Today’s story takes place in Brazil and as always lets begin by talking about legal system. The system operates as a multifaceted system on the state and federal levels, much like the U.S. judicial system. Based on the civil law system, different jurisdictions of the law including labor, electoral, military, constitutional and non-constitutional exists. Four different types of courts, federal, labor, electoral, and military, dispense justice.
Officially called the Federative Republic of Brazil, it has the largest geographic area in both South America and Latin America. Brazil has a population on just over 211 million people and Portuguese not Spanish is spoken in Brazil because of the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas gave Portugal to right to colonize Brazil. Known as a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities, the World Bank classifies Brazil as an upper middle-income economy by the World Bank, but Brazil remains a developing country. Brazil has the largest wealth in Latin America and an advanced emerging economy; it has the ninth largest GDP in the world.
Our Crime Story today takes place in São Paulo, Brazil; the city known as Brazil’s financial center, with a population of 12 million swelling to over 30 million inhabitants when including the greater area. Located in the south and next to the Atlantic Ocean, Sao Paulo, honestly, just looks like a really cool city that I would love to visit one day.
Our cast of characters begins on the upper-class streets of São Paulo with Manfred von Richthofen a German born engineer and his wife Marisia a Brazilian of Lebanese decent. Opposites attract , Manfred describes as a shy, a loner who just kept to himself whereas Marisia describes as a bubbly, charismatic social butterfly. Manfred worked as a director in the State Company for Highway Development in São Paulo, Brazil and Marisia worked as a renowned psychiatrist. Phenomenally successful in life, the couple lived in a large house, owned nice cars, and had 5 million USD in the bank! For the von Richthofen’s education came first, neighbors state that they kept to themselves, did not throw parties and came off as serious and intellectual. Adding to his mystique, Manfred claimed to be related to Manfred von Richthofen, the famed German World War I air ace, better known as he Red Baron in World War 1. The German von Richthofen family denies any relation to them.
Manfred and Marisia had two children,: Suzane born in 1983 and Andreas born four years later. The couple sent their children to to the best schools and made sure that Suzane and Andreas took their education seriously. By the age of 18. Suzane could speak four languages, had earned a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and had been accepted into a Catholic university to study law. Andres loved model airplanes, his passion did not impress his friends and classmates. One day, he met another plane model aficionado, a boy named Daniel Cravinhos. Daniel did not come from the upper echelon of Sao Paulo, instead Daniel, describes as older, wild, a drug user who resided in a rough neighborhood.
Not only did Andreas hit it off with Daniel as they bonded over model airplanes but Suzanne thought Daniel was the bee’s knees and and the two soon started dating. At first, Manfred and Marisia really did not mind this relationship, they liked him and thought him nice. How much trouble can a young man who loves model airplanes be? But then the parents discovered that Daniel smoked weed, did not have a job, and did not attend school. Daniel, definitely did not fit the vision of the kind of guy Manifred and Marisia wanted their daughter to date. Most of us can guess Suzane’s reaction! She did not care and she started using drugs with Daniel, would sneak out of the house to be with Daniel, and she lost her virginity to her bad boy. Suzane loved her new found freedom and the rush the relationship gave her. Daniel 21 and Suzane 18 soon found drugs much stronger then weed and they both started huffing paint thinner and glue as well as dropping ecstasy. Daniel loved that Suzane had money, lots of it, and she provided him a ticket to a better life. Suzane lavished Daniel with gifts and cash. They developed an unhealthy obsession with each other.
In the spring of 2002, Manfred and Marisia went on a month long holiday, and while her parents vacationed Suzane essentially moved Daniel into their house. When her parents returned home, Suzane asked them to buy her an apartment to live in with Daniel. Cleary Suzane misjudged the situation and predictably Manfred and Marisia reacted like normal parents by issuing a hard no to their daughter’s suggested living arrangements. Going a step further, the parents banned their daughter from dating Daniel and threatened to cut Suzane’s finances for non-compliance. Just as predictably the edict met only caused their daughter to become sneakier and fueled their daughter’s desire for bad boy Daniel. The young couple simply continued to see each other behind Manfred and Marisia’s back.
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On the night of October 31, 2002, Daniel and Suzane helped Andreas sneak out of the family house and they drove him to a cybercafé to play video games and hang out with friends. Apparently, Andreas did this a lot because of spotty Internet in Brazil at this time. So far nothing out of the ordinary. At some point Daniel and Suzane left to go pick up Daniel’s older brother, Christian, age 26. Apparently, planned for months, some sources I say six months others say
two , this crime was premeditated. Suzane could have backed out but when it came to D-Day she eagerly participated. They had already deactivated the house alarm and the security cameras.They then took drugs to numb their emotions, pulled up the hoods on the jackets, placed stocking on their heads and gloves on their hands to try to eliminate DNA transfer.
