Couple accused of poisoning 10 people in Parnaíba held in custody after hearing
Justice maintained the preventive detention of Francisco de Assis and Maria dos Aflitos, defendants in the poisoning of 10 people in Piauí, eight of whom died.
Defendants deny crimes and attribute responsibility to one of the fatal victims
Justice maintained the preventive detention of Francisco de Assis Pereira da Costa e Silva and Maria dos Aflitos Silva following an instruction and judgment hearing held last Friday (5), reports g1.globo.com. The couple is charged with poisoning ten people in Parnaíba, on the coast of Piauí — eight of whom did not survive.
The defendants are accused of poisoning eight family members, a neighbour and her son. Two of the poisoning victims survived. The couple faces 11 charges: eight aggravated homicides and three attempted aggravated homicides, and has remained in custody since January of this year.
Maria dos Aflitos denies involvement and withdraws from earlier confession
Maria dos Aflitos gave testimony for approximately 20 minutes. She denied any participation in the crimes against the family members and stated that she believed the neighbour Lucélia Maria — initially arrested as the main suspect in the case — would have been responsible for the deaths that occurred in August 2024.
However, when another five family members died after eating poisoned rice on 1 January 2025, the defendant stated that she had become suspicious of her own partner and of friend Maria Jocilene da Silva. She also said she did not consume the rice because she had a hangover.
"I believed it was her [the neighbour], but when the other deaths happened, I became suspicious of 'de Assis', and it was 'de Assis' who killed my children, I have no guilt, I have no involvement. I'm paying for something I don't owe," she declared in the hearing.
The statement contradicts the testimony the defendant gave to police on 31 January, when, according to the court proceedings, she had actually confessed to killing Maria Jocilene in order to free Francisco de Assis of accusations. In the hearing, she retracted this and claimed that at the time she had "a lot on her mind".
Maria dos Aflitos also denied any romantic relationship with the victim Maria Jocilene, pointed out by the Civil Police during the investigation. "I never had anything to do with it, I never got involved with 'Joice'. We were just friends," she stated.
Delegate Abimael Silva, from the Civil Police of Parnaíba, detailed in testimony that Maria dos Aflitos had even smiled when reporting that Maria Jocilene had died from a heart problem.
Francisco de Assis testifies for an hour and points to the same victim
Francisco de Assis gave testimony for approximately one hour. He also attributed responsibility for the crimes to Maria Jocilene da Silva, one of the fatal victims. He described what, according to him, occurred on 23 August 2024, when two boys — Ulisses Gabriel da Silva, 8 years old, and his brother João Miguel da Silva, 7 years old — were admitted to hospital with suspected poisoning.
"João Miguel died on 22 August. This boy was very dear to me. The other one [Ulisses] died on 10 November. He was rather mischievous, but there were times when he was better and was affectionate. I showed him the same love," said the defendant.
Regarding the suspicion that falls on him, Francisco de Assis stated: "I suspect Jocilene all the time. When the boy starts coming to my house, Jocilene goes and comes along. It seems like it's set up."
When asked why he would be protecting Maria dos Aflitos, he responded: "I feel sorry for people, my heart is so good. I think it's the Christian side, it must be."
Hearing had been postponed for expert examination
The hearing was initially scheduled for 30 July, but was postponed by judge Willmann Izac Ramos Santos at the request of the Public Defence of Piauí, which requested a mental health examination of Francisco de Assis. The report, released on Tuesday (2), confirmed that the defendant is mentally sound.
The defence of Maria dos Aflitos also requested the postponement, arguing that her detention in Teresina would make it difficult for her to participate in person in the hearing. The defendant was even called to testify by videoconference.
The poisoning victims
The Public Ministry considers that one of the victims was targeted, at different times, for attempted homicide and for consummated homicide — hence the total of 11 charges for ten people poisoned. The identified victims are:
- Manoel Leandro da Silva, 18 years old (son of Maria dos Aflitos and stepson of Francisco de Assis) — deceased
- Francisca Maria da Silva, 32 years old (daughter of Maria dos Aflitos and stepdaughter of Francisco de Assis) — deceased
- Ulisses Gabriel da Silva, 8 years old (son of Francisca Maria) — deceased
- João Miguel da Silva, 7 years old (son of Francisca Maria) — deceased
- Maria Gabriela da Silva, 4 years old (daughter of Francisca Maria) — deceased
- Lauane da Silva, 3 years old (daughter of Francisca Maria) — deceased
- Igno Davi da Silva, 1 year and 8 months old (son of Francisca Maria) — deceased
- Maria Jocilene da Silva, 32 years old (former daughter-in-law of Maria dos Aflitos) — discharged from hospital, was hospitalised again 20 days later and died, also by suspected poisoning
- A 17-year-old girl (sister of Manoel and Francisca Maria) — discharged from hospital
- An 11-year-old boy (son of Maria Jocilene) — discharged from hospital
Timeline of the case
On 23 August 2024, Ulisses Gabriel and João Miguel were admitted to hospital with suspected poisoning. João died a few days later; Ulisses died in September. The neighbour Lucélia Maria was arrested in flagrante as the main suspect, having denied the crimes.
On 1 January 2025, nine members of the same family ingested rice poisoned with terbufós, a toxic substance similar to chumbinho. The deaths that followed led the investigation to point to the couple as responsible for the poisonings.
Source: Google News PT — Crime (pt)