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Brazilian Goalkeeper Who Had His Girlfriend Killed and Fed to Dogs: "Mistakes Happen"

There are mistakes, and then there is what Bruno Fernandes de Souza did to his then girlfriend.

Brazilian club Boa Esporte has announced the signing of goalkeeper Bruno. He's just been released from prison for killing his girlfriend pic.twitter.com/beRFMCWViX
— Mootaz (@MHChehade) March 13, 2017

How's that for a headline? Good? I think so. It wasn't very hard to come up with, either, because it is merely a summation of things that have happened. Bruno Fernandes de Souza was a star keeper in Brazil who was sentenced to 22 years in jail for his involvement in the murder of his then girlfriend, model Eliza Samudio, with whom he was involved in a paternity dispute while still married to his wife. Friends of his kidnapped Samudio, tortured her, killed her, and then fed her dismembered body to his rottweilers.

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Bruno, who confessed to his involvement in the crime, was released last month after his lawyers applied for a writ of habeas corpus because the Brazilian courts were too slow to hear his appeal. He served six years and seven months. Not long after Bruno got out, because sports are very often the worst, Brazilian clubs were expressing interest in his goalkeeping services. Amid growing controversy, second division club Boa Esporte signed him to a two-year deal.

In response to the outcry following his signing, Bruno has sought to defend himself. Which brings us back to our headline. He told The Guardian that "mistakes happen," among several other crazy things:

"Dude, what happened, happened. I made a mistake, a serious one, but mistakes happens in life – I'm not a bad guy. People tried to bury my dream because of one mistake, but I asked God for forgiveness, so I'm carrying on with my career, dude. I'm starting over."

Semantic arguments are generally a fool's errand, but I think we can all get on board with the idea that after

  • conspiring to kidnap your girlfriend with your friends
  • and those friends then torture your girlfriend
  • and those friends then murder and dismember your girlfriend
  • and those friends then feed your girlfriend's remains to dogs

you have long since watched "one mistake" disappear in the rearview mirror as you continue on to "sociopathic thing you did that you now regret because you got caught."

Bruno's release and subsequent signing comes at a time in Brazil when many are concerned about the country's growing rate of rape and femicide. According to Amnesty International, lethal violence against women and girls in Brazil is up 24 percent over last decade, and it will likely only get worse as the interim government did away with the Ministry of Women's Affairs, Racial Equality and Human Rights and simply made it a department within the Ministry of Justice, reducing the resources available for women's and girls' rights.

Last year "also marked one decade since legislation against domestic violence came into force," Amnesty's annual report says. "The government failed to rigorously implement the law, however, with domestic violence and impunity for it remaining widespread."

Mistakes happen, though.

[Guardian]