Loki
05-16-2009, 09:05 PM
Brazilian who killed London teen is jailed for life (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23692401-details/Brazilian+who+killed+London+teen+is+jailed+for+lif e/article.do)
Ed Harris
15.05.09
A Brazilian man who killed and dismembered a London student before dumping her torso in a suitcase was sentenced to 21 years in prison today.
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/CaraBurke0108_415x275.jpg
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/5/14/1242326657484/Brazilian-Mohammed-DAli-C-001.jpg
Mohamed D'Ali Carvalho Dos Santos admitting stabbing Cara Marie Burke to death after they argued about his heavy drug use. The 17-year-old from Southfields, near Wimbledon, followed Santos to Goiânia in central Brazil after they struck up a relationship in London.
Her short life met a tragic end when Santos, 20, who had been smoking crack cocaine for four days before killing her, attacked her with a butcher's knife in his apartment because she threatened to tell his mother he was spending all his money on drugs.
He told a Brazilian court: “I don't remember where I stabbed. I kept on stabbing away, not knowing where, and when I saw what I had done, she was dead,” Santos told the court he then took a bath and went to an all-night party. On his way home, he stopped at a supermarket and bought a larger knife so he could cut up her body.
He severed Miss Burke's limbs and head and put them in a suitcase, and her torso in another. He then disposed of the remains near two rivers in July last year. After her torso was found, police spent the following days searching for the teenager's head, arms and legs. They recovered the last part of her body two weeks after the killing. She was identified by her family after pictures of a distinctive tattoo on her stomach were aired on a Brazilian news channel.
Dressed in a white shirt and jeans, Santos he bowed his head as Judge Jessair Coelho de Alcantara sentenced him to 19 years for murder and two more years for hiding the body. But despite the heavy sentence, Santos' defence lawyer Carlos Trajano, said he could be eligible for part-time custody after serving eight years behind bars.
During the trial he argued a psychiatric evaluation showed Santos was not “fully responsible for his acts because he was taking drugs non-stop during the three days prior to the killing”. But prosecutor Milton Marcolino had called for the maximum 30-year sentence penalty saying Santos “was perfectly aware of what he was doing and of the consequences of his acts, despite all the drugs he took”.
Police found a text message in Santos' mobile phone saying “the bitch is in the bag.” The message was written in English, accompanied by a smiley face. The phone also contained photos of her severed head and torso.
Santos also confirmed sending text messages complaining that Miss Burke had backed off plans to marry him so he could apply for British citizenship - the main motive cited by the prosecution for the killing.
His aunt, Jeane Lucia de Sousa, said her nephew was normal when not using drugs but is addicted to cocaine and resorted to sniffing cooking gas to get high when he had no money to buy drugs.
“He's a calm person when he's not on drugs, but when he uses drugs he turns aggressive,” she said.
Santos' girlfriend, Hellen de Matos, said he regrets killing the teenager and wants to enter drug treatment so he can get a reduced sentence and spend time with his son before the boy becomes an adult.
Santos' brother Bruce Lee Santos testified that his brother stabbed him twice during arguments and used to take a handgun to school.
Ed Harris
15.05.09
A Brazilian man who killed and dismembered a London student before dumping her torso in a suitcase was sentenced to 21 years in prison today.
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/CaraBurke0108_415x275.jpg
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/5/14/1242326657484/Brazilian-Mohammed-DAli-C-001.jpg
Mohamed D'Ali Carvalho Dos Santos admitting stabbing Cara Marie Burke to death after they argued about his heavy drug use. The 17-year-old from Southfields, near Wimbledon, followed Santos to Goiânia in central Brazil after they struck up a relationship in London.
Her short life met a tragic end when Santos, 20, who had been smoking crack cocaine for four days before killing her, attacked her with a butcher's knife in his apartment because she threatened to tell his mother he was spending all his money on drugs.
He told a Brazilian court: “I don't remember where I stabbed. I kept on stabbing away, not knowing where, and when I saw what I had done, she was dead,” Santos told the court he then took a bath and went to an all-night party. On his way home, he stopped at a supermarket and bought a larger knife so he could cut up her body.
He severed Miss Burke's limbs and head and put them in a suitcase, and her torso in another. He then disposed of the remains near two rivers in July last year. After her torso was found, police spent the following days searching for the teenager's head, arms and legs. They recovered the last part of her body two weeks after the killing. She was identified by her family after pictures of a distinctive tattoo on her stomach were aired on a Brazilian news channel.
Dressed in a white shirt and jeans, Santos he bowed his head as Judge Jessair Coelho de Alcantara sentenced him to 19 years for murder and two more years for hiding the body. But despite the heavy sentence, Santos' defence lawyer Carlos Trajano, said he could be eligible for part-time custody after serving eight years behind bars.
During the trial he argued a psychiatric evaluation showed Santos was not “fully responsible for his acts because he was taking drugs non-stop during the three days prior to the killing”. But prosecutor Milton Marcolino had called for the maximum 30-year sentence penalty saying Santos “was perfectly aware of what he was doing and of the consequences of his acts, despite all the drugs he took”.
Police found a text message in Santos' mobile phone saying “the bitch is in the bag.” The message was written in English, accompanied by a smiley face. The phone also contained photos of her severed head and torso.
Santos also confirmed sending text messages complaining that Miss Burke had backed off plans to marry him so he could apply for British citizenship - the main motive cited by the prosecution for the killing.
His aunt, Jeane Lucia de Sousa, said her nephew was normal when not using drugs but is addicted to cocaine and resorted to sniffing cooking gas to get high when he had no money to buy drugs.
“He's a calm person when he's not on drugs, but when he uses drugs he turns aggressive,” she said.
Santos' girlfriend, Hellen de Matos, said he regrets killing the teenager and wants to enter drug treatment so he can get a reduced sentence and spend time with his son before the boy becomes an adult.
Santos' brother Bruce Lee Santos testified that his brother stabbed him twice during arguments and used to take a handgun to school.