Niterói vigilante killing case heads to trial

A criminal hearing is set for August 4 in Niterói, Brazil, to address the murder of 41‑year‑old vigilante Maximiliano Pina Júlio. The suspects are fellow security guard Bruno Cordeiro Gomes de Souza and Marcelo São Paio de Figueiredo, owner of Flystar Segurança, the private security firm where the victim worked. Investigators say the victim disappeared after starting his shift on 21 February and was killed inside the workplace; CCTV showed the suspects moving the body to a company vehicle and abandoning his motorcycle in the Fonseca neighborhood.

In a separate incident on 28 July, police in Niterói arrested a driver of a white Land Rover Velar after he allegedly brandished a .380 pistol during a traffic dispute on Estrada Caetano Monteiro. The firearm was found loaded in the vehicle and the suspect was taken into custody for illegal possession of a weapon.