Father accused of killing his four children as 'revenge' on their mom for leaving him
In an act of cold-bloodedness, a Brazilian father allegedly killed his very own children with a pillow and a knife all so he could satisfy his vengeance against their mother for leaving him.
According to The New York Daily Paper, 28-year-old David da Silva Lemos allegedly murdered all of his four children, aged three, six, eight, and 11, in their own home in Alvorada, southern Brazil. Authorities detailed that he served them some "tea" to relax them before smothering them with a pillow.
Lemos took things even further by grabbing a knife and stabbing them to death in the front and back.
Family members had called the police after they discovered the bodies on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Police eventually caught up to Lemos and cuffed him at a hotel in a nearby city.
While Lemos' mouth remained zipped when officers questioned him on why he did the inhumane act, the victims’ maternal grandmother, Idenise Martins da Silva, believed that he killed his own children to get revenge on his former wife, whom he had recently separated with.
Lemos already exhibited violent tendencies against his wife in the past, which led to their separation after being together for 12 years. She reported the incident to the police and issued a restraining order against him.
"Their relationship had ended for good, but he did it to get at my daughter—I’m sure—in the worst possible way. He’s a coward," Silva said.
The children's relatives explained that they were staying with their father for the meantime and were expected to return to their mother in the coming days. During this time, police said that there was rising tension between Lemos and his ex-partner as he sent her threatening messages before the incident.
Deputy Edimar Machado, Head of Investigations, stressed that they will try to find more evidence that implicates Lemos in the crime.
"We will also try to analyze the cell phone that was seized with him to see if he had any circumstances on his cell phone in reference to the crime, threats he was doing against the children’s mother, to provide more evidence of his participation in the crime," Machado said.
