Brazilian butcher gets life for murdering young mum
Tuesday November 24 2009
THE family of a Brazilian woman who was brutally murdered by her butcher boyfriend in Ireland learned last night that their daughter's killer has been sentenced to life in prison.
Courageously, the parents of Kezia Gomes Rosa said they were not angry and just wanted to see justice done for their 31-year-old daughter.
Following the horrific murder in Roscommon town on August 19 last year, Donna Marinha and Benedito are now the legal guardians of Kezia's eight-year-old daughter, Camila. The family live in the city of Anapolis, in central Brazil, in a new house bought with donations made by the people of Roscommon in the wake of the killing.
Brazilian Amilton Leonel De Olivera (37) of Lanesborough Street, Roscommon, received a mandatory life sentence after pleading guilty to the murder of Ms Rosa in the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
De Olivera, a father-of-one, worked as a boner in a meat factory and used an extremely sharp, nine-inch boning knife to stab his girlfriend once in the heart.
Fr Jim Heneghan, chaplain to the Brazilian community in Roscommon, last night relayed the sentence to Ms Rosa's parents in Brazil.
"They weren't angry but said they hoped justice is done. They are Christian people and believe that to err is human but to deny the err is wrong," he told the Irish Independent.
"Her sister intended coming for the court case and we were trying to get help for them to come but Kezia's brother-in-law had an accident and the wife didn't want to come on her own, it would have been too emotional for her," he added.
Fr Heneghan travelled to Brazil last December where he met the devastated family.
Generosity
The grandparents had been living in a single room at the back of a house where they cared for Camila. But thanks to the generosity of the community in Roscommon, who raised €30,000, they are now living in a three-bedroom bungalow.
"They are very simple, lovely people and are most grateful to everybody and couldn't get over how people who knew nothing of them could help so much," said Fr Heneghan.
The court heard Ms Rosa came to Ireland on a holiday visa in late 2006 and worked in a meat factory in Ballaghaderreen. She met her killer in early 2007 and the two started a relationship and began sharing a flat in Roscommon town.
Detective Inspector Pat Finlay told the court that Ms Rosa left the flat on August 18 last year as there had been difficulties between them. She sought shelter in the nearby house of her boyfriend's cousin, Valdivino De Morais. De Olivera went to his cousin's house that evening but was not admitted. Ms Rosa refused to return home with him and Mr De Morais told him to leave.
However, De Olivera stayed around the house throughout the following day and that evening asked to go inside to speak to Ms Rosa.
At 7pm, after consulting with Ms Rosa, Mr De Morais allowed his cousin to enter the house and meet her in the kitchen.
Moments later, Mr De Morais heard screaming and Ms Rosa crying for help. When he entered the kitchen he saw the young mother sitting in a chair with a knife in her chest and De Olivera standing over her. The killer removed the knife and ran out of the house, discarding the weapon in some shrubbery.
Ms Rosa died from a single stab wound to the heart.
The court heard De Olivera had brought the boning knife with him from his flat that evening, concealing it in his waistband. He had wrapped the blade in tissue so as not to hurt himself. He was arrested at 7.35pm and admitted the killing to gardai.
The court heard that De Olivera arrived in Ireland on an immigrant visa in 2002. He had a daughter with a Brazilian woman in 2004 and received Irish residency as a result. His relationship with that woman ended that same year.
Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed the mandatory life sentence, backdating it to August 19 of last year.
- Breda Heffernan and Natasha Reid
Irish Independent
