A former television producer has been arrested in Rio de Janeiro in connection to the murder of his friend, an actor whose body was stuffed into a trunk and buried under a home.
Bruno de Souza was taken into custody Thursday, exactly two weeks after a judge issued a warrant for his apprehension for allegedly killing Jefferson Machado, 44.
De Souza, a former TV Globo employee, was found hiding at an apartment in the Rio de Janeiro southside neighborhood of Morro do Vidigal.
A second suspect, Jeander da Silva, has been in custody since June 2.
Machado’s body was found May 22, six feet under the concrete floor of an outhouse next to a residence on the west side Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Campo Grande.
Da Silva previously told investigators that de Souza had drugged and strangled Machado with a telephone wire before they hid the body in the chest.
Brazilian news outlet G1 reported de Souza was planning to leave the home he was hiding at when the Military Police and Civil Police arrived.
Investigators learned that had been staying in the apartment since the weekend and spent the last four days developing a plan to capture him.
They alleged de Souza killed Machado after he discovered that he had been scammed.
Machado had paid de Souza around $5,000 for assistance in landing a role in a TV Globo soap opera.
The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police said the killing was premeditated, pointing out that de Souza had planned the killing a month in advance.
‘Jeff was the perfect victim for anyone to obtain economic advantages to his detriment, since he was a young man who had no family members in the city of Rio de Janeiro, who lived alone in a property located in a remote location without having a steady job,’ the police report showed.
Machado’s last acting job was an extra role as a soldier in the Record TV soap opera, ‘Reis,’ which aired in 2022, and he was looking for his big break on the screen.
At some point during the year, he reached out to de Souza and told him that he had run out of money and that he wanted to fulfill his grandfather’s dream of having a major acting role in a soap opera.
Da Silva told authorities he and de Souza visited Machado’s home January 23 to tell him that soap opera acting role that he had promised him was coming to fruition.
He said, at one point, de Souza placed a drug in Machado’s drink and later told him to enter the shower to that he could film a porno scene with Machado.
Da Silva subsequently found Machado’s lifeless body tied up on the bed when he stepped out from the shower.
They later placed Machado’s body in the wooden chest and placed it inside Machado’s SUV trunk.
The pair was nearly stopped by police at a checkpoint, but da Silva drove past a police checkpoint and managed to lose a patrol that was chasing them.
Da Silva said they went to the outhouse and tossed the chest into the hole.De Souza appeared before the police on January 27 to report Machado had disappeared.
When questioned why he had the actor’s keys to his car and home, de Souza said the victim had left them with him because he had traveled to São Paulo for a job interview.
He attempted to sell Machado’s car on three attempts and was turned down each time by local dealerships.
He also tried to sell the actor’s home and was asking for 50 percent of its worth.
