Former Rio de Janeiro Military Police sergeant Ronnie Lessa, accused of the deaths of councilwoman Marielle Franco (PSOL) and driver Anderson Gomes, which occurred in 2018, stated this Wednesday (30) that he did not want to kill the driver.
“In terms of wanting to resolve it quickly, I consciously took the risk and, unfortunately, the Anderson issue happened. It wasn’t the purpose. I hit the councilwoman, but I knew the risk of hitting someone else,” said the former police officer.
According to Lessa, the weapon used in the crime — an MP5 submachine gun — would not be the most appropriate for the execution, due to its high piercing power and the fact that there were more people inside the car.
“For me, the most appropriate would be a revolver, because, by having more people in the car, you would reduce the risk of what happened to Anderson. If it had been a revolver, only the councilor would have died, not Anderson”, added Lessa.
According to the former police officer, the role of Élcio Queiroz, who also confessed to participating in the murder, was simply to drive the car. He reports that Queiroz positioned the vehicle exactly where he had requested to fire the shots, but accelerated ahead of schedule, which may have resulted in Anderson’s death.
“Élcio parked the car and I took the shots, he left me exactly where I wanted. I tried to fire shots at the target that was Marielle, knowing the risk because that ammunition was the most piercing of its caliber”, declared Lessa.
This Wednesday (30), the trial began that could convict Lessa and Élcio de Queiroz for the murder of Marielle and Gomes. They could be sentenced to up to 84 years in prison.
The two are being submitted to a popular jury and are being heard via video call. Before Ronnie, 9 witnesses had already been heard in court.
Invitation to Élcio
According to Lessa, the invitation to Élcio de Queiroz was made during a New Year’s party. According to the former police officer, he immediately accepted the proposal.
Lessa also revealed that she only informed Élcio about the victim’s identity on the day of the crime, a measure that aimed to prevent Marielle’s name from being leaked.
“In the new year, when I called him, he just said that there was a job to be done, without revealing who it was. My intention was that he wouldn’t know who it was,” said Lessa.
Furthermore, Lessa commented that Queiroz had always asked him for job opportunities since he was expelled from the Rio de Janeiro Military Police, which led to the invitation for him to participate in Marielle’s murder.
This content was originally published in Ronnie Lessa says he didn’t want to have killed driver Anderson Gomes on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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