Marcos Matsunaga Banned Elize from Zoo Over Chimpanzee Pepe

A recent book about the 2012 murder case of Brazilian businessman Marcos Matsunaga reveals that he was jealous of a chimpanzee named Pepe at the São Paulo Zoo. The entrepreneur allegedly prohibited his wife, Elize Matsunaga, from visiting the zoo without his accompaniment and even bought a pet snake to keep her away from the animals.

The anecdote resurfaced after Netflix released the film “Elize: Shadows of a Woman,” which revisits the high‑profile crime in which Elize shot and dismembered Marcos, was convicted in 2016, and entered conditional release in 2022. The story highlights the bizarre personal dynamics that preceded the murder.

The case originally involved Elize Matsunaga, a former sex worker, who confessed to killing her husband, the director of the food company Yoki, after alleging infidelity and threats. The new detail about the chimpanzee adds a peculiar dimension to the widely reported homicide.