Belo Horizonte diarist detained for murder of elderly couple

Paola Stefany Neto Cirino, a 30‑year‑old diarist, was arrested in a hotel in Itabira, Minas Gerais, and placed in preventive detention by a judge in Belo Horizonte after confessing to a robbery‑linked homicide. She admitted to entering the apartment of 75‑year‑old lawyer Claudio Atala Inácio and 76‑year‑old retired entrepreneur Maria Clotilde Moreira Maciel Atílio Inácio, drugging them with clonazepam, stabbing the man more than 40 times, and stealing jewelry, watches, cash and other valuables estimated at around R$200 000.

The bodies were discovered by the couple’s son on 28 June. Police recovered part of the stolen goods, including luxury watches that were returned after the buyer alerted authorities. A seventh‑day mass for the victims will be held on 5 July at the Bom Jesus do Vale parish in Nova Lima. The presiding judge rejected claims of a psychiatric disorder, noting the absence of relevant substances in the suspect’s system and ordering the case to remain public.