The body of lawyer Anic de Almeida Peixoto Herdy was found by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, 25th, in Petrópolis, Serrana Region of Rio. She had been missing since February 29th.
His remains were located in a wall in the backyard of the house of Lourival Correa Netto Fadiga, who worked for the victim’s family and confessed to having committed the crime.
Fadiga himself told the police where the woman’s body was. The motive for the crime would be a family issue, said the lawyer. Benjamin’s defense denies that he participated in the crime and classified Fadiga’s confession as an “act of desperation and cruelty”.
Who is Anic?
Anic was 54 years old, a lawyer, a Psychology student and married to Benjamin Cordeiro Herdy, 78 years old, heir to a family that owned an important educational group in Rio. The couple lived in Petrópolis, in the Serrana region of Rio de Janeiro.
When and how did she disappear?
The lawyer was last seen on February 29 leaving a shopping mall in Petrópolis. The establishment’s surveillance cameras showed that she stopped the car in the parking lot, exchanged messages on her cell phone and, minutes later, left the shopping center, crossing a street. Afterwards, she was never seen again.
What was the alleged kidnapping like?
On the same day that Anic disappeared, Benjamin received a message on his cell phone informing him that she had been kidnapped. The messages, sent from the lawyer’s own cell phone, also contained threats against her and advised her not to contact the police.
The kidnappers asked for R$4.6 million as a ransom and Benjamin transferred the amount to the criminals. Without Anic’s return, the case was only reported to the police 14 days later, by a daughter, and began to be investigated by the 105th DP (Petrópolis). An audio of a telephone conversation between Benjamin and Lourival was recorded by the daughter.
According to Lourival’s defense, the kidnapping was a way of covering up the murder, which would have been arranged with Benjamin himself, but never actually happened, as the lawyer would have been killed on the day she disappeared. Excluding the crime of kidnapping would reduce the penalty to be paid.
Benjamin’s defense denies that he participated in the crime. The case continues to be investigated.
Who are the suspects?
Four suspects were arrested for the alleged kidnapping and disappearance of Anic. One of them is Lourival, who would be a trusted man in the family and who ordered the crime. He presented himself as a federal police officer, but, according to investigations, he never joined the corporation.
In addition to Lourival, a couple of his children and a woman who had a relationship with him were arrested. The Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MP-RJ) filed a complaint against them. Investigators had access to everyone’s phones and crossed location data from the day of the kidnapping and the payment of ransoms, which indicated possible involvement of the children and wife.
How was Anic’s body found?
Anic’s remains were found this Wednesday, 25th, concreted in a wall in the backyard of Lourival’s house, in Petrópolis, as the defendant indicated to the police in a statement given this week. The body was identified as hers through a dental examination carried out by experts from the Rio Medico-Legal Institute. The causes of death have not yet been confirmed.
This content was originally published in Caso Anic: what is known about the lawyer’s death in RJ on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
