Daniel Correa Freitas was alegedly tortured and killed over this picture of him with Cristiana Brittes. Photo / Supplied/CURITIBA CIVIL POLICE / FOCUSON NEWS
Daniel Correa Freitas was alegedly tortured and killed over this picture of him with Cristiana Brittes. Photo / Supplied/CURITIBA CIVIL POLICE / FOCUSON NEWS
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A Brazilian football star had his penis cut off before being brutally killed after a "hoax" had gone terribly wrong - according to local media reports.
Businessman Edison Brittes is one of seven people already arrested for the murder of 24-year-old Daniel Correa Freitas last month, after confessing to the heinous crime on live TV, but investigators have now decided to pursue a murder conviction against his wife Cristiana Brittes, 35, along with procedural fraud and coercion of witnesses.
According to the New York Post, Cristiana Brittes convinced Freitas to take a picture lying in the same bed next to her at a birthday party at the couple's house.
Investigators believe the picture was sent to Edison Brittes as a "hoax".
The stunt backfired, however, when the 38-year-old "lost his temper", broke down the bedroom door, before assaulting Freitas in a jealous rage.
The footballer was then tortured, including "having his penis cut off while he was still alive", before being killed and his body hidden in dense bush in Sao Jose dos Pinhais, a city in Brazil's southern state of Parana.
Detectives believe other guests were also involved in the initial assault and have arrested the couple's teenage daughter Allana.
"Following the analysis of the investigation, the conclusion I reached was that this homicide would never have happened the way it did without the decisive performance of Cristiana," prosecutor Joao Milton Salles told Globo TV.
"(She) allegedly led the player to believe that the joke (of taking a picture next to her) would be harmless (and viewed) in the circumstances in which they were taken.
Brazilian footballer Daniel Correa Freitas was brutally killed. Photo / Getty
"(Cristiana) knew the character of her husband and his violent personality. When the murderous acts that culminated in Daniel's death began, we believe she didn't try to prevent (his) execution," Salles said.
The family's lawyer, Cláudio Dalledone, challenged the claims, the New York Post reported.
Meanwhile, more disturbing details have emerged of the final minutes of Freitas' life.
Reports suggest police found blood spatter on the walls and floor of the Brittes couple's bedroom, in the garage and in their car.
Freitas' mutilated remains were discovered on October 27. He had been partially beheaded with a sharp knife and his genitals dismembered with what was believed to be the same implement.
The victim's genitals were recovered from a tree where they had allegedly been tossed.
Freitas began his career at Cruzeiro and played for Botafogo for two years before signing for six-time Brazilian league winners Sao Paulo in 2015.
The attacking midfielder, however, was loaned to other second-tier Brazilian outfits after he failed to impress consistently.
Freitas spent the first half of 2018 at Ponte Preta but failed to turn out for the club, while he made only three appearances during a seven-month loan at Coritiba in 2017.
