A Brazilian ex-goalkeeper who’s in prison for ordering the savage killing of his ex-girlfriend — who was then fed to dogs — has been reportedly given temporary release to teach soccer to dozens of children.
According to local reports, a criminal judge in Varginha, Minas Gerais in southeast Brazil authorized Bruno Fernandes de Souza’s temporary release Wednesday to participate in the government’s social inclusion program for prisoners.
He will be giving hour-long sessions, Monday to Friday, to around 60 youth players at the Nucleus of Training for Peace (Nucap) in Varginha.
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The judge said the days Fernandes de Souza works at the center will be used as remission for his sentence.
Fernandes de Souza, who played for local teams Corinthians, Atletico Mineiro and Flamengo during his 8-year career, was convicted and sentenced to 22 years and three months in prison in 2013 for the gruesome murder of his ex-girlfriend Eliza Samudio.
The 25-year-old Samudio was tortured and beaten, before being strangled. Her body was chopped up into pieces then fed to a pack of Rottweilers in 2010.
Fernandes de Souza ordered her death to avoid paying child support for their then-four-month-old son. Her body has never been found.
Due to the severity of the crime, the former soccer player must serve at least two-fifths of his sentence before he can ask to be transferred to a semi-open jail regimen.
He was let out of jail in February on a legal technicality after his lawyers claimed he should be allowed to pursue his appeal against his conviction outside of prison. However, the decision was overturned in April by the Federal Supreme Court.
During his two months of freedom, Fernades de Souza signed a deal with the team Boa Esporte, which was met with wide criticism. Five team sponsors pulled their support after the announcement.
As for his new temporary release, Samudio’s mother, Sonia Moura, told MailOnline that the family was outraged by the judge’s decision.
“This is absurd. How he is allowed to teach (soccer) when he doesn’t even have a physical education qualification which everyone teaching sports must have in Brazil?” she said. “This is another case of the law being bent to suit and excuse the privileged in our society.”
“Bruno has shown no remorse for torturing and murdering my daughter and I can’t see how he is going to be a role model and pose as a good character example to the children he will be training,” she continued. “Justice is granting him all the benefits imaginable to ease his life behind bars, while my grandchild has lost all the rights to a mother.”