Dentist’s death in Salvador is investigated as qualified homicide and robbery

The death of dentist Lucas Maia de Oliveira, 36, is being investigated as a qualified homicide and robbery. The information was confirmed this Tuesday (5) by the SP Civil Police. Lucas was found tied to the bed in his bedroom in the apartment where he lived, in a luxury building located in the Rio Vermelho neighborhood in Salvador, on the 25th.

According to the Civil Police, so far, 21 people have been questioned in the ongoing investigation and images from the building’s security cameras are being analyzed.

At the end of November, the police identified the suspect in the dentist’s death through analysis of security cameras and statements. The motivation and causes of death are still unknown, according to police. Expert reports must be completed within 30 days and must clarify the circumstances of the dentist’s death.

Suspect

Security footage from the building’s elevator shows the main suspect leaving the scene of the crime. “We suspect a guy who stayed at his house from Saturday (18) to Tuesday (21). Of this man, he sent a single view photo. He stayed in Lucas’ apartment all these days because he had been kicked out of the house”, reveals one of the friends.

In the video, you can see a tattoo on the suspect’s left hand. “I suspect he may have used a pen to disguise it. A guy who comes in with a hood on without turning his face and leaves a tattoo that size on his hand?”, says one of the acquaintances. “My hope is that other images will show his face.”

brutal crime

Two friends of the dentist spoke to the CNN and reported that the crime shocked the group of people close to the victim due to the brutality of the murder.

The friend reports the brutality of the crime: “the degree of violence he was subjected to was very great. He had a broken hammer near his body. He was tied up and unrecognizable.” According to one of his friends, Lucas was found on the floor, between the bed and the wardrobe.

A group of people closest to the dentist traveled to Santo Antônio de Jesus, Lucas’ hometown, to visit the victim’s family. They were unable to arrive in time for the burial, but made a point of continuing their journey to the interior of Bahia, around three hours from Salvador.

Lucas’s friend spoke to one of the victim’s sisters, who recognized the body, and recalls that she reported difficulties in recognizing it: “she couldn’t even identify the tattoo”.

The police entered the apartment with one of the members of the dentist’s group of friends, who preferred not to give interviews. The friend, who spoke to CNN, reports that those who were present at the scene said that the body was unrecognizable.

(With information from Camila Tíssia, from CNN)