After 25 years on the run, 53-year-old Francisco Edson Pereira, the longest-serving defendant in the Federal District, will finally be put on trial on Tuesday (11/11). In order to escape for a long time, the accused tried to erase his old identity, but he committed three attacks against a former partner. The Public Ministry of Defense Forces and Territories (MPDFT) discovered Maria da Penha’s records and was able to put an end to the escape, arresting the accused.
The trial is scheduled to be held before the Gama Court, starting at nine in the morning. Francisco is accused of murder in Gama. The defendant, born in Tiangua (CE), worked as a stocker in a supermarket. On May 1, 1999, in the eastern sector of the administrative region, José Herwaldo Ferreira de Menezes, 22 years old at the time, was stabbed. The victim succumbed to his injuries and died.
Read also
-
Federal District
MPDFT calls for greater transparency in parliamentary amendments for the region
-
Wide angle
MPDFT investigates overpricing in partnership for karting event
According to the complaint, the crime had a bad motive, resulting from disagreements, in addition to the use of a resource that made the defense difficult, as the accused suddenly approached the victim and suddenly assaulted her. A preventive detention order was issued in 2000, but Francisco has been missing ever since, becoming the Defense Forces’ longest-wanted fugitive.
In 2013, after several attempts to locate him, the process and the statute of limitations were suspended due to the defendant’s failure to appear or hire a lawyer. In June 2024, the Gama Prosecutor’s Office resumed efforts to try to locate him. Francisco was located and arrested on February 24, 2025 in Roraima.
The arrest was possible based on investigations conducted by the MPDFT Institutional Police. The operation was supported by the Roraima Civil Police. Francisco used a false name and was located and arrested by Roraima police officers at a farm in the Rural District of Rorinopolis (RR). The suspect was transferred to the capital, Boa Vista. He was then sent to Babuda, in DF.
Maria da Penha
According to prosecutor Marcelo Henrique de Azevedo Souza, Francisco said that when he fled the armed forces he went to Rondônia, where he lived for five years. Then move to Roraima. In Rorinopolis, the accused had a companion. In 2018, he was involved in an incident involving Maria da Penha against his wife, but he used an alias. In 2020, he committed another act of violence, and two years later he threatened her again.
The last record was recorded after Francisco invaded the house where his ex-partner was living with another man. The fugitive threatened the couple with a knife.
“Because of Maria da Penha, this woman left him for obvious reasons. He broke into the house armed with a knife. The people managed to escape. The police arrested him,” the prosecutor said.
There were no convictions in the Roraima cases. The first two were subject to the statute of limitations, and the latter was not represented by the victims.
“His name is Francisco Edson,” the prosecutor said. “But he used Francisco Adriano.” The MPDFT Intelligence Center discovered the Maria da Penha incidents. Investigators also checked information with other agencies. There is no registration with the National Social Security Institute and the Ministry of Labour, for example. The voter registration card has also been cancelled. “He did everything to erase his identity,” he summed up.
Life in the countryside
The MPDFT continued the investigation and a team from the Gama Public Prosecutor’s Office in collaboration with the Roraima Civil Police located the accused. He added: “During his escape, he was always working in the countryside, on farms, in the fields. On that occasion he tried to get away from the police’s approach by saying that his name was Francisco Adriano. But he later ended up confessing to the police that he was actually Francisco Edson and that he had escaped from Gama in the 1990s for killing someone. He was arrested.”
According to the prosecutor, the first trick to the long escape was to adopt an alias. Francisco did not use forged documents, but he began to identify himself as Francisco Adriano. The fugitive stopped re-registering and registering with public authorities and did not carry documents. In the Roraima incidents, the accused did not provide documents. He said they had lost their way and were from Ceara.
justice
Marcelo believes that the arrest and trial symbolize justice. For the prosecutor, the jury’s outcome will lead to a verdict with all the necessary severity.
“This case must prove to anyone that whoever commits a crime is liable to be held accountable, no matter how much time passes. The Public Prosecution will always seek to hold that person accountable. Especially in serious cases like this, where a boy who was only 22 years old, in the prime of his life, fell victim. Whoever commits a crime will be held accountable. The Public Prosecution is always attentive and vigilant.” That’s it.
About The Author
