Brazil: Ex-lawmaker jailed for 50 years for husband's murder

Brasilia, Nov 14: A court in Rio de Janeiro sentenced former Brazilian lawmaker and Evangelical pastor Flordelis dos Santos to 50 years in prison on Sunday over the 2019 murder of her husband.

Dos Santos, 61, and her husband pastor Anderson do Carmo were famous for adopting street children from slums of Rio de Janeiro.

Several of the couple's 55 children were also accused of being complicit in the pastor's murder.

Simone dos Santos Rodrigues, the former congresswoman's biological daughter, received a sentence of 31 years in prison.

A biological son of Dos Santos was last year found guilty of being the gunman who shot his stepfather and jailed for 33 years.

Four further adopted children and a granddaughter were acquitted.

What happened in the murder of Anderson do Carmo?

Do Carmo was gunned down at the door of the couple's Rio de Janeiro house in the early morning of June 16, 2019.

Gospel singer dos Santos had claimed that armed robbers on motorcycles had chased them and attacked her husband.

Police investigations later implicated Dos Santos in the murder of her husband in collusion with some of their children.

Prosecutors charged her with with "orchestrating the homicide, enlisting (several of her grown children) to take part in the crime and attempting to disguise it as an armed robbery."

Flordelis dos Santos: From slum to parliament to prison

Dos Santos, born in a Rio favela or slum, was elected to Congress for the Social Democratic Party in 2018.

She was shielded by parliamentary immunity despite the fact that she was accused of murder with a probable motivation to seize control of the couple's wealth.

They were influential players in Brazil's Evangelical movement.

Dos Santos was stripped of her protection from prosecution after nearly all of her fellow lawmakers voted against it.

The former congresswoman was also found guilty of making at least six prior attempts to poison her spouse.

The Public Prosecutor's Office also filed a case alleging document forgery and armed criminal association.

Source: DW