Brazilian goalkeeper convicted in girlfriend’s death says ‘mistakes happen in life’
“Dude, what happened, happened. I made a mistake, a serious one, but mistakes happen in life – I’m not a bad guy. People tried to bury my dream because of one mistake, but I asked God for forgiveness, so I’m carrying on with my career, dude. I’m starting over.”
That’s how Brazilian soccer player Bruno Fernandes de Souza spoke of his return to the sport after a brief stint in jail, according to The Guardian. But de Souza, known in the soccer world simply as Bruno, wasn’t talking about a drunk driving arrest or an off-field brawl.
de Souza was speaking about the brutal torture and murder of the mother of his child.
In 2010, de Souza, at that time considered one of the country’s best goalkeepers and a potential World Cup participant, was arrested in connection to the disappearance of Eliza Samudio. Along with eight other people, he was eventually charged with kidnapping, torturing and murdering the woman, his former girlfriend who was suing him for child support at the time she disappeared.
Authorities never found Samudio’s body, but de Souza’s cousin told the court he helped the goalkeeper dismember her body and feed it to his dogs, per CNN. In 2013, de Souza was found guilty and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Now, however, de Souza is free and about to step back onto the soccer pitch, despite the outrage of fans, sponsors and government officials. In February, his lawyers managed to get him out of jail on a technicality, convincing the country’s Supreme Court that a lower court was taking too long to rule on his appeal and unlawfully keeping him behind bars, per The Guardian.
Less than a month later, the Brazilian soccer team Boa Esporte announced they had signed de Souza to a two-year contract. Immediately the club’s supporters and sponsors voiced concern, and the city where the club plays, Varginha, announced it was looking into the possibility of preventing the team from using its facilities, effectively forcing it to move, per the Associated Press.
Since then, the club has lost several of its main sponsors, per ESPN, but it has remained steadfast in its support, introducing de Souza in a press conference on March 14 and saying he “deserves a new opportunity as a professional” in a statement.
In turn, de Souza praised the “brave leaders” of the club for signing him, per ESPN, and doubled down on his own defense, referring to “a mistake I might have made or not.”
At the same time, he also seemed to acknowledge he had done something wrong, saying, “mistakes happen in life, especially when you're around people where money and fame blind you.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Brazilian goalkeeper convicted in girlfriend’s death says ‘mistakes happen in life’."