Suzane von Richthofen

Infobox Person
name = Suzane Louise Freiin von Richthofen


caption = Courtroom Drawing of Suzane von Richthofen
birth_date = birth date|1983|11|3|mf=y
birth_place = flagicon|Brazil São Paulo, Brazil
death_date =
death_place =
other_names =
known_for = Murder
occupation =

Suzane Louise Freiin von Richthofen (São Paulo, Brazil, November 3, 1983- ), is a Brazilian who murdered her own parents on October 31, 2002 with help from her boyfriend and his brother. She was put on trial in São Paulo in July 2006 and was sentenced to 39½ years of imprisonment.

Background and early life

Suzane was the daughter of the German engineer Manfred Albert Freiherr von Richthofen, and his wife, Marisia von Richthofen (née "Marísia Abdalla"), a Brazilian of Lebanese descent. [pt icon [http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/paginas/cadernoi/materias/164001-164500/164155/164155_1.html Último Segundo] ] Her father was working as managing director of the State Board of Streets in São Paulo, her mother was a psychiatrist. Suzane has a younger brother, Andreas Freiherr von Richthofen, born in 1987. Her father claimed to be a grandnephew of Manfred von Richthofen, German war pilot of World War I, but this is still disputed; the German von Richthofen family denies any link to them.http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzane_von_Richthofen] After graduating from a German High School, Suzane studied law at Pontifícia Universidade Católica. She was described as happy, but a little shy. Suzane was known to have a good relation with her parents and her brother. In the summer of 1999, she got to know Daniel Cravinhos de Paula e Silva, who became her boyfriend.

Murder

In the late hours of October 31st, 2002, Suzane von Richthofen, who had planned the murder of her parents for months, checked if they were already asleep, then disconnected the alarm system of the estate and opened the door to her 21-year-old-boyfriend, Daniel Cravinhos and his brother, 26-year-old Christian Cravinhos who had waited outside. The Cravinhos brothers went upstairs to the parents´ bedroom and hit them with iron sticks before strangling them with towels. Suzane was waiting in the living room downstairs. After the murder was accomplished, the three youngsters simulated a break-in by pocketing money they found, spreading papers in the library and creating a mess in the house. Then they left, Suzane and Daniel went for a motel, Christian went to a fast-food restaurant. Early in the Morning, Suzane and Daniel picked up her little brother, Andreas, then aged 15, at an internet cafe and went home, where they "discovered" the crime, called the police at once and told them their story. [http://revistaepoca.globo.com/Epoca/0,6993,EPT435540-1653,00.html Capa ] ]

The investigating officers, however, doubted a burglary crime and thought of someone familiar to the victims, soon began to question the children and the employees of the Richthofen family. What made them suspicious was not only the crime scene, with the alarm system switched off and the papers spread very regularly, as if by design, but also the extraordinary coolness of Suzane, who was seen in the house's swimming pool with Daniel the day after the murder, and who celebrated her 19th birthday with friends just hours after the parents´ burial. The investigators focused their attention on Suzane and her boyfriend and began shadowing them. The clue for the arrest came with Christian Cravinhos, who had bought a motorcycle a few days later and paid cash in 100-dollar bills. A few days later, on November 9th, 2002 he was arrested, as well as his brother and Suzane, who soon confessed the murder. Suzane was released from prison in May 2005, when the Supreme Court of Justice granted her Habeas Corpus. She then awaited her trial in house arrest. [http://revistaepoca.globo.com/Epoca/0,6993,EPT1204071-1659,00.html Brasil ] ]

Motives

Suzane's parents, who at first allowed her relationship to Daniel Cravinhos, changed their opinion when they discovered that he used Marijuana almost daily. Also, his lower-class background and his unwillingness to work or to attend school caused their disagreement. In July, 2002, her parents were on vacation, so Daniel moved in with the children for a month, much to Suzane's delight. When the parents came back home, Suzane suggested they buy her a flat in which she could live with Daniel, but her father refused, saying that she could do whatever she liked to only if she earned money herself. [http://revistaepoca.globo.com/Epoca/0,6993,EPT449819-1653-2,00.html Capa ] ] Her parents ultimately forced her to end the relationship, but she continued meeting Daniel secretly. Suzane claimed that she did all for love, for fear that Daniel would leave her if the parents were not killed. [http://www.handelsblatt.com/news/Panorama/Vermischtes/_pv/doc_page/2/_p/204493/_t/ft/_b/1111458/default.aspx/suzane-von-richthofen-muss-wegen-elternmordes-hinter-gitter.html Suzane von Richthofen muss wegen Elternmordes hinter Gitter ] ] Her lawyer, Denivaldo Barni, said that Suzane had no motive at all, but was forced to the crime by Daniel, whom she adored like a god.