Suzane went up the stairs to check on her parents and came back down the stairs and told the boys know that her parents were indeed asleep and to go handle it. Suzane sat on the couch while the two brothers went upstairs. . In the weeks prior to the event the boys had made iron bars and they now carried these iron bars as they ascended the steps. Daniel went to Manfred’s side of the bed while Christian went to Marisia’s side of the bed. They started swinging the iron bars on the heads of their sleeping victims. Christian allegedly had second thoughts and began to cry, stating that he could not go through with it and that he could not kill someone. Daniel told him to man up and Daniel continued to beat Manfred while Christian got over his moral misgivings and followed suit on Marisia. The two brothers continued to beat Manfred and Marisia over and over on the head while Suzane remained downstairs on the couch listening to her parents being murdered.
Manfred and Marisia did not die from their heads getting beaten with an iron rod . Reports opine that they screamed, yelled, and cried out. Others speculate that they let out the death rattle, a horrific noise that a person can no longer swallow or cough. Thinking Manifred and Marisia still alive, Daniel ran to the bathroom and wet towels to put over their victim’s faces in an effort to drown or suffocate them. The two brothers tried to strangle the parents with the towels, even putting a plastic bag over Marisia. The Von Richthofen’s fought and held on to life. Daniel then went downstairs to grab a jug of water to waterboard and eventually drown Manfred and Marisia.
While events unfolded upstairs Suzane remained downstairs and tried to make it look like a break-in that caused the murder. She threw papers around the house, slit open a briefcase and took money from it. She even took jewelry and other valuables, all in an attempt to make it look like a robbery that had gone awry. After which Suzane finally goes upstairs to the room where her parents now lifeless bodies lied in their bed. Suzane brought a bag with her and collected Daniel’s and Christian’s bloody clothes; she handed the money she earlier took from the briefcase to Christian while thanking him for his troubles in murdering her parents and asking him to never speak about what had just transpired.
Before they left these geniuses placed a gun next to Manfred, I guess they wanted to make it look like a suicide, apparently forgetting that the Von Richthofens had not been shot, their heads were based in, necks stranded and had been waterboarded—-all things quite impossible to do to yourself. Not to mention this makes the staged break-in scene downstairs moot.
After the crime the threesome tried to establish an alibi, so they checked into a hotel and Christian then went to a fast food restaurant making sure that he appeared on camera. Around 3 am Suzane left the hotel to go pick up her brother at the cyber café and the two of them headed home. What happened next really irks me; she manipulated the situation so that Andreas discover his dead parents. No one can ever get over finding their parents murdered, just an awful act by this self-absorbed psychopath. They call the police; Andreas obviously distraught and Suzane trying to play the grieving daughter role, they tell the police someone broke in and killed their parents. The police immediately sniffed out the staged scene, with the papers placed methodically it looked too perfect and not as though someone rummaged through the papers. Money lying all around the house and the robbers left a gun. Not a murder suicide situation so why would the robbers leave a gun? Also, no signs of a forced entry, the scene simply did not add up.
The day after the police find her parents bludgeoned to death, the ego-centric Suzane throws herself a 19th birthday party at the pool in the backyard. Imagine showing up as as a guest to this party...”oh yeah two people died here yesterday, and, yeah, they were my parents” A total 10 on the creep-a-tude meter! At Manfred and Marisia’s funeral, Suzane dressed appropriately, donning a short skirt and a crop top. She cried like no tomorrow, in an overly dramatic manner, putting on a show and making a huge scene. Not lost on the police who remembered that Suzane failed to shed a single tear the night her parents were found dead. Police had a #1 suspect in their sights.
Investigators started to follow Suzane, Daniel and Christian. A couple of days after the murder Christian went and bought an expensive motorcycle in all $100 dollar bills. Now Christian did not have a job, his family had no money, so where did Christian get the money for an expensive motorcycle?
Investigators decided to make an arrest: Christian first followed by Daniel and Suzane. The police separated them and the interrogations began. Suzana broke down nearly immediately and confessed to killing her parents. The media in Brazil went nuts and salivated to get the inside scoop. A beautiful, blonde, well-educated rich girl with a poor, drug-addicted, thug boyfriend along along with his near do well brother, the contrast between the affluent upbringing an the gruesomeness of the crime both shocked and fascinated the Brazilian public.
Suzane made the equivalent to bail and awaited trial. She did not remain silent and instead gave an interview on a major talk show in Brazil. She tried to play the victim, blaming the whole affair on Daniel and stated that “I did not know, I am a victim”. Yada, Yada, Yada. But behind the scenes the camera rolled and Suzane’s attorney coached her. The attorney told Suzane to “make sure you cry, cry loud and hard because people will believe you and feel sorry for you.” Public opinion changed rapidly as many Brazilians initially believed her side of the story changed their minds when the TV interview aired. People now hated Suzane and wanted to see her burn for what happened to her parents. While waiting trial people spray-painted derogatory terms on her house, pelted rocks at her, and the media crucified her. Suzane did not remain out of custody for long because investigators found a gun hidden in her teddy bear and feared she might kill her brother, Andreas.
