The soda offered to firefighters looking for 52-year-old Waldemir Heckler was in the freezer where the man’s body was frozen in Lacerdopolis, Santa Catarina’s Midwest. The rescuers spent two days on the San Roque line, inside the municipality, and had lunch at the widow’s house.

The body was frozen in the freezer at home. – Photo: Carlos Correa/NDTV/Montagem

“They took lunch boxes, but a neighbor who also helped with the search took soda and water from the freezer where the body was to be offered to firefighters,” said Delegate Gilmar Bonamigo, in charge of the case.

On the Sunday before the disappearance, the neighbor who offered the firefighters soda and his wife had lunch at the home of Valdemir and Claudia Tavares Heckler, 40, a widow suspected of the crime, the police chief said.

“The neighbor said that on Sunday he saw that the freezer was empty, and on Wednesday he saw that it was full. He was suspicious, but thought it was crazy in his head. His wife, who helped cook food for the people who helped with the searches, had access to a freezer limited to the widow,” adds Bonamigo.

The body was found Saturday night frozen in a freezer. The search for Valdemir began on Tuesday (15) in the area where he allegedly disappeared after leaving home for work. The military police, the fire department, local residents and volunteers were involved, but the man could not be found.

On Friday (18) the victim’s wife applied to the civilian police department with a statement. Some gaps have been left open with no plausible answers, Bonamigo said.

“In her statement, Vladimir’s wife agreed and authorized an examination in her house on Saturday night (19). However, a few hours before the arrival of the forensic team at the scene, the police learned that the victim’s wife had fled. Some residents reported that the house was locked like never before,” the police chief said.

Faced with the facts, the police began to believe that the body might have been hidden in the house itself. After the search began, Valdemir’s body was found frozen in a freezer.

Woman confesses to killing her husband

Claudia stated that she decided to end her partner’s life because she could no longer tolerate the attacks, harassment and humiliation from this man. In an interview with the YouTube channel of screenwriter Roberto Ribeiro, a former host of the CID Program, the woman confessed to the crime, gave details of how she killed her husband, as well as the couple’s life. She refers to the fact that in marriage she experienced constant psychological pressure.

“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.

However, according to the woman, Valdemir demanded that she send in photos and make a video call to confirm where she was when she had work duties at night. “I couldn’t prepare for these cases because I wouldn’t prepare for another.”

Triggers for crime

Claudia says 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 (13), a few minutes before her husband’s murder, Claudia asked him if she could go on a field trip with other teachers. “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, who was born in Chapeco but grew up in Concordia, said in an interview that she put her husband to sleep with a drug taken by her deceased 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.”

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. I covered his mouth, he didn’t wake up.”

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.”

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.”

temporary prison

On Monday (21), the judge of Santa Catarina ordered the provisional arrest of Claudia. The request was issued by Judge Flavia Carneiro Paris of the Capinzal district, who, in office, also sanctioned a breach of telephone secrecy and access to Claudia’s data.

Claudia arrived at the police station by car, accompanied by several lawyers – Photo: Carlos Correia/ND

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 carried out in secrecy from justice. Claudia testified on Tuesday morning (22).