic, which resulted in multiple hospital visits.
'The relationship between the deputy and her ex-husband, in view of the intercepted conversations, had been going on for a long time, had been in bad shape for a long time, and had gone badly, until it took this tragic end,' congressman Leite said.
Anderson do Carmo and Flordelis dos Santos had four children and raised another 46 who were adopted
Dos Santos and do Carmo had four children and raised another 46 who were adopted.
She was born in Jacarezinho, one of Rio de Janiero's most dangerous favelas, and rose to prominence as an evangelical church pastor and gospel singer before she was elected to congress in 2018.
The disgraced congresswoman defended herself following the vote, which she described as 'cruel and cowardly.'
'If I leave here today, I'll leave with my head held high because I know I'm innocent and everyone will know I'm innocent. My innocence will be proven,' dos Santos said. 'I'll keep fighting to guarantee my freedom, the freedom of my children and mine family, which is also being wronged with everything that is happening. My family is suffering. My family is being judged.'