Brazilian mum who wheeled dead uncle into bank to sign for loan breaks silence in shock interview after prison release
THE Brazilian mum who wheeled her dead uncle into a bank in a bid to take out a loan in his name has finally broken her silence.
Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes, 42, broke down in tears and insisted she’s “not a monster” in her first interview since leaving prison.
Horror footage showed Nunes holding Paulo Braga’s head up with her hand as she placed a pen between his fingers and urged him to sign the loan papers at the counter.
She also appear to be pretending to talk to him as part of a sick charade to secure a loan.
Staff at the bank in the Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Bangu alerted police and paramedics who confirmed the 68-year-old was dead.
Nunes spent 16 days on remand in prison before being released last week pending an ongoing investigation.
She is facing charges of vilifying a corpse and attempted theft through fraud.
Police have also announced they have launched a separate manslaughter probe.
On Sunday, the mum sobbed uncontrollably as she gave her first interview since leaving prison.
She said: “The days away from my family have been horrible, very difficult.
“I didn’t realise my uncle was dead. It’s absurd what people are saying.
“I’m not that person people are talking about, I’m not that monster.”
Nunes claimed that she only discovered Paulo had passed away when an ambulance worker confirmed his death – despite the man being unable to hold his own head up or his corpse-like appearance.
The health state of the OAP last month prompted bank staff to tell Erika he looked “very pale” and they didn’t think what was happening was legal.
But she said he was independent, walked, and “had a good mind”.
Nunes went on to insist she was never Paulo’s carer.
She told Brazilian TV programme Fantastico she had hazy memories of the afternoon on April 16 when she took her uncle to the bank to sign off the £2,650 loan.
Erika said: “I don’t know if it was the effect of the pills I had taken that day and I took from time to time.
“As I’m undergoing treatment I was taking a sleeping pill called Zolpidem and took more than I should have.”
She claimed her uncle had agreed he would feel better if she held his head up before they went into the bank together.
Erika added that it was his idea to go there despite just having been released from hospital after being treated for pneumonia.
The Brazilian woman also claimed her uncle wanted the loan to finance renovation work at the home they shared.
She told Fantastico that her uncle “never had any income” and that her family “always helped him”.
Erika has been accused by prosecutors of “consciously and voluntarily” vilifying her relative’s corpse and showing him “total disrespect.”
Public prosecutors say she “pretended to try to wake up the elderly man, knowing he was already dead, by trying to put a pen in his hand and bringing that same hand to the table to help him sign” the bank loan.
She was greeted by relatives at the gates of the prison she was released from last Thursday.
A judge released Nunes on bail saying she would pose no risk to public order if she was freed.
The judge also linked the decision to her “weakened” state of mental health and her need to take care of her special needs daughter.
No date has yet been set for her potential trial.