The main suspect in the murder of Councilwoman Marielle Franco (PSOL) and driver Anderson Gomes, retired military police sergeant Ronnie Lessa, met with another suspect, former military police officer Élcio Queiroz, in the Vivendas da Barra condominium in Barra da Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro. It is the same place where President Jair Bolsonaro has a home.
The meeting took place on March 14, 2018, the day of the crime. The information comes from the testimony obtained by the Jornal Nacional, TV Globo.
According to the testimony of a condominium doorman, Élcio said that he was going to the house of Jair Bolsonaro, who was then a federal deputy. The attendance records of the House of Representatives, however, show that Bolsonaro was in Brasilia that day.
According to the Jornal Nacional, the visitors' book says that, at 5:10 pm, Élcio said he was going to house number 58 but instead drove to house 66, where Lessa lives.
The porter called house 58 again; According to him, the caller said he knew where Élcio was heading.
In the statement, the doorman reportedly said that on the two times he called House 58, he was answered by someone whose voice he thought was that of Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro has two houses within the condominium — his family's and that of Councilman Carlos Bolsonaro (PSL).
Investigators are retrieving the audio files from the condominium guardhouse to find out who the porter talked to that day and who was in house 58, according to Jornal Nacional.
Bolsonaro responded on Tuesday (29) to the report of TV Globo broadcast on social media, where he denied responsibility for the crime and criticized the press, especially TV Globo, for reports involving not only him but also his family. He further hinted that information about the process, which is under wraps, was probably leaked by Governor Wilson Witzel (PSC-RJ).
"I am available to talk about this case, to talk to this delegate on this subject so that I can clean my name. Why are they trying to destroy me?" Questioned Bolsonaro during tonight's social media broadcast. He said he didn't know Marielle and had no reason to want to kill anyone. The President also stated that the doorman might have signed the statement without reading.
President Jair Bolsonaro's lawyer, Frederick Wassef, challenged TV Globo's statement of the porter, who he described as a farce to attack the President's image. "Perhaps, this individual went to someone else's house, and someone, in order to incriminate the President of the Republic, got a false statement, where that person claims that he spoke with Jair Bolsonaro. The President does not know Elcio, and that person doesn't know the President, " he said.
The defense of Ronnie Lessa and Élcio de Queiroz did not respond to attempts at contact. They were arrested on March 12 this year and later reported by the prosecutor on charges of committing the killings of Marielle and Anderson.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon