Naval officer Cristiano da Silva Lacerda was sentenced this Wednesday (11) to 80 years in prison, under closed regime, for the murder of his former parents-in-law Geraldo Pereira Coelho, 73, and Osélia da Silva Coelho, 72. The popular jury took place at the Rio Justice Court, three years after the crime, committed in an upscale condominium in Jardim Botânico, south of the city.
The victims were the parents of Professor Felipe da Silva Coelho, a former military companion. According to the prosecution, Lacerda acted out of revenge after the relationship ended and attacked the couple with extreme violence in the early hours of June 24, 2022, while they were resting on a sofa bed, without the possibility of defense.
Cristiano’s defense signaled throughout the process that he could cite a psychiatric disorder to argue for non-attributability, an argument rejected by the prosecution. In July 2025, the lawyers left the plenary session after challenging the judge’s decision refusing the annexation of documents, which led to the postponement of the trial.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Tula Corrêa de Mello sentenced the accused to pay R$200,000 in compensation for moral damage to each of the victims’ children and decreed the loss of his position in the Navy.
In the judgment, the judge said that military status increased the seriousness of the case, emphasizing that members of the armed forces must base their conduct on ethical values and social commitment.
Lacerda, then 40, was found unconscious in the apartment bedroom after the crimes, next to syringes, drugs, a bloodstained knife and a bottle of alcohol, according to military police. He was taken into custody at Miguel Couto Hospital.
Homicide police concluded the killing was premeditated and motivated by jealousy. The expertise indicates multiple blows to vital regions, reinforcing the thesis of cruel means. The prosecution argued that the accused was lucid before and during the attack.
The night before the crime, Felipe Coelho had gone to a party, leaving his parents to stay at the apartment where he lived with his ex-boyfriend. They were in Rio to visit their son and planned to return to Recife a few days later.
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