Murder of Rio councilor Marielle Franco still unsolved five years on
The murders of Rio de Janeiro city councilor Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes took place five years ago this Tuesday (Mar. 14), and no answer has yet been found about who ordered the killings. Probes have led to the arrest of two perpetrators: retired military police officer Ronnie Lessa, believed to have shot her, and Elcio de Queiroz, also a onetime military officer, who was driving Lessa’s car. The motives and the mastermind behind the assassination remain unknown.
“It’s been five years. That’s a long time,” said Marinete Silva, Marielle Franco’s mother, attempting to describe the feelings of family members, friends, activists, and everyone outraged by the crime. “Today, the whole world wants to know who ordered the shooting. It’s not a question to be answered for family members only,” she added.
Investigations took center stage in the news. The Civil Police appointed five commissioners to the case at their homicide division in Rio de Janeiro. State prosecutors had three different teams on the matter for years.
The last change was made ten days ago, when Prosecutor-General Luciano Mattos selected seven new prosecutors to join the task force under Luciano Lessa, head of the special task force on organized crime. The constant modifications were criticized by relatives and members of social movements over the five years, and have raised suspicions of hampering.
In May 2019, the Federal Police reported that false statements were hindering the progress of investigations. In July 2021, prosecutors dropped the case citing outside interference.
Rio prosecutors said they are committed to “not reaching a hasty conclusion, detached from reality, but conducting technical and serious work to identify everyone involved.” Regarding the individuals who ordered the killings and their motives, the prosecution says difficulties are all the worse as “the perpetrators are professionals, military policemen. They know how an investigation works.”
The most substantial breakthrough in the case happened in March 2019, when Élcio de Queiroz and Ronnie Lessa were arrested in Rio de Janeiro. Four years later they are still in jail, but no trial has been held. Contacted by our team, Rio court authorities said they are waiting for “further investigation required by the prosecution before a date is set for the trial.”
