Greek ambassador to Brazil murdered by wife and her police lover

Francoise de Souza Oliveira, wife of Greece's Ambassador to Brazil Kyriakos

The Greek ambassador to Brazil was killed by his Brazilian wife and her policeman lover in a “crime of passion” which they hoped would let them enjoy a new life together funded by the dead envoy’s money, police said. Ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis was probably stabbed to death in the Rio de Janeiro area by the policeman, Sergio Gomez Moreira, who then rolled the body up in a carpet, put it in a car and later set the vehicle alight, officers said.
"All our evidence suggests that her (wife Francoise Amiridis’) motivation was to use the financial resources left by the ambassador so she could enjoy life with Sergio," police investigator Evaristo Pontes Magalhaes said on Friday.
He described the murder as "a tragic, cowardly act” which police are treating as "a crime of passion." Mrs Amiridis, 40, confessed she knew of the crime but has denied any role in the death of her 59-year-old husband. Mr Magalhes told a press conference that the "evidence clearly puts the ambassador's wife as a co-author of the crime."

The murdered Greek ambassador

She and Mr Moreira are in custody, along with Mr Moreira's cousin, Eduardo Moreira de Melo, who confessed that he was paid the equivalent of the equivalent of £20,000 to help in the murder and the disposal of the body. Mrs Amiridis allegedly started plotting with her 29-year-old lover to kill the ambassador after the envoy and his wife had a serious fight just before before Christmas. The couple lived in the capital Brasilia but had travelled to Nova Iguacu, a town just north of Rio de Janeiro, to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays with Mrs Amiridis's family. Mr Amiridis was killed on Monday, police said. His charred body was found on Thursday in Rio in his burned-out rental car. On Wednesday his wife told police that he was missing, saying he had left the apartment they were staying in along with their 10-year-old daughter, taken the car and had not returned. But her story had contradictions, and after Mr Amiridis' body was found in the burned-out car under a bridge, police took her in for more questioning and also detained Mr Moreira. Officers also found blood spots believed to be from the ambassador on a sofa in the apartment in Nova Iguacu. Mr Moreira confessed that he strangled the ambassador in self-defence during a fight, but the blood evidence found on the scene led police to believe he stabbed him. The investigation showed that the body was removed from the house in a carpet at the same time that Francoise arrived with their daughter, who did not see the body of her dead father, Mr Magalhaes, the police investigator, said.

Mr Amiridis became his country’s ambassador to Brazil earlier this year. He had previously served as Greece's consul general in Rio from 2001 to 2004, where he met Francoise.