Paraíba court maintains detention of businessman in engineer's murder case

A judge in Campina Grande, Paraíba, has maintained the preventive detention of businessman Christian Dantas, who is accused of killing 29-year-old civil engineer Rubens Fernandes. The incident occurred in a parking lot following a private São João festival in Lagoa Seca.

Judge Philippe Guimarães Padilha Vilar denied several defense requests, including supplemental ballistic and traumatological reports, new audiovisual forensics, and the lifting of the victim's mobile phone privacy. The court also rejected requests to subpoena the event organizers.

The case is being held under judicial secrecy due to reports of online lynching, hate speech, and death threats directed at the defendants. The Public Ministry is seeking convictions for homicide, bodily injury, and illegal possession of a firearm for Dantas, while requesting a conviction for qualified homicide as an accomplice for his partner, Larissa Leal.