Murder-Suicide on New Year’s Eve
By: Gisele Oliveira
Tags: Murder, True Crime, Massacre, Femicide

Murder-Suicide on New Year’s Eve

Photo by Nagatoshi Shimamura on Unsplash

It was New Year’s Eve 2016/2017 and families across the country were celebrating. Around 11:40 pm, people were already popping off fireworks and counting down the minutes to midnight. Sidnei Ramis de Araújo, on the other hand, was counting down the minutes to carry out a massacre he had dreamed of for years.

46-year-old Sidnei Ramis de Araújo worked as a Laboratory Technician and lived in Campinas, São Paulo, just like his 41-year-old former wife Isamara Filier and his 8-year-old son João Victor. Although he was described by neighbors as a calm, friendly person, he had been involved in a legal battle over his son for around four years after Isamara filed a police report against him for allegedly sexually abusing his own child when the boy was about 3 years old.

João Victor had allegedly told his teachers that his father had been ‘hurting’ him while his mom was at work and that he was feeling pain. The school, therefore, contacted Isamara. According to Tatiana Ferreira, who was João Vitor’s teacher in the first grade, the boy didn’t like his father and intended to kill him in the future.

João Vitor and his father, Sidnei. Source

As a consequence, Sidnei was only allowed to visit the child every other Sunday from 9 am to 12 noon under Isamara’s supervision, not having permission to pick him up from school.

Silmara had filed five other police reports against her ex-husband between 2005 and 2015 for assault, death threats, and violation of a restraining order.

Sidnei believed to be a victim of injustice and was filled with hatred towards his ex-wife. He could not stand the fact he did not win custody of his son. In 2013, he wrote down in a diary his desire to murder Isamara, such as his son’s grandfather and uncle so that she could “know what it’s like to miss someone.” He also wrote notes concerning his son. “His sneakers cost R$ 20 and hers R$ 200”, said an excerpt. Furthermore, he had written letters and recorded audios justifying what he was about to do, which he sent via email to his girlfriend and friends.

In a letter addressed to his son, he constantly refers to women as “bitches” who want to take advantage of men. “Hi son, first I want to say that I love you very much and would never do to you or to any person what that bitch who gave you birth said,” he wrote referring to the sexual abuse allegation, and “Son, observe your future mother-in-law before getting married because your wife will act the same way as the old woman,” as if he had any intention to let his son have a future.

He claimed he would avenge what Isamara supposedly did to them. “I know how she made you cry by not letting you stay with me when I was going to visit you. I will always love you! Every woman is afraid of dying young, and she will die by my hands.”

Isamara and João Victor. Source

In audios, he claims to have bought a 9mm pistol from a woman who didn’t know his real intention, and that he scratched the serial number off to protect her. He also reveals that his first idea was to carry out the attack on Christmas Day, but his plan failed and had to be postponed. He goes on to say “Son, daddy loves you so much. Judge what you want, each one has their own way of loving. Didn’t God crucify his son out of love for others, as it says in the Bible? I will not let you suffer in the hand of that bitch anymore, son.”