THE Brazilian mother who took her dead uncle to a bank in an attempt to obtain a loan in your name He has finally broken his silence.
Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes burst into tears and insisted that “she is not a monster” in her first interview since being released from prison.
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Horror footage showed Nunes holding Paulo Braga’s head with her hand while she placed a pen between his fingers and urged him to sign the loan papers at the counter.
Bank staff in the Bangu neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro alerted police and paramedics, who confirmed that the 68-year-old man was dead.
Nunes spent 16 days in pretrial detention before being released last week pending an ongoing investigation.
He faces charges of rape of a corpse and attempted theft by fraud.
Police have also announced that they have launched a separate investigation into manslaughter.
On Sunday, the mother sobbed uncontrollably as she gave her first interview since being released from prison.
She said: “The days away from my family have been horrible, very difficult.
“I didn’t realize my uncle was dead. What people say is absurd.
“I’m not that person people talk about, I’m not that monster.”
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Nunes told Brazilian TV show Fantastic that she only found out Paulo had died when an ambulance worker confirmed his death.
He claims he had hazy memories of the afternoon of April 16 when he took his uncle to the bank to sign the £2,650 loan.
Erika said: “I don’t know if it was the effect of the pills I had taken that day and that I took from time to time.
“While I am undergoing treatment I was taking a sleeping pill called Zolpidem and I took more than I should have.”
She explained that her uncle had agreed that he would feel better if she held his head up before they went to the bank together.
Erika added that it was his idea to go there despite being released from the hospital after being treated for pneumonia.
The OAP’s health last month led bank staff to tell Erika that he looked “very pale” and that they did not believe what was happening was legal.
But she said he was independent, walked and “had a good mind.”
Nunes continued to insist that she was never Paulo’s caregiver.
The Brazilian stated that her uncle wanted the loan to finance renovation work on the house they shared.
He also told Fantastic that his uncle “never had an income” and that his family “always helped him.”
Erika has been accused by prosecutors of “consciously and voluntarily” vilifying the corpse of her relative and showing him a “total lack of respect.”
Prosecutors say she “pretended to try to wake the elderly man, knowing he was already dead, by attempting to put a pen in his hand and bringing that same hand to the table to help him sign” the bank loan.
She was received by family members at the gates of the prison from which she was released last Thursday.
A judge released Nunes on bail, saying she would not pose a risk to public order if she were released.
The judge also linked the decision to her “weakened” mental health status and her need to care for her daughter with special needs.
A date for his possible trial has not yet been set.
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