Brazil team in May 2013 defeated the Spaniards in the final of the Confederations Cup with a score of 3:0. Fans hoped to see an equally gorgeous result a year later at the home world championship. It was then, under a veil of euphoria, that one of the most terrible stories of local football unfolded.
A few hours before the match with the Spaniards, 20-year-old Otavio da Silva took a bus in the state of Maranhao to get to the nearest site . A young guy on the weekend worked as a referee and served the games of amateur teams.
That evening he refereed the same team as a few weeks ago. Then Otavio removed the 31-year-old midfielder Santos Abreu for a rough foul. The football player served a suspension for a new meeting and returned to the team. Already in the 20th minute, he flew into a tackle, driving into the opponent's leg with spikes. Of course, the referee again showed a red card. Santos considered another removal from Da Silva a terrible injustice and attacked the judge with his fists. «/
Otavio was much smaller than his opponent and had no chance of winning the fight. He took a knife out of his pocket and stabbed Abreu twice. The blade went between the player's ribs. Bleeding midfielder fell to the lawn, the fans immediately called an ambulance. Santos did not have time to get to the hospital, having died in the car. The death was reported by the footballer's relatives, who were in the stands that evening. After the terrible news, they decided to take revenge on the arbitrator.
Da Silva was afraid to return home and wandered somewhere on the outskirts of the city. It was there that the relatives of the deceased found him. The judge was seized, tied up and put in a car.
The family of the murdered man took Otavio to the same stadium. The arbitrator was beaten to death, after which he was dismembered. They put his head on a stake and stuck it right in the center of the field.
The police discovered the corpse in the morning and immediately began looking for Abreu's relatives. By that time, the «avengers» had gone on the run and left their hometown.
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«One crime can never justify another. Such actions are in no way consistent with the legal system. When this was first reported, I did not even believe that such atrocities could be committed by people,” said the head of the local police after the investigation began.
Someone from the family Santos filmed the murder on his phone for some reason. A few days later, the video appeared on the web. The police managed to find out where it was downloaded from, after which they arrested one of Abreu's relatives. However, for 10 years, none of the killers was caught. The case of Otavio's death is still a «grouse» for the local police.
The brutal murder made a lot of noise in the press. The media immediately began to inflate the topic of Brazil's unpreparedness for the World Cup. The helplessness of the police did not add to the positive. However, over time, the story was hushed up, and the search for Abreu's relatives simply stopped.