Another part of the motive may have been the parents wealth, estimated to about one million dollars, which Suzane would inherit in case of the parents´ death. As Prosecutor Roberto Tardelli put it, Suzane wanted to "get her hands on the money and assets her parents had worked so hard to obtain", she "wanted her freedom and independence without having to work for it". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5207124.stm BBC NEWS | Americas |Red Baron heiress killed parents ] ] On trial, Daniel Cravinhos claimed that Suzane was physically violated by her father, which she and her brother Andreas von Richthofen deny. It was also maintained that the Richthofen parents were alcoholics, but in the autopsy no alcohol was detected in their bodies. [http://revistaepoca.globo.com/Epoca/0,6993,EPT449819-1653-2,00.html Capa ] ]

Trial

On 5 June 2006, Suzane Freiin von Richthofen, along with the Cravinhos, was put on trial for Third Degree Murder in São Paulo. The Trial was delayed and finally started on July 17. On trial, Suzane blamed Daniel Cravinhos for everything, while the Cravinhos brothers claimed that they acted upon her desire. Prosecutor Roberto Tardelli, however, called Suzane the "mastermind" of the crime. Roberto Tardelli called for 50 years of imprisonment for each of the three defendants. She was described as "personification of the evil blonde". [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/24/wbrazil24.xml Daughter jailed as society murder trial shocks Brazil - Telegraph ] ] On July 22nd, 2006 Suzane was sentenced to 39 1/2 years in prison for the crime. Daniel Cravinhos got the same sentence and his brother Christian was sentenced to 38 1/2 years for conspiracy. Following Brazilian law, she will be released after at most 30 years of imprisonment. [http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2006/0724/vermischtes/0036/index.html Elternmord und Leidenschaft : Textarchiv : Berliner Zeitung ] ] As of April 2007, she is in custody in a female prison outside São Paulo.

Brazilian public attention

The case generated significant media attention in Brazil due to the stark contrast between the brutal crime and the personality of the daughter. While the Cravinhos brothers fitted in the scheme of the uneducated, unemployed, drug-addicted killers, this was not true for Suzane: She was a pretty, blond girl from an upper-middle-class family of German nobility, well-behaved, always doing well at school, speaking three foreign languages and doing ballet. The contrast between her affluent upbringing and the cruelty of the crime shocked the country. Also, as discussion emerged in the Brazilian public about the worth of family values and the effects of education, the question as to whether Suzane was the evil mind behind the crime or just Daniel's tool was also heavily discussed. Many people who initially were emotionally on Suzane's side, changed their opinion when a TV interview with her was shown. Before the interview, when the cameras were already on, she was instructed for the interview by her lawyer. He told her to cry out loud during the broadcast, to create public sympathy. In the outcome, however, the interview was a major blast for her credibility. In court, Suzane still was very cool, while the Cravinhos brothers were crying most of the time. At one occasion, she even started to laugh. One correspondent tried to explain Suzane through Hannah Arendt's theory of the "Banality of Evil".

See also

*Richthofen Trial

Notes

* Note regarding personal names: "Freiin" is a title, translated as Baroness, not a first or middle name. It's one of the female forms of Freiherr.

External links

*en icon [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5207124.stm BBC Online: "Red Baron heiress killed parents"]
*en icon [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/24/wbrazil24.xml Daily Telegraph: "Daughter jailed as society murder trial shocks Brazil"]
*de icon [http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2006/0724/vermischtes/0036/index.html Berliner Zeitung: "Parricide and Passion. Suzane von Richthofen sentenced in Sao Paolo"]
*de icon [http://www.handelsblatt.com/news/Default.aspx?_p=204493&_t=ft&_b=1111458 Handelsblatt: "Suzane von Richthofen jailed for parricide"]
*pt icon [http://revistaepoca.globo.com/Epoca/0,6993,EPT435540-1653,00.html Epoca: "Monster in the House"]