Brazil police identify alleged killer of three young gay men lured by app

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Authorities are investigating the murders as hate crimes, a growing criminal offense in recent years.

Young men, homosexuals in a good economic situation who lived alone: this is the profile of the victims that the Civil Police of Paraná attributes to José Tiago Correia Soroka, 32, suspected of having attacked and killed nurse David Júnior Alves Levisio, 30, last April 27, and medical student Marco Vinício Bozzana da Fonseca, 25, last May 4. Both lived in Curitiba. Soroka is also linked to the death of university professor Robson Olivino Paim, 36, in the city of Abelardo Luz, on April 16.

Although the cases are being investigated as theft-related deaths (all three victims had their cell phones and computers stolen), police are also pursuing the theory that the cases involve hate crimes, a criminal offense that has been on the rise in Brazil in recent years.

Detective Thiago Nobrega, in charge of the case in Curitiba, explains that the theory of hate crime is being considered due to the characteristics of the victims and the suspect’s behavior. In the two cases, in Curitiba and in Santa Catarina, the bodies were found lying on the bed, face down, dressed, with their hands tied behind their backs and a blanket over their heads, indicating that they could have been asphyxiated.

According to police, the suspect was targeting the victims through the LGBTI Grindr dating app. Soroka – say the authorities – used a fake profile, identifying himself with other names and without using a photo of his face. “All the emails and addresses he used to register on the app were false, and he only made use of the internet in public establishments to avoid being traced.”

Also according to Nóbrega, the suspect attacked the victims quickly, with a choke-hold, a strangulation blow performed from behind, which leaves the victim unconscious within just a few minutes. “We are awaiting the forensic reports, but everything suggests that he grabbed the helpless victims at the beginning [of the encounter] and then killed them by asphyxiation.” Nóbrega also says that Soroka would leave the place tidy, with no evidence of a bodily struggle.

The death of both the nurse and the medical student shocked Curitiba: Levisio had been working on the front line of Covid-19 for just over a year and dreamed of becoming a doctor. His sister, Pablicia Levisio Costa, disclosed on Sunday on her Facebook page the Civil Police publications about the search for Soroka. “Spread the word, we want justice!” she wrote.

A complaint lodged last May 11, by a person who claimed to have survived the attacks allegedly committed by Soroka, was decisive for the identification by the Civil Police: a 20-year-old architect, who lives in Curitiba. “What the victim told us is that he [Soroka] showed up at the apartment very polite and asked the victim to take off his clothes. When he was on his back, he tried to choke him, but because he was a strong and tall man, he was able to fight back and deflect him. He only survived because he was strong,” explains the detective.

Police believe there are other victims. “In some cases the report is inconclusive and we are not sure about the asphyxiation. In other attempts, we have information that, out of shame, people do not report it,” explains the delegate.

A report by the Observatory of Violent Deaths of LGBTI+ in Brazil – 2020, prepared by Acontece Arte e Política LGBTI+ and Grupo Gay da Bahia, published last week, points out that, since the 1990s until now, the increase in the number of deaths motivated by hatred towards the LGTBI population was approximately 60%. The year 2017 saw the highest number of victims: 455.

In 2020, deaths total 237, which is 28% less than in 2019. The reduction, according to the report, was “due to imponderable number fluctuation and the large underreporting identified during searches, investigations and registrations.” In addition, it says, by the lack of investment in public policies, campaigns to encourage reporting and protection of victims since 2018.

Source: El Pais

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