Woman who took dead uncle into a bank says ‘I’m not a monster’
She faces charges of vilifying a corpse and attempted theft through fraud.
A woman accused of taking her dead uncle into a bank in attempts to get him to sign a loan broke down in tears while recalling the incident.
Footage of Erika de Souza holding Paulo Braga’s head up with her hand while she urged him to sign a paper went viral last month.
Staff at the bank in the Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Bangu alerted police and paramedics who confirmed the 68-year-old was dead.
De Souza spent 16 days on remand in prison before being released last week pending an ongoing investigation – she faces charges of vilifying a corpse and attempted theft through fraud.
Police have also announced they have launched a separate manslaughter probe.
De Souza sobbed uncontrollably in her first interview since leaving prison, saying: ‘The days away from my family have been horrible, very difficult. I didn’t realise my uncle was dead. It’s absurd what people are saying. I’m not that person people are talking about, I’m not that monster.’
She told Brazilian TV programme Fantastico she only discovered Paulo had passed away when an ambulance worker confirmed his death after responding to emergency calls to go to the bank.
De Souza also claimed her memories of the afternoon on April 16 when she took her uncle to sign off on the £2,650 loan, were fuzzy.
She explained: ‘I don’t know if it was the effect of the pills I had taken that day and I took from time to time.
‘As I’m undergoing treatment I was taking a sleeping pill called Zolpidem and took more than I should have.’
She insisted her uncle had agreed he would feel better if she held his head up before they went into the bank together – and said it was his idea to go there despite just having been released from hospital following a bout of pneumonia.
Speaking of her uncle, De Souza added: ‘He was independent, he walked, he did what he wanted, he had a good mind.
‘He wasn’t a wheelchair user and I wasn’t his carer as people have said. I was never his carer.’
A judge released Erika on bail saying she would pose no risk to public order if she was freed and also linked the decision to her ‘weakened’ state of mental health and her need to take care of her special needs daughter.
No date has yet been set for her probable trial.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
