Internet romance ends in murder.

[Tango]

Internet romance has gruesome end in Brazil
(DPA)

4 October 2006


RIO DE JANEIRO - An international online love affair didn’t lead to the altar but instead ended in a brutal murder in Brazil.

Police said this week after a six-month investigation that an American man who came to Brazil to visit the fiancee he had romanced on the internet was killed by the woman over money, according to media reports.

Musician Raymond James Mierrel was drugged and held by Regina Filomena Rachid for a week in March in an apartment in Sao Jose dos Campos in Sao Paulo state, police said. After Mierrel gave her the PIN numbers to his credit cards, Rachid strangled him with a cable and, with the help of two accomplices, burned his body in a car on an abandoned piece of land in Sao Jose, police charged.

Authorities initially buried Mierrel’s body believing him to be an unidentifiable homeless person.

Mierrel’s parents, however, reported him missing in April from California, and the Brazilian police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating his disappearance together.

It ended up being solved by chance when Rachid was arrested in June at a shopping centre in San Jose in an attempted robbery. A police search of Rachid turned up a credit card bearing Mierrel’s name.

One accomplice was then arrested, and another surrendered to authorities. Police said all three confessed to their involvement in the murder.

By then, Rachid had withdrawn about 50,000 dollars from Mierrel’s accounts, police said.

The musician had travelled to Brazil for a third time in March to spend his birthday with his fiancee.

Police said, however, that by the time of his arrival, Rachid and her accomplices had their eyes on his money and had been planning his murder for weeks. Now they face 30 years in prison if convicted of kidnapping and murder charges.

In the meantime, the body of the unknown homeless person was exhumed, and initial DNA tests determined that the body was almost certainly that of Mierrel.

Note: This is one way on how NOT to romance a Latin woman!

[Bueller]

I dated a lady from São José dos Campos for a while. She taught me some other things about how not to romance a Latina. Luckily my lessons were easier.

Couple of weird details here. They took the corpse, Weekend-at-Bernie's-style, in the back seat of a car, held in place by a seat belt, to the dump-and-burn site. Also, the third suspect turned himself in but was released because Brazilian law prohibits arresting someone within two days of an election unless he is caught in the act itself. They do expect to have a warrant for his re-arrest today, though.

[LastLion]

WOW, that is a very interesting story! All I hear is how scandulous those brasilieras are! This is obviously a very sad story! I am saddened to hear such a story!

Tango, I guess your last note was meant in jest, but just think it could be you or any of us! Keep you eyes peeled and your money in your front pocket!

[El Capitan]

...More importantly, don't act like the big man on campus...ever...and certainly make sure you know a lot about the person you're dating.

ItaliaTroy - Another reason not to try to meet, and wed your bride in 10 days or less!!!

[Kalel21]

I hope that ***** burns in hell for what she did to that poor man. I mean whats a guy got to do to get some unconditional love these days.Huh? What? sorry I am just abit emotional right now.

[Cubafro]

Que pinga!!! That`s a deep story.....Why don`t just burn them too, and first of all this ***** who used this man heart; It`s kind of reminding me the story I lived while in DR, what a stress.
After thinking about the seriousnessof the lady you`re meeting, if she`s sincere or not, you have now to think about your safety with her....WHAT A WORLD Sorry for this dude and his family

CUBA [img]smile.gif[/img]

[KPunch2]

Good post Tango! Thanks for the heads up.

This could happen to anyone of us anywhere [outside of the US] at any given time. You really got to know who you are mingling with. Whenever I read about some knucklehead bragging about meeting someone and getting married in 10 days, you gotta shake your head and give him a severe dose of reality check. Sad indeed.

[STM]

The article says the killer lady was 49 years old, you think it would have been some young drug punks. I cannot find any photos of the people.
By 49 you would expect this lady to be pretty ragged out looking.

[Father Timothy]

Bless you my sons, bless you all. This is a volatile time in Colombia. Bless you my sons and pray for us, pray for all of us. This war must end soon my sons!

Here is the poem from years ago.

"Prayers to the Wind"

Let the people's conscience be hidden
Let death's gaze be blocked
Let the absent witnesses be swayed
And let God, if there is a God, cry tears

Let the machine gun bursts be thrashed
Let the castrating rulers be tortured
Let the terror in corners be annihilated
And let God, if there is a God, cry tears

Let the plaza be swept of horrors
Let the truncheon's cruelities be smashed
Let the opulence of disorder be mollified
And let God, if there is a God, cry tears

Let the gags of silence be torn away
Let the lies in disguise be imprisoned
Let the orgies of mourning be condemned
And let God, if there is a God, cry tears.

My sons, if these years of fighting in Colombia ever stop I believe you gringos will have to go elsewhere to find your new wife to be. As the poem so aptly states "Let the lies in disguise be imprisoned".

Bless you my sons, bless all of you.

Colombia needs a strong middle class society, not a hoard of savages brimming with testosterone who come here to partake of those suffering in Colombia's desperate state of affairs. Thou God will rise again! Rejoice! Rejoice!

Bless you my sons, bless you all.

This particular thread was brought to my attention from a brother in the Parrish. The danger factor used for grading these women reminds me of the days when I worked in the stockyards on Chicago's southside before I entered the seminary.

Bless you my sons, bless you.

But forgive me if I sound critical. It sounds like many of you have have migrated from fantasies online thinking this is a rosy process, your beloved wife will be years in the making. And it also appears that most of you are quickly caving into the techniques of some of these devilish Brasilian ladies. Be wary my sons. Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. Beauty can kill you my sons! Rejoice! Rejoice!

A few years ago a middle-aged gentleman from Canada stopped by the Archidiocese in Cali. I made time for him in the rose garden and courtyard area. He appeared forlorn and confused. I had some time before vespers so I stopped and introduced myself. He told me this story. About twenty years ago he was working as a professor in Bogota and he met this beautiful lady who was one of his students. She was from Popayan, a small town south of Cali.

They had a lovely wedding in Cali and then shortly there after moved to Montreal, Thunder Bay. According to him she was absolutely stunning and beautiful. She turned lots of heads where ever she went. They had a lengthy courtship and good marriage until he learned she was unfaithful to him.

According to him they were both preparing to go out for their tenth wedding anniversary. In the bedroom closet was a large wooden box where his wife kept keepsakes from their white wedding. The husband thought he would surprise her that night so he opened the box to dig out the corsage he wore the night they were married.

When he opened the box he found an egg carton. Inside the egg carton were two eggs and a thousand dollars. He brought the egg carton to his wife and said "look dear, look what I found in the wooden chest in the closet." His wife explained "oh baby, I'm sorry you had to find that tonight sweetheart."

He asked "well honey what is this doing in the closet?" She said "well dear each time I had an affair I put an egg in the carton."

He said "well I guess that explains the two eggs, but what's the thousand dollars doing in here?"

She confessed "well everytime I collected a dozen eggs, I sold them."

Bless you my sons, bless you, bless all of you.

My sons, look beyond the physical appearances and beauty. Search within your soul and hers and make your decision based on the weight of her heart not the size of her boobs.

My sons I must go. I am late for evening vespers.

Bless you my sons, bless you.

Ta Ta

[LastLion]

Great Advice father! At least they weren't eating eggs benedict every day!