Brazilian Woman Becomes Cop To Catch Father's Killer, Arrests Him 25 Years Later

In an incident straight out of a Bollywood revenge movie, a Brazilian woman took matters into her own hands after waiting for 25 years for her father’s killer to be arrested. 36-year-old police clerk Gislayne Silva de Deus took up the service to avenge her father’s death. She along with Brazil’s Roraima Civil Police arrested 60-year-old Raimundo Alves Gomes, who reportedly murdered her father Givaldo José Vicente de Deus in 1999.

As per Brazilian media outlet Nova1, Givaldo was shot from point-blank range by Raimundo in a dispute worth $20. After the shooting, Raimundo fled, leaving Givaldo fatally wounded. He was initially caught and put on trial but managed to escape. After being sentenced to prison for 12 years in 2013, he was allowed to stay out of prison after he fought a series of appeals against the verdict. Finally, a warrant was issued for his arrest in 2016 but he vanished again.

This is when Gislayne, a lawyer at the time decided to take charge of the investigation herself. Although she did not intend to work for the police, she went through several examinations to join the police under penal services in 2022. She used to dream of the day she would see the culprit behind bars during the time she worked in the prison of Roraima. Talking about her decision, she said, “I always imagined him arriving there to serve his sentence.”

Having become a police clerk in July this year, she contributed to finding the murderer of her father, asking to be posted in the Homicide Division (DGH), in which she’d be able to actively work towards solving her father’s murder.

Through her efforts, Raimundo was caught and arrested on formal charges. Later, he was transferred to the Roraima prison system after a custody hearing.

While sharing her thoughts, Gislayne said, “When I saw that the person responsible for my father’s death was in custody, I had a breakdown and cried. It was an explosion of emotions that turned into tears of relief because it felt like this day would never come. I made a point of telling him who I was and that I was responsible for enforcing the arrest warrant when I saw him,” as quoted by Nova1.

In a message to others, she added, “I want this story to serve as an example for other children who, like me, violently lost their father or mother.”