Hustlers murdered 50 y.o. man in Copacabana

[Guest Ernani]

Today a 50 y.o. man was found dead, with hands and feet tied in his apartment in Copacabana. His head was smashed and there were blood everywhere. His 21 y.o. "boyfriend" found him this morning, after spending the night with his girlfriend. The young boy said that some objects disappeared. Before the man brought the boys to his apartment, he introduced them to 2 friends of him. Now the police wants those 2 friends to recognize the murderers in a criminal album they have in the Police Station. Read "O Dia" newspaper for more information. Good Luck !

[trilingual]

This was also in this morning's Globo. More alarming, it happened in a building just a few doors from my own!

 

The Globo article said the victim (an accountant, around 50) was seen earlier with two guys at the Rainbow Kiosk and that the guys are already suspected of being involved in drugging unsuspecting victims in the well known "Boa Noite, Cinderela" con. The article also said that, according to the boyfriend, the victim could be aggressive and hostile when drunk, so he may have provoked the murderers into something beyond just drugging and robbing him.

 

In any case, this is an example of why you need to exercise caution and common sense in Brazil. NEVER go off with people you don't know, or who aren't known by your friends. This is why we keep telling readers to use the saunas/agencies, and not to pick up the mystery guys who lurk across the street from Corujinha. If nobody knows them, or they don't work at the saunas, they very well could be trouble.

 

You've been warned!

[Guest Ernani]

Tri, the victim was killed in the same street you live. If they are serial killer you can be next. I recomend you to ask your boyfriend to stand guard, or maybe you have to become straight, until they catch the killers.

[trilingual]

Never fear, my building isn't easy to get into! Hopefully they'll catch the murderers soon, as they have some suspects in mind. Of course, it's pretty easy to hide out in Brazil, but in this case there are some witnesses to the possible perpetrators, so it's possible the case will be solved.

[trilingual]

There hasn't been anything in the papers about the murder a few doors away, but last night's news had a lead story about the capture of the guy who murdered a couple of Americans a few months ago at their home in an exclusive gated community in Barra. I understand this story made the papers in the U.S. for several days running.

 

The perpetrator turns out to be the houseboy who works for one of the neighbors and evidently did some handyman work for the victims. He looks like a young guy in his early 20s. I'm not sure if he's slightly retarded or what: he speaks with a strong slur and it was hard to understand what he was saying. However, the TV announcers kept repeating that he claimed revenge as the motive, because he was offended by the way the victims treated him.

 

There will undoubtedly be more details in the papers today, but this is one of the reasons I urge travelers to treat everyone here with the degree of dignity and respect they expect for themselves. Honor, respect and dignity are extremely important values in Latin culture, and violating them can trigger some extreme reactions. This is a big difference between American/Northern European culture and Latin culture, and you need to keep it in mind, always. Offend someone's honor or dignity here, and even the nicest, sweetest person can launch a lifetime vendetta against you. In the case of the murdered couple, that lifetime wasn't very long.

 

This is a major cultural faux pas you can easily prevent. Treat everyone well in Latin America, and you'll be treated well in return. Something especially important is to recognize, acknowledge and greet EVERYONE you come into contact with, like shop clerks, cab drivers, and sauna boys. This means saying "good day" BEFORE anything else, like when you first walk into a shop and encounter a sales person, or when you climb into a cab. Only AFTER you've exchanged greetings should you ask for merchandise, or give the cab driver directions, etc. Trust me, this will assure you much better service and a much more cordial attitude. Ditto for the sauna boys: at the sauna or at Corujinha acknowledge and greet the guys you know, even if you don't intend to do a repeat with them. You'll notice, if you go to Corujinha, that when one of the guys comes up to a table that he'll shake hands with EVERYONE sitting there, even if he doesn't know them. (It's also done when you take leave of a group that you're in.) That's just the way things are done here, and it's considered rude not to do that. So when in Rome. . . And keep this in mind, because you don't want to give unwitting offense and find out you've inadvertently made a serious enemy, as I suspect may have happened with the murdered American couple, who were recent arrivals in Brazil.

