A matter of honor

In a 14-hour rampage, former army soldier Genildo Ferreira de França, 27, terrorized São Gonçalo do Amarante, a little town in the interior of Rio Grande do Norte, in a methodical, personal revenge mission that left 15 people dead. Surrounded by police, he released Valdenice Ribeiro da Silva, 16, and his own five-year-old daughter whom he was using as hostages, and then killed himself.

França had a list of 20 people who he believed had in some way offended him and who deserved to die, among them a driver who killed his little son two years ago, and his second wife with whom he lived. He accused her of starting a rumor that he was homosexual. After killing his wife, he made Valdenice write: "I dare anyone to prove that I was homosexual. I wasn't and I will not be. All this tragedy was caused by such a commentary." He also asked forgiveness for not having vindicated the son's death.

The massacre started around 7 PM on May 21 when França took a taxi, shot and killed its driver, and then used the car to put his plan in action. Some people he killed after drinking with them, a policeman who tried to stop him was also shot dead. Before killing Edílson Nascimento, he screamed, "Now I want you to see you saying that you screwed me."

Genildo Ferreira de Franca (15)

Pissed off at being called homosexual by his former father-in-law, Genildo Ferreira de Franca, a former soldier, went on a 22-hour murderous rampage killing 15 people in São Gonçalo do Amarante, a town on the outskirts of Natal, 1,800 miles northeast of São Paulo. The dead included his ex-wife, her parents, his current wife and his mother-in-law.

Genildo, 27, armed with automatic pistol, a .38-caliber revolver with a silencer and wearing the customary mass-murdering camouflage, started his shooting spree the afternoon of May 21, 1997, when he killed a taxi driver he suspected of being the lover of his former wife. After stuffing the body in the trunk of the car, he visited and killed his ex-wife, her parents and took his 5-year-old daughter Nayara hostage. With another hostage going along for the ride, 16-year-old Valderice Ribeiro da Silva, he lured people into the cab to go to a party and instead took them to a wooded area to kill them.

Police believe 16-year-old Valderice Ribeiro da Silva was more of an accomplice than a hostage in the killings. "She was with him the whole time and was carrying the ammunition. They were both on drugs," the police spokesman said. "We believe she may have been helping him." According to the girl the rampager, after sharing several joints with her, forced her to have sex with him threatening that it would be her last time.

Valderice said Fanca had a list of 25 people he wanted to kill. He was selective about his victims, crossing them off his list after each kill. Those fortunate enough not to be in the hit list were told, "You may go, you're a good person, you don't deserve to die." Franca was also despondent over the death of his 1-year-old son, who had been run over by a taxi two years ago. A friend and associate of Franca said: "He used to be a calm kind of guy, but ever since his son was run over by a car, he became a bit strange."

Army buddy Francisco de Assis dos Santos, 22, confessed to aiding Genildo with the first five slayings. According to police Dos Santos, a drug addict, confessed to holding the arms of the victims as Franca shot them. He also said that after each kill the ex-soldier would laugh as if possessed by the devil. He stopped helping with the carnage because the laughing was starting to bother him.

In a three-page letter found on Franca after he was killed by police, he said his purpose in "writing these few lines is not to justify the wrong I have done, but it is only in this way that I can ... challenge those who wanted to prove I was a homosexual." Franca's mother, Maria do Carmo said her son "was always kind and gentle with everyone." But when his baby Iuri was killed, "he opened himself to the enemy the devil." She thought her son got worse when his ex-father-in-law started telling everyone Franca was a homosexual. "But that was not true. My son was a womanizer."

Franca met his end at one in the afternoon the day after he started his rampage. He was cornered by 140 police officers in a ceramic tile factory where he shot himself before police riddled his body with bullets. The two hostages, Valderice and his 5-year-old daughter, were unharmed. Apparently, three months before, Ferreira went to buy a coffin, telling the undertaker he was going to commit suicide. Two days after the rampage only 15 people attended his funeral. Sadly only one relative showed up who, curiously, was on his hit list.

Mayhem.net

Former soldier on rampage

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A former soldier killed his ex-wife, her parents and at least 12 other people before being gunned down by police. He left behind a note indicating he was upset that he had been called a homosexual.

Genildo Ferreira de Franca, 27, began the shootings Wednesday night in a town on the outskirts of Natal, 1,300 miles northeast of Rio. "The reason I am writing these few lines is not to justify the wrong I have done, but it is only in this way that I can ...challenge those who wanted to prove I was a homosexual," de Franca wrote in a three-page letter found after he was killed Thursday.  It was not clear who made the allegations.

The killings began late Wednesday when de Franca, armed with two pistols and wearing a bullet-proof vest, shot his wife and her parents, said Gustavo Mariano, a spokesman for Rio Grande do Norte state. Franca then went to his former wife's home and shot her. Later, police believe de Franca used a 16-year-old girl to lure men into a wooded area where he killed them, Mariano said. The girl, Valderici Ribeiro da Silva, was first thought to have been de Franca's hostage but police later believed she was working with him, Mariano said.