In July 2006 , nearly four years after the murders, Suzane, Christian and Daniel went on trial. Charged with the American equivalent of first-degree murder, the event became the Brazilian equivalent of the OJ trail. Everyone This wanted news of the ongoings, the most recent revelations, firsthand dirt, and people waited outside the courthouse in hopes of getting to watch the events unfold. Suzane double downed on her awful TV performance and blamed Daniel Cravinhos for everything, while the Cravinhos brothers claimed that they acted upon her desire. Suzane played the victim card, hard. Honestly, I do not see this a bad defense given the circumstances. Already seen as scum in society attorneys could frame Christian and Daniel as drug addicted demons in need of money while presenting Suzane as a petite, pretty, immature and innocent school girl who got bamboozled by older boys. The defense made Suzane appear younger than her age by having her put colorful clips in her hair and dressing her in a Mikey Mouse shirt. Daniel and Christian presented Suzane as a cunning mastermind. They told a wild story of Manfred and Marisa as alcoholics who beat both Suzane and Andreas. Most egregiously they sated that Manfred sexually assaulted Suzane and that Marisa knew about it. The jury saw through the lies and on July 22, 2006 found all three guilty of murder. The jury saw through the colorful clips and Mickey Mouse shirt and saw her as the mastermind, sentencing Suzane to 40 years in prison while going Daniel and Christian 38 years.
After the trail, in 2009, Suzane appealed and asked for house arrest, claiming she no longer presented a danger to society. Wow! The Brazilian courts denied her petition, rightfully so in my opinion. In 2011, Andreas sued Suzane for her half of inheritance. Can we just make it a law if you kill someone you do not get their money?!Brazil’s laws allow Suzane to get the money once out of jail. Thankfully, Andreas won his claim and now has all of the inheritance. In 2014, Suzane married a fellow inmate while in prison. Her wife, who I could only find her last name is in prison for her role in the death of a kidnapped child. Ah the perfect pair, I guess there is someone for everyone. In 2018, the justice system denied Suzane’s request of freedom, stating her egocentrism and a narcissistic personality disorder posing serious questions as to whether she would be able to integrate back into society. Suzane remains still in prison outside of São Paulo, slated for release in 2046.
The case seems like a cliche to me. A girl from the right side of the tracks who meets a bad boy. Parents object and she gets her boyfriend to kill them. Suzane in my opinion, masterminded the crime as she had the most to gain from her parents death: money and freedom to be with boyfriend, everything she ever wanted. Suzane had so much going for her and she decided to throw it all away, perhaps that provides the best reason why this case fascinates me. I think Suzane roped Daniel and Christian into her scheme, I do not think they had the brains or the desire to say no. Drugs change thinking patterns and what seems unthinkable became thinkable. Either way, if Daniel suggested it to Suzane or Suzane suggested it to Daniel both agreed to commit this horrific crime. My heart breaks for Andreas who lost his whole family because the sister wanted drugs, freedom, and sex—very important long term goals! She simply could have ran away and gotten a job to support her drug habit and desire to be with Daniel. Even though it will never make up for the loss of his parents, I am glad that Andreas won the entire estate. . I would love to hear your thoughts about this case, do you think Suzane was the mastermind? What do you think of that televised interview? Does your heart break for Andreas?
That concludes the fourth episode of A Crime Story. I would love to hear your thoughts about today’s case. You can comment on a crime story’s Instagram @acrimestorypod, where I will be posting images from today’s story. Or you can comment on A Crime Story Podcast on Facebook or @acrimestorypod on Twitter. Or even comment and see additional photos on A Crime Story Podcast on YouTube. I have also started a website, where you can listen to the podcast as well as read a transcript of today’s story under the blog tab. The website URL is acrimestorypodcast.com. Thank you so much for listening. If you could please leave a review of the podcast, it helps others find it. Also, if you could tell a friend about A Crime Story, I would greatly appreciate it. I hope to see you next time where we will travel back to France for a crazy crime story! You will not want to miss it.
A Crime Story is hosted and written by me, Kailin Lois. Sources for today’s episode can be found in the show’s notes. Theme Music is from Ross Bugden. Additional story editing is brought to you by my father, Mike. Francois Tardinov helps me produce the show. Thank you for listening to A Crime Story! Stay safe and be kind.
Sources: wilsoncenter.org, crimereads.com, Bailey Sarian, Brooke Makenna, Murderpedia and BBC News
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