The teacher who left a letter denouncing her ex-husband for his death

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Once there, the two men stabbed the teacher in the neck inside the car, threw alcohol and lit matches on the victim, who pretended to be dead and was abandoned in an empty lot. Even after losing a lot of blood and burning her body, Sônia managed to get up and find help. She was transported to Antônio Pedro Hospital, in Niterói, where she was admitted. Unable to speak, the teacher mustered the energy to write a letter telling everything, but she died 25 days after the crime. (read extracts from his text at the end of this post)

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In recent weeks, various cases of women murdered because of their status as women have sparked outrage in a country with a long history of gender-based violence. Ten years ago, crimes committed in such circumstances began to be called femicide, precisely to give visibility to the problem and increase the penalties imposed on those who commit these atrocities. But by that time, many women had already been killed in shocking ways, out of pure machismo.

Some cases aroused such emotion that they were tattooed in the history of police chronicles and women’s struggle for equality. The deaths of Aida Curi, in 1958, of Claudia Lessin, in 1977, and of Mônica Granuzzo, in 1985, are examples of this and have already been recalled, at different times, here on the Collection Blog. But by searching the Acervo O GLOBO website, you can find reports of various brutal crimes that have fallen into oblivion.

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On October 9, 1928, for example, a report reported the case of an Italian living in São Paulo who, after strangling his wife, placed her body in a suitcase and sent it as luggage on a ship to Europe. When the body of Maria Fea Pistoni was discovered, still in the port of Santos, the assassin, José Pistoni, was arrested and confessed to the crime, in tears, saying that he had lost his mind when he arrived home and saw another man coming out of there.

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The reports expose the primitive way some men deal with jealousy or rejection. In February 1948, the newspaper told the story of Maria Amélia da Silveira. At the age of 17, she married Antenor Rodrigues, who like her lived in Ramos, in the northern zone of Rio. Two years later, the relationship ended and they began talking amicably to each other when they met in the neighborhood. One day, the boy discovers that Amélia has spent a night away from home and goes to see her, but she refuses to say who she is with. Antenor then stuck a knife in the young girl’s back.

On March 29, 1974, O GLOBO reported the death of dancer Maria das Graças Pavão. Better known as Gracinha, she frequently performs at the Teatro Carlos Gomes on Praça Tiradentes in central Rio. At 42, Gracinha was thrown out of the window of room 42 of the Paris Hotel by her boyfriend, Valmir Ferreira, 33, in a fit of jealousy. He immediately threw himself and the two found themselves lying on Avenida Passos. But only the dancer died.

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One of the most memorable cases to date was the death of socialite Angela Diniz, on December 30, when businessman Doca Street, her boyfriend, fired three shots in the face and one in the back of the head of the victim after a jealous argument, in Armação de Búzios. Angela’s murder and the impunity of the shooter during the first trial, in 1979, stimulated a movement of women who took to the streets and gave visibility to feminist causes in Brazil with the slogan “Quem Ama não Mata”.

For example, activists demanded that the “defense of honor” argument, used by Doca Street lawyers, no longer be accepted as a justification for the deaths of women.

In 1981, Doca Street was tried a second time and sentenced to 15 years in prison. This is undoubtedly a victory for the feminist movement, but the widespread publicity given to the case and the growing mobilization against gender-based violence have not ended the problem. Crimes with the same characteristics continued to occur en masse.

On January 18, 1986, O GLOBO told the story of Sonia Gracine. On December 15 of the previous year, salesman Sérgio Caetano contacted his ex-wife to tell her that a friend of his who lived in Saquarema had been in a car accident. Worried, the professor got into the car with Sérgio and his adopted brother, named Haroldo. Upon arriving there, her ex-husband and his accomplice attacked the teacher, who was left dead, but who, miraculously, got up and asked for help.

In the hospital, very weakened due to the neck injury and third-degree burns on several parts of her body, without being able to use her voice, Sônia wrote the letter recounting how she fought hard against the two killers, before deciding to pretend to be dead. According to information at the time, the teacher died on January 10, 1986 and the two criminals were arrested. Sérgio refused to confess to the crime, but his accomplice confirmed the victim’s entire story.

Read excerpts from the letter left by the teacher before her death

“On Wednesday I was at home and my ex came saying that my friend Graça, who is a police officer and has a house in Saquarema, had a car accident and wanted to talk to me. I ran with him and my adopted brother, Haroldo, left with me.”

They arrived in Saquarema and began scouring the area, with Sérgio saying he couldn’t find the hospital. They headed to a hill near the Saquarema lagoon, where Sérgio sat in the back seat and tried to hang Sônia with a flannel. In the letter, she said she still managed to lose control of the car, kicking the steering wheel, and asked Haroldo, 28, for help.

“I grabbed Haroldo crying, but he just asked me to calm down. He said I was nervous. I tried to leave, they held me: my husband Sérgio Caetano Pereira and his brother Haroldo.”

According to the letter, the teacher was pulled from the car and thrown to the ground. Sérgio lay on top of her to try to strangle the woman, while his accomplice held her legs. In the middle of the fight, Sônia bit her face

“They tore my blouse with a knife; they squeezed my neck and legs; I pretended to be dead. Then they stabbed me in the neck, then another. I remained silent. They poured alcohol on my neck, face and back and threw matches. I didn’t make a sound; Sérgio wanted to stab me again but the other wouldn’t let me.”

In her text, Sandra says that the criminals fled for fear that someone would appear. “I waited until the fire went out and the car left. I got up, took off my long pants, got off the bank, crossed three fences and hit the road.”

On the road, three employees of the former telephone company Telerj saw the teacher and called an ambulance. At the Antônio Pedro Hospital, she spent the first days in intensive care, between life and death. The burns made it difficult to treat the stab wounds and, at the same time, worsened their health condition. When she felt a little better, but still unable to speak, Sônia asked for paper and pen and I sent for her lawyer cousin.