Suspect of stabbing elderly couple to death in BH says she heard "voices"

Domestic worker Paola Stefany Neto Cirino, aged 30, arrested this Thursday (2), on suspicion of killing her own bosses, an elderly couple, in the apartment where they lived, in Belo Horizonte (MG), claimed to the police that the crime was motivated after suffering a psychotic break.

The victims are lawyer Cláudio Atala Inácio, aged 75, and his wife, businesswoman Maria Clotilde Moreira Maciel Atala. On the day of the crime, which occurred on June 29th, Paola allegedly stabbed the victims more than 50 times and stole several personal objects.

When asked about the motivation for the crime, Paola claims to have heard voices that instructed her, claiming to have destroyed her own life and that of other people. The woman claims that, after robbing the couple, she "wasn't satisfied" and had to kill them.

According to the Civil Police, at the time of arrest, Paola offered no resistance and stated that she was sorry, saying that she hoped to be found by the authorities and, if she was not found today, she would report herself to a police unit.

Robbery and debt
According to the Civil Police, the main suspicion is robbery (robbery followed by death), but no line of investigation has been ruled out. The suspicion is due to signs of crime noticed during the first steps in the apartment.

At the scene, a jewelry drawer was found broken into and overturned, and the victims' cell phones, an iPhone 16 Pro Max and an iPhone 15 Pro Max, were not found at the scene.

Most of the stolen items, according to the police, were recovered, such as watches from a collection kept by Cláudio and other jewelry.

Paola admitted that she had gotten into debt through gambling on the internet, which led her to take out a loan, worth approximately R$40,000, with loan sharks in the region where she lives.

*Under AR supervision.

Source: CNN