MACEIÓ, ALAGOAS, BRAZIL – JULY 24, 2011 27-year-old Maria de Lurdes Farias Melo was brutally murdered in the early morning hours. According to available information, the perpetrators forcibly dragged her out of her home in the Conjunto Carminha residential complex while she was sleeping with her two children.
Maria de Lurdes Farias Melo
Her body was found on the main street running through the residential complex toward a landfill, approximately 650 feet (200 meters) from her home. She was lying on her back and had been mutilated. The victim’s head and left arm had been severed, with the arm found next to her body. Some contemporary reports also mentioned additional mutilation of her limbs. Her head was located slightly more than 65 feet (20 meters) away from her remains.
According to investigators, the perpetrators allegedly attempted to impale her head on a stake. A loaded revolver was also found near the body. One police officer speculated that the attackers may have fled in a hurry after something interrupted them.
A particularly disturbing detail was the inscription “CABUETA,” which appeared on the wall of a nearby house. According to police, the perpetrators likely used one of the victim’s limbs to create it. The term “cabueta” is used in Brazilian criminal slang to refer to an informant or snitch, particularly someone who cooperates with the police. Investigators therefore considered the possibility that Maria de Lurdes had been murdered over suspicions that she was providing information to law enforcement.
