Lawyers of military police officer Giovane Gaspar da Silva, 24—one of the security guards arrested for the murder of João Alberto Freitas, 40, in a Carrefour unit in Porto Alegre—denied that he intended to kill Freitas or that it was a racially motivated attacked. He also raised the hypothesis that the victim may have died from a heart attack.
“Forensics is also likely to cause a heart attack. It is also suspected that Mr. João Alberto would be under the effects of narcotics, so great the strength he had at the time. His eyes were lowered, and his pupils were dilated,” says defense lawyer David Leal.
The IGP-RS (General Institute of Forensics of Rio Grande do Sul) pointed out, in an initial analysis, that the victim died of asphyxiation. Images show that Beto Freitas was asphyxiated for almost four minutes, in front of 15 witnesses, after being beaten for at least two minutes by two security guards.
Leal claims that his client also did not intend to kill João Alberto and did not act in a racist manner.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon