A gynecologist, her husband and a businessman have been arrested in connection to the murder of the physician’s lover, whom she was caught on camera kissing outside her home in Sorriso, Brazil.
The Mato Grosso Civil Police carried out the arrests Tuesday, three months following the death of Ivan Bonotto, 35, who on March 22 was lured to a bar owned by the doctor’s husband and stabbed.
Bonotto suffered multiple stab wounds and remained under observation at Sorriso Regional Hospital, where he died after going into cardiac arrest on April 13.
Dr. Sabrina de Mello, a mother-of-two, is being investigated for procedural fraud, the Mato Gross Civil Police said.
Her husband, Gabriel Tacca, is said to have plotted the murder while his friend and businessman, Danilo Guimarães, reportedly killed Bonnatto.
Authorities said that Bonotto was a very good friend of Tacca and carried a secretive relationship with Dr. de Mello.
A security camera positioned at the family residence showed Bonnatto pulling into the garage on March 9.
Dr. de Mello and Bonotto were filmed kissing in front of entrance and later enter the home. They later walked out together and kissed before Bonotto departed.
After learning of the affair, Tacca reportedly contracted Guimarães to murder Bonotto, police said.
As part of the plot to kill Bonnatto, Tacca and Guimarães staged a bar brawl and lured Bonotto, who was repeatedly stabbed in the back by Guimarães.
Bonotto was rushed to private hospital, where surveillance video showed Dr. de Mello arrived wearing a set of blue scrubs to blend in with the facility staff as they were transporting the victim to the operating room.
Dr. de Mello removed Bonotto’s cell phone and deleted several messages and a video that showed Tacca and Guimarães pretending to fight.
The police said that Dr. de Mello used her professional credentials to gain access to the medical facility and clear the suspects of suspicion.
Dr. de Mello maintained possession of Bonotto’s phone for three days before she handed it over to his family.
She told the police that she deleted the messages because she only wanted ‘to protect the victim.’
‘The victim’s cell phone was practically reset and we were able to prove that there was actually a fabricated story about a man being cheated on,’ police chief Bruno Brança said Tuesday.
‘We’re looking at the dynamics of the crime. The bar fight never happened, and the victim was stabbed next to the bar owner, who claimed he didn’t know anything, that he hadn’t seen it.’
Tacca and Guimarães voluntarily turned themselves after the incident. Tacca told cops that the fight was sparked by an argument over liquor that was being consumed at the bar, and told the agents that he did not know who Guimarães and Bonotto were.
Guimarães was questioned and told the police that he stabbed Bonotto to protect himself from being harmed.
‘After the crime, the bar owner and the person who stabbed him remained in the distributor talking for one minute and 42 seconds,’ Brança said.
‘After the person left, the bar owner waited another 11 minutes, with the victim in critical condition, to take her to the hospital. The claim that he had called the police and fire department is false. There was no connection in the records.’
‘What we know is that the story about ç bar fight is a lie,’ Brança added. ‘There was no fight, no self-defense, no racist abuse. What happened was an attack from behind, which we believe was planned.’