Gospel star with 55 kids married her daughter's boyfriend before ordering his murder
A gospel singer and congresswoman with 55 children was convicted of masterminding the murder of her husband after multiple poisoning attempts failed
A mother of 55 children who had established a thriving career as a gospel performer and Member of Parliament orchestrated her husband's horrific murder in a notorious crime which implicated multiple generations of the family.
Flordelis Souza began performing in churches during the early 90s throughout her local area of Jacarezinho, a district of Rio de Janeiro. In 1993, a mother of three, she encountered Anderson do Carmo, who was 16 years her junior and began a relationship with her daughter, Simone.
By 1998, the couple had broken up and Flordelis proceeded to wed the now-21 year old Anderson. United, they established their own church, the Ministry of Flordelis, and gained recognition for sheltering vulnerable children, with their vast family comprising biological and adopted children, totalling 55.
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Flordelis' fame expanded over time, and she became accountable for nine churches, produced chart-topping gospel records and initiated her bid for a parliamentary seat, which she secured in 2018 as the highest-polling candidate in the state of Rio, reports the Daily Star.
With celebrity status and wealth, the family flourished for years - until circumstances shifted. According to investigators, Flordelis wanted her husband gone because he maintained strict control over the family's financial affairs.
She then started poisoning him from mid-2018, attempting to kill him using that method on at least six separate occasions, slipping arsenic and cyanide into his meals and beverages. Each time, he was admitted to hospital but pulled through.
She then hired a hitman to shoot him, but Anderson switched vehicles and unknowingly threw the gunman off track.
Eventually, in June 2019, Anderson, then 42, was returning home with his wife following a night out when he was ambushed and shot dead at dawn in the property's garage.
The coroner's report showed that Do Carmo's body sustained more than 30 bullet wounds, with a substantial concentration of bullets aimed specifically at his pelvic and groin area.
Prosecutors stated he "suffered terribly" before his death.
Flordelis tearfully reported her husband's death hours afterwards, claiming he had been murdered during a robbery - but police rejected the account.
Days afterwards, her eldest biological son, Flavio, was arrested at his stepfather's wake on an unrelated domestic violence warrant, and his adopted brother, Lucas, was arrested the same day for purchasing the pistol used in the killing, which police had discovered in Flavio's bedroom.
Two days afterwards, the oldest child admitted to the murder.
Both sons faced charges, but investigators still believed other family members had taken part in the crime. In August 2020, following further investigation, Flordelis was accused of orchestrating the murder, alongside seven of her children, a granddaughter and two individuals from outside the family.
Her solicitor maintained she was innocent and described the investigation's conclusion as a "great mistake", while the lead detective stated this was "not a family but a criminal organisation."
Flavio was handed 33 years in prison for firing the fatal shot, while Lucas received seven years, reduced due to his cooperation with authorities.
In 2022, the orchestrator faced trial, with her legal team contending she had no knowledge of the crime, which they claimed was executed by family members seeking to shield her from purported physical and sexual mistreatment by her husband.
The judge dismissed that defence, determining she was the architect behind a murder designed to appear as a burglary gone wrong.
The 61-year-old Flordelis was handed a sentence of 50 years and 28 days' imprisonment, found guilty of the recent crime in addition to the poisoning attempts.
Her daughter and Anderson's ex-girlfriend, Simone Rodrigues, received 31 years, four months and 20 days for her role in the initial attempted poisonings.
Two other offspring and a granddaughter were cleared.
She has continued to protest her innocence, telling The Guardian following the sentencing: "They say it was about power and money. What power? I'm the congresswoman. I'm the gospel singer with thousands of followers... So what power did I seek to steal from my husband? And what money? I was the one who lost the most here - it was me!".
