Former Kiss Nightclub member Elissandro Spohr, known as Kiko, sentenced to 12 years in prison for the fire that killed 242 people in 2013, obtained the benefit of serving his sentence in an open regime. The decision comes from the Rio Grande do Sul court and provides for certain conditions, such as the use of an electronic ankle bracelet.
Spohr is the first defendant to be released from prison. He was detained at the Canoas (Pecan) State Penitentiary. Among the conditions for maintaining the advantage are also an employment relationship and periodic appearance before the judiciary to justify the activities.
Kiss affair in nightclub
- In January 2013, 242 people died in a fire at Kiss Nightclub in Santa Maria (RS). Around 630 people were injured.
- Most of the victims died of asphyxiation after inhaling the toxic smoke generated when the fire reached the moss covering the roof of the stage, where the group of musicians was performing.
- A pyrotechnic device used by one of the members of the group is said to have started the fire.
- Hundreds of people were desperate and started running in search of a way out. According to firefighters who first responded to the scene, many victims tried to escape through the establishment’s toilets and ended up dying.
In a statement, the convict’s defense said the measure was granted “after meeting all legal requirements” and stressed that he continues to serve his sentence “rigorously.”
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Condemned for the fire
Elissandro Spohr is one of four convicted for the fire at the Kiss nightclub. Initially sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison, he saw his sentence reduced to 12 years after a decision by the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul (TJRS) in August 2025.
Before switching to the open regime, Spohr had already obtained permission to work outside, also using an electronic ankle bracelet. Authorization was granted last October.
Another former member of the discotheque, Mauro Hoffmann, also convicted in the Kiss affair, obtained a semi-open regime on November 11. He remains detained in the Canoas penitentiary, with authorization to work during the day. Like Spohr, Hoffmann had his sentence revised by the TJRS, going from 19 years and six months to 12 years.
Musicians Marcelo de Jesus dos Santos and Luciano Bonilha Leão, members of the group Gurizada Fandangueira, are serving their sentences at the São Vicente do Sul state prison. Both men also switched to the semi-open diet. Both men’s sentences were reduced from 18 to 11 years, guaranteeing the right to work outside during the day, with a mandatory return to the prison unit at night.
Marcelo is already working professionally in the municipality where he is serving his sentence, while Luciano is waiting for judicial authorization to start working outside the prison.
With the granting of the open regime to Elissandro Spohr, the defenses of the other convicts must, in the coming months, ask the Court to progress towards supervised release, depending on the completion of their sentences.
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