On Thursday morning, de Franca began walking down the street and killing people at random. Around noon, police surrounded de Franca and two hostages in a wooded area. In the ensuing shootout, de Franca was killed and the hostages were released unharmed. The number of dead could climb as high as 20, as police still are expected to find more bodies, Mariano said.

In Brazil, search is on for shooting-spree victims

RIO DE JANEIRO - Police said they were searching Friday for more victims of the former soldier who ran amok in a small town in northeastern Brazil, killing at least 17 people before dying in a shootout.

"All we know is that he killed a lot of people, at least 17, but there could be more," a police spokesman said. "Officers took up the search again this morning."

Genildo Ferreira de Franca, armed with two automatic weapons and a handgun, started his shooting spree Wednesday afternoon, killing a taxi driver he suspected of being the lover of his former wife, the spokesman said. The 27-year-old ex-soldier, who left the armed forces five years ago, was wearing a military camouflage uniform and a bulletproof vest.

He then drove the taxi of his first victim through the streets of Sao Goncalo do Amarante, in Rio Grande do Norte state, until midday Thursday, armed with a hit list. He shot to death at least another 16 people, including his former wife, his former in-laws, his current wife and his mother-in-law. Three people were injured. "Ferreira heard his (former) wife was having an affair and that people were saying he was homosexual. That's when he went crazy and just started shooting," the spokesman said.

Ferreira left a letter listing 25 people he wanted to kill and giving some indication of his motives. "This was a premeditated crime," the mayor of the town of 65,000 people, Francisco Potiguar Cavalcanti Jr., said. "We consider this an isolated case. Our town is a town of peace. The mood here is of sadness and consternation." Sao Goncalo do Amarante is 1,550 miles northeast of the capital, Brasilia.

Ferreira took two hostages, his 5-year-old daughter and a 16-year- old girl police suspect of being an accomplice in the killings. "She was with him the whole time and was carrying the ammunition. They were both on drugs," the police spokesman said. "We believe she may have been helping him and are still questioning her."

A former friend and colleague of Ferreira's, who identified himself only as Genival, said that Ferreira had been threatening to kill 25 people since his son died a year ago. "He used to be a calm kind of guy, but ever since his son was run over by a car, he became a bit strange," Genival said. Ferreira, who was finally cornered by 200 police officers in a ceramic tile factory, where he was hiding with his hostages, died in the ensuing gunfight. The hostages were unharmed. It was not clear whether Ferreira committed suicide or whether police killed him. The 16-year-old hostage said Ferreira had shot himself before police riddled his body with bullets. Genival said that three months ago, Ferreira went to buy a coffin, telling the undertaker he was going to commit suicide.

Brazil killing-spree accomplice confesses

May 24, 1997

A man who went on a 22-hour shooting spree that left 15 people dead in northeastern Brazil ''would laugh as if possessed by the devil'' after each killing, an accomplice said Friday.

Francisco de Assis dos Santos, 22, was arrested Friday and confessed to aiding ex-soldier Genildo Ferreira de Franca in carrying out the slayings, police Inspector Sergio Leocadio Teixeira said by phone from the northeastern town of Sao Goncalo do Amarante. Dos Santos was described as a drug addict by police. Franca, 27, was gunned down by police Thursday in Sao Goncalo do Amarante.

Crazed homophobe commits mass murder in Brazil

Up to 20 People Killed by Distraught Husband Labeled "Homosexual"

In a tragedy fired by motives similar to those which gave rise to the post-Jenny Jones talk-show disaster, a one-time Brazilian soldier went berserk after being called "a homosexual."

His killing spree began late last Wednesday in Natal, a town 1,300 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro. The post-Jenny Jones Show incident differed principally from this Brazilian calamity in the number of persons killed, though motives, according to a letter left by the murderer, were nearly identical.

Brazilian police estimate that before the distraught assailant was gunned down, he had killed at least twelve people and, perhaps, the death toll may still rise to as many as twenty, according to Gustavo Mariano, a spokesperson for Rio Grande do Norte state.

The motive for the killings was found in a note left behind by the 27-year old gunman, Genildo Ferreira de Franca. He wrote:

"The reason I am writing these few lines is not to justify the wrong I have done, but it is only in this way that I can...challenge those who wanted to prove I was a homosexual."

No indication was given in the 3-page letter as to precisely who were those who had "challenged" de Franca's heterosexual credentials. He managed, however, to kill his ex-wife and her parents, after which he moved swiftly to shoot his current wife and her parents as well.

Arming himself with two pistols, de Franca donned a bullet-proof vest before going on his rampage. Initially it appeared that he had kidnapped a 16-year old girl, planning to use her as a shield against police assaults.

After de Franca was gunned down by police, the girl, Valderici Ribeiro da Silva, fell under police suspicion for having helped him kill several men who were lured into the woods. de Franca, reportedly, had used the young woman as bait.

The remainder of de Franca's victims were murdered at random Thursday morning as he strolled down a main street in Natal firing upon bypassers. He took hostages and forced them into a harrowing flight, with police in quick pursuit. The group were detained in a wooded area where de Franca shot it out with police.

At noon on Thursday de Franca was struck by police gunfire and killed. His hostages, in shock, were released unharmed.

"We expect to find more bodies," said Gustavo Mariano.

Genildo Ferreira de França, 27