“Uncle Paulo” case: delegate is convinced that woman noticed an elderly man’s death before entering a bank

New images recorded by security cameras at the bank where elderly Paulo Roberto Braga, 68, was allegedly taken dead to make a R$17,000 loan, show that he already entered the branch with his head down and appearing unconscious.

Based on the records, delegate Fábio Luiz Souza, head of the 34th DP (Bangu), “is convinced” that Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes, 42, had already realized that the elderly man was dead when he tried to withdraw the money. Erika is arrested and must answer for attempted theft through fraud and vilification of a corpse, which is the crime of disrespecting the dead.

The police believe that Paulo died while Erika, who would be his relative and caregiver, was walking with him in a shopping mall, moments before taking him to the bank, which is nearby. “Getting out of the car and inside the mall, my neck is still slightly on one side. Then, inside the mall, she stays behind and only gets up when she holds her”, says the police chief.

The sequence of new images shows that, around 1:40 pm on April 16, Erika walks with the elderly man along a sidewalk near the bank, located in the neighborhood of Bangu, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro. It is possible to see, in the corner of the image, that Paulo already has his head tilted back.

Afterwards, the camera at the bank's entrance records the two passing through the glass door of the establishment, and the elderly man appears to be unconscious, with his head completely tilted back. See the images below .

At around 2 pm, they pass through the revolving door of the bank branch, and it is possible to see that Erika even holds the elderly man's head. At this moment, she enters the treatment room with him where the video that went viral on social media last week was recorded.

Erika spends around five minutes sitting waiting for assistance with Paulo. During this time, she holds the elderly person's head with her hand at different times. When she removes her hand to go through the bag, his head falls.

At one point, she takes her uncle to the customer service desk and talks to a bank employee. Soon after, she goes to the bathroom, where she stays for approximately six minutes, and the employee holds Paulo's head during this time. Afterwards, Erika returns with a glass of water and tries to give it to the elderly man, but he doesn't move.

Soon after that, Erika tries to get Paulo to sign the loan. After failing, she sits back down, still holding her uncle's head. The same employee takes them both to a private room.

It is then possible to see that Paulo is taken out of the wheelchair and receives a heart massage from a bank employee. The Mobile Assistance Service (Samu) arrives at the scene minutes later and confirms the elderly man's death.

The autopsy report carried out by the Legal Medical Institute (IML) on the elderly man's body was unable to conclude whether he died before or after arriving at the bank. The responsible expert stated that the death could have occurred between 11:30 am and 2:30 pm, but that there were no safe elements to say, from a technical and scientific point of view, that the victim died on the way to the agency.

The delegate is still awaiting results of additional tests. “I don’t think it will change [o rumo das investigações]only if they find chemical substances”, explained Souza.

Remember the case

A woman, identified as Érika de Souza Vieira, was detained this Tuesday afternoon (16) by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro after taking a dead man in a wheelchair to the bank to withdraw a loan of R$17,000.

In the video, recorded by one of the bank's attendants, it is possible to see the corpse in the wheelchair, with the head being supported by the hand of the alleged niece. Erika calls the elderly man “Uncle Paulo”, but, in fact, she is the man’s cousin.

To take out the loan, Paulo had to sign a document, which was not possible since he was dead. Even so, Erika insists: “Uncle Paulo, are you listening? You need to sign. If you don't sign, there's no way. I can't sign for you, it has to be you. What I can do, I do.”

Even without the elderly man moving a finger, the supposed niece continues talking to the dead man, while trying to get the corpse's hand to pick up the pen: “It's kind of like the document here, look. Paulo Roberto Braga. You hold on, you hold on tight as hell to the chair there.”

Seeing that it was difficult to get her uncle's hand to pick up the pen, the niece asks the attendants: “Didn't he hold the door there?” Two female voices respond that they didn't see him hold it.

“Hold on, uncle. Sign so you don't give me any more headaches, having to go to the registry office. I can’t take it anymore”, continues Erika.

At that moment, the two attendants begin to intervene, “he’s not well, no”. That's when a fly lands on a man's nose. Erika begins to ask the corpse: “Are you feeling anything? But he doesn’t say anything!” The attendants repeat that the man does not appear to be well, “his color is not staying…”. Erika responds by saying that her uncle is like that.

The niece ends the video by asking her dead uncle: “If you don't get well, I'm going to take you to the hospital. Do you want to go to UPA again?”