A Brazilian congresswoman has been accused of masterminding the murder of her pastor husband after a number of earlier failed or abandoned attempts on his life.
Flordelis dos Santos de Souza's was charged this week with ordering the execution of her husband, pastor Anderson do Carmo, who was shot more than 30 times at their home in June 2019.
Ms de Souza, 59, told police at the time of her husband's death that he had been killed during a robbery.
But the Rio de Janeiro state police said on Monday they had unearthed a murder plot and had charged 11 people - including Ms de Souza, six of her children and one of her grandchildren — in connection with the killing.
Ms de Souza and her husband were parents to more than 50 biological and adopted children.
"The conclusion the investigation reached was this: that she [Ms de Souza] planned this cowardly murder," homicide chief Antonio Ricardo Lima Nunes told reporters.
“The motive was that she was unhappy with the way in which pastor Anderson lived his life and handled the family finances.”
Prosecutors said Ms de Souza had tried to poison her husband at least six times before ultimately ordering several of her children to kill him.
Ms de Souza, a celebrity lawmaker for Rio de Janeiro who found fame as a gospel singer before entering politics, has dismissed the allegations and insisted she is innocent.
As part of the probe, on Monday the police served nine arrest warrants and 14 search warrants in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Niterói, São Gonçalo and Brasília, where the congresswoman has an apartment.
There is currently no arrest warrant for Souza, who is an elected federal deputy and as such enjoys parliamentary immunity.
Her Social Democratic Party (PSD) said in a statement her membership will be immediately suspended and, as proceedings progress, she will be expelled from the party.
Police said a copy of the investigation, with evidence of the charges, had been sent to the lower house of Congress.
The statement said she could be stripped of her parliamentary position, allowing for criminal proceedings to be pursued further.
