One of the four men arrested for the lynching of Cláudio Rafael Landeiro in Copacabana, in Rio de Janeiro's South Zone, showed up to give a statement to the police riding the bicycle the victim had been using on the night of the crime. According to G1, street security guard Davi Santos Machado, 21, arrived that way at the 12th police precinct (Copacabana) on Monday, August 17, six days after the beating that killed Cláudio on the night of August 11.
Police chief Ângelo Lages, who heads the precinct, said investigators only noticed the detail when they reviewed security camera footage. "All we knew was that he had brought the bicycle to the station on Monday. We went to pull up the images and saw that he came pedaling", he said, according to the news site Polêmica Paraíba. On arrival, Davi handed the bike over to the authorities. The bicycle, which belonged to Cláudio's sister, had been taken from the victim on the night of the crime by the other security guard involved in the case, Jorge Luiz Ricardo Dias, according to footage analyzed by police and obtained by TV Globo.
From denial to confession
Initially heard as a witness, Davi denied taking part in the assault. "I am being accused of something I did not do. I ask forgiveness for everything that happened", he said, according to Polêmica Paraíba. The next day, however, he returned to the station and confessed. According to G1, he admitted punching and kicking the victim and hitting her with a baton, including several blows to the head, and described his own actions as an "insane act", saying he could not explain what drove him. Davi also stated there was no concrete information that the bicycle had been stolen and that Cláudio did not resist.
The crime
Cláudio Rafael Landeiro, 37, left his home in Botafogo at around 10:30 p.m. on August 11 to ride his sister's bicycle. On Barata Ribeiro street, he stopped at a shop around 11:20 p.m. to ask for a cigarette. Minutes later, Davi arrived and asked about the bike. Cláudio, who according to his family had psychiatric problems and speech difficulties, answered only "no". Camera footage shows Jorge forcibly taking the bicycle. Cláudio tried to get it back, was assaulted and walked to Felipe de Oliveira street, where he sat at a building entrance. There, two app delivery workers joined Davi and the beating resumed.
The assault lasted almost nine minutes and was filmed by the attackers themselves. In the footage, a man with a rod lands at least 30 blows on the victim, who falls unconscious on the sidewalk. The group then searches Cláudio's pockets, and the security guard photographs the scene before leaving. The victim lay agonizing for about half an hour. Firefighters took him to Miguel Couto Municipal Hospital in Gávea, but he did not survive. According to information given to the family, the cause of death was cranial trauma and internal bleeding.
Besides Davi and Jorge, delivery workers Felipe Eduardo dos Santos Silva, 23, who turned himself in on Thursday, August 21, and confessed his role, and Ailton José da Silva, who remained silent during questioning, are also in custody. Police are still trying to identify a fifth attacker and people who saw Cláudio agonizing without helping him. For police chief Ângelo Lages, it was "a heinous crime, a triple-aggravated homicide, with cruelty and a futile motive, with no possibility of defense for the victim". Cláudio's mother, Ana Luísa Motta, demanded punishment: "He was not a criminal, he had no record. They simply assumed he was one."