The judge of Santa Catarina ordered this Monday (21) the provisional arrest of Claudia Tavares Heckler, 40, charged with the murder of her husband Waldemir Heckler, 52, a week ago. His body was found frozen in a freezer at his home in Lacerdopolis, South Carolina.

Claudia cried in an interview and said that she was “light” – Photo: Reproduction / ND

The woman, who reported to the police station earlier this Monday afternoon, said in a YouTube interview that she decided to end her partner’s life because she could no longer endure the assault, humiliation and harassment from the man.

The motion for provisional arrest was made by Judge Flavia Carneiro Paris of Capinzal County, who, while on duty, also authorized the violation of Claudia’s telephone privacy and access to Claudia’s data.

In a press release, the UK judge said that the crime under investigation is, in principle, a qualified murder, which made it difficult for the man to defend himself, since he was found with a head injury. The wife reported her husband missing on November 15.

“Temporary isolation of the defendant at the present time will also make it possible to better clarify the facts, since it will not allow the defendant to create difficulties for the investigation of criminal practice, especially to determine the causes and circumstances of the crime and the involvement of third parties is possible,” the judge of the peace says.

The term of temporary arrest is 30 days with the possibility of extension for the same period in case of extreme and proven necessity. The process is conducted in the secrecy of justice.

A crime

The body of Waldemir Heckler was found on Saturday evening (19) in the freezer of his home in Lacerdopolis, a Midwestern city in Santa Catarina. He has been missing since Monday (14), when he did not show up for work, but the crime was supposed to happen on Sunday night (13).

Family Home – Photo: Carlos Correa/North Dakota

In her first statement, made on Friday (18th), before she was recognized as a suspect in the crime, Claudia said that she was the first to leave the house, and then her husband would leave to fulfill his obligations at work. However, he did not go to the meeting, and the family began to look for him.

The police said that in the statement she appeared with bruises and signs of aggression on her arm. When asked about the origin of the injuries, she could not explain, but, according to the delegate, she agreed to a forensic medical examination.

After five days of searching, the civilian police found the driver’s body in a household appliance in his own home. The woman agreed to a search, but she was not there at the time and has not been found since.

crime details

In an exclusive interview this Sunday (20) on the channel Beto Ribeiro, famous for conducting interviews and videos about crimes all over Brazil, Valdemir Heckler’s wife confessed to the crime and said that she decided to take the life of her partner because she could no longer endure the attacks, harassment and human humiliation.

Claudia, a native of Chapeco, described how she killed her husband, mentioned that she experienced constant psychological pressure in her marriage and claimed that she was subjected to moral, physical and sexual aggression from him. He also said that he threatened to kill her and said that he would take her daughter away from her if she reported the violence to the police. They have been together for 23 years and have a daughter who is now 22.

The freezer was used to freeze the husband’s body – Photo: Carlos Correa/ND

“He wouldn’t let me do anything, I just didn’t have a life of my own. I couldn’t go anywhere with my friends. I was going to the salon to get my hair done and I had to leave with wet hair because he was pestering me for taking so long. I had to fight against time, my life was always under pressure,” said Claudia.

She stated that she did not plan the crime, despite the fact that she was unhappy with the constant persecution of her husband and the daily physical and moral aggression. A few days earlier, she said, her husband suddenly showed up at a meeting with fellow teachers at a pizzeria, which made her uncomfortable.

“He told me that he was going to stay at home, a few minutes before that I made a video call, and suddenly he appeared there, at the pizzeria. I was very upset, as if I hadn’t told him anything. I showed him all my steps, reported everything.

On Sunday, minutes before her husband’s murder, Claudia asked him if she could take the other teachers on a field trip. “He hit me and said that if I went, he would find me and kill me. He said: if I wake up and you are not at home, I will kill you,” he says. “Then I thought, if anyone is going to die, it’s you.”

plastic bag to kill

Claudia said in an interview that she put her husband to sleep with a drug taken by her late father-in-law. “I gave him sleeping pills and strangled him, it was sudden. I found him with other medications he took twice a day.”

She says she sat there for about an hour, thinking about what will happen when her husband wakes up and is afraid that he will be beaten again. “I kept thinking I couldn’t live the life I was leading anymore.”

Waldemir Heckler, 52 years old. Photo: Disclosure/ND

So, without much planning, he used a plastic bag to kill his partner. “At that time, I took a bag from the market and put it on his head because I didn’t have the courage to do it differently, to hurt him. Shut his mouth.”

The woman says that at times she tried to stop, but she was afraid and therefore continued. “If I stopped and he woke up, he was going to kill me, so it was either me or him.”

She said that she acted alone and she had the strength to put her husband in the freezer. “I wanted to hide it, so I grabbed a sheet and threw it over the sheet and dragged it into the freezer.” After that, he went on a trip with his colleagues, but could not enjoy the trip and returned soon after.

“It’s even hard to say, but now I am serving a sentence, I am going to prison, but I have never felt so free. And I feel like my daughter is safer. I know that I will stop being beaten and assaulted both physically and psychologically. It’s freedom, I can’t explain it, but today I look at people and feel like a monster,” he adds.