[+ Axiom2001]

In Brasil what is the proper greeting besides greeting one by the time of day/night? I was emabarrassed several times when I went into shops when I'd forgotten what to say. I guess I'm asking about a hi or a hello equivalent!

 

Yes, the couple's murder made US newspapers as well as television.

When the newscasters stated that their murders occurred in Barra, I could relate, for Carlo lives in that particular community. I even took an ac bus out there to go to the shopping center just to see the replication of this Miami-type community. Jackhammer and Alex ventured there, too, if my information is accurate.

[jackhammer91406]

Alex and I (and the taxi driver David) did indeed spend a wonderful day in Barra. We toured some of the low foothills surrounding the beaches, a few of the more private beaches just to the south, and then a wonderful dinner in the New York shopping mall, before heading back to RIO, picking up Daniel and having a nice (and my first official ) 4 way at the Atlantico.

 

The area of Barra is beautiful, although fast growing, and soon the main beach will probably be like Ipanema or Copacabana only newer.

[VaHawk]

I’m sure that what you state is truthful as far as different attitudes by people in Brazil, or for that matter any foreign country, goes. But really, can’t you STOP blaming the victims of crime in favor of the perpetrators of such crimes, just because they are Brazilian? Doesn’t matter if the crime is robbery and now even murder, it seems that you always place the blame on the victim rather than the scummy criminal, as long as the crime occurred in Brazil.

 

How pathetic, especially when you know nothing about what occurred to ensue such an abhorrent act of violence. Of course naivete, often leads to being taken advantage of, but to use that naivete to place blame on the victim rather than the criminal is just incomprehensible to me.

 

Of course your naivete analogy only applies to white foreigners visiting Brazil, specifically. Do you also blame foreign tourists to the USA for being the victim of car jackings and murder (especially in Miami), because they were naive enough to assume that America was basically safe?

[Mavica]

My observation has been that some contributors here like to affix blame to the victims of crime. In fact, subscribing to the belief that there's no crime at all appears to be a prereqisite to posting for many.

[trilingual]

No possible offense by the American couple can excuse their murder. And I'm not blaming them for their own murders. But an offense against dignity can explain the motivation of the murderer, and my posting is intended to help visitors avoid giving inadvertent offense which could get them into trouble. That's all I'm trying to say, and my posting covered a specific issue where it's particularly easy for Americans to be inadvertently rude, because we aren't accustomed to greeting people formally every time we meet. (Of course, feel free, Mavica and VaHawk, to be as offensive as you want when you travel abroad. Just expect some consequences.)

 

Anyway, according to this morning's Globo, the alleged perpetrator's story has changed in the past day or so. He first told the police he was angry at the male American who supposedly said, in Portuguese, "look, there's a nigger (crioulo) up on the wall." The suspect, who is black, was the houseboy next door and says he was up on the wall cleaning the water tank when the American saw him. The American's kids were with him, and started laughing, and the suspect felt says he felt humiliated. It's not clear right now if this is the true story, but just the fact that he would say this is an indication of how the suspect would react to such an offense. (And do NOT use the word "crioulo" in Brazil. In most contexts it's a derogatory expression for "black.")

 

Axiom, the correct way to greet someone in Latin America that you DON'T know is by using the appropriate form of "good day." If you're meeting the person in a social setting or in a business meeting, you also need to shake hands upon meeting and again upon departing. (Handshaking is not necessary, of course, in a taxi or shop situation, but a greeting is.) The equivalents of "hello" or "hi" are only used with friends and acquaintances. In Brazil, it's also polite (and very appreciated) to address someone you don't know as "o senhor" or "a senhora," rather than "você," which is considered familiar here. As in: "O senhor me pode dizer onde fica o Hotel Atlantico?" In Spanish, always use "Usted" with strangers, never "tu" or "vos".

[xchris]

And, of course, is useful to give plenty of "BON DIA", "BOA TARDE" e "BOA NOITE", with every people you came in contact with, even entering a lift or when someone else enters your lift.

 

Also "CIAO" is used as a informal mood to go away...

 

It was strange for me, as in Italy we also say CIAO when we meet, because instead in Brasil they use CIAO not as a meaning of Hi, but only as a GOODBAY or SEE YOU...