Former cop who burned retired Brazil police chief alive coldly grins in mugshot
- Brazilian ex-cop Rodrigo Costa turned himself in to the police on Friday
- READ MORE: Costa admitted to killing retired police chief Hudson Maldonado on Wednesday
A former police officer has been arrested for the murder of an 86-year-old retired police chief in Brazil
Rodrigo Costa, 52, allegedly disguised himself as a delivery man and attacked Hudson Maldonado in his home and set him on fire on Wednesday, authorities in the southeastern state of Sete Lagoas revealed.
Costa walked into a police station Friday morning and turned himself in.
Authorities are investigating whether Costa sought revenge for being fired from Minas Gerais’ civil police in 2006 for extorting a woman.
Rodrigo Costa turned himself in to police in the southeastern Brazilian city of Sete Lagoas on Friday, just two days after he allegedly broke into the home of Hudson Maldonado, the former chief of Minas Gerais’ civil police, and burned him alive due to an alleged feud after he was killed. dismissed from the force in 2006
Hudson Maldonado was a retired police chief and lawyer in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais
At the time, Maldonado was involved as a lawyer in the internal affairs investigation.
Costa is said to have called the intercom at the gate of the residential complex and identified himself as a delivery person from a pharmacy.
Authorities said the ex-cop threatened Maldonado’s caregiver with a knife, told her he had been fighting with Maldonado “for 18 years” and went to his apartment.
Costa then allegedly broke into Maldonado’s home, where he had been locked up for the past six months while recovering from a stroke.
He allegedly stabbed him and wrapped the body in a mattress before dousing a liter of petrol and burning him alive.
Security cameras picked up Rodrigo Costa at the apartment complex on Wednesday. He turned himself in to police on Friday and is awaiting murder charges
Former police officer Rodrigo Costa said he was just trying to hurt retired police chief Hudson Maldonado when he broke into his home on Wednesday. He allegedly stabbed him and then doused him with gasoline before setting him on fire
Costa told police investigators that he waited 18 years to carry out his revenge because the Supreme Court had upheld the police decision.
But police said he admitted he only wanted to hurt Maldonado, not kill him.
“He wanted to present himself and is prepared to answer for the entire procedure,” said Fernanda de Assis, head of the homicide department. “He also stated that he did not intend to kill and that he regretted the crime.”
Costa faces one count of murder and faces 12 years in prison if convicted.
It is unclear whether Costa entered another plea despite his earlier confession.