Three Finns killed near winter home in Brazil
Couple planned to sell winter home
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Three Finnish citizens, a retired couple and a friend, were found shot to death in Brazil on Friday near the city of João Pessoa in the state of Paraiba on Friday.
The retired Savonlinna couple had been spending their winters in Brazil, but now were planning to sell their house in Brazil following various setbacks there.
“Differences in income are great, and it has led to a situation in which they did not have a caretaker for the house in the summer”, a colleague says.
The 72-year-old husband was a retired surgeon, and his 68-year-old wife had been a gynaecologist. Also found shot in a sugar cane field near the house was a 60-year-old nurse from Savonlinna.
Robbery does not appear to have been the motive, as cash, jewellery, and a mobile phone were found on the bodies.
The couple had been spending their winters in Brazil for more than five years. When they were killed they were trying to sell the house. Two had owned two other homes in the João Pessoa area previously.
Helsingin Sanomat has learned that the motive of the killings may involve financial arrangements of the sale. The local buyer had had problems getting together the money for the purchase.
The man who was killed had told a colleague earlier in the year that there was some kind of a problem with the money linked with the sale of the house. However, he had considered the would-be buyer to be a trustworthy person.
The buyer had helped the couple get plane tickets to Brazil.
The murder investigation is the responsibility of local police. The Finnish Embassy and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have received reports from Brazilian officials on the progress of the investigations.
The NBI has no immediate plans to travel to Brazil to help in the investigation. Finnish officials will be in touch with the João Pessoa police on Monday.
Helsingin Sanomat
