The 23-year-old man arrested on suspicion of involvement in the death of app driver Pâmela Letícia Nolastro Cunha, who was 29 years old, acted alone and killed the victim because she reacted to the theft of the vehicle, according to information from the Civil Police investigating the case as a robbery in Bauru (SP).
The crime took place on October 7th. New images released by the Civil Police show the moment in which João Vitor de Andrade Lima crosses Avenida Rafael Pereira Martini, in Jardim Redentor, and gets into the driver's car, after requesting the trip via the Uber app.
Initially, upon being arrested the following day, October 8, João Vitor stated that he was only responsible for requesting the trip on his profile on the application for an accomplice, denying that he was responsible for the crime.
However, after images show that he himself requested and entered the vehicle, the suspect ended up confessing to the crime and said he acted alone. According to the police, Pâmela was stabbed to death for reacting to the theft of the vehicle.
The suspect said, in a new statement after being confronted with the images, that he intended to steal the vehicle so that it could be passed on to drug traffickers, “ordered” to serve as “bargaining currency” for the acquisition and transportation of drugs in Paraguay. He maintained the same version that, for the robbery, he would receive around R$2,000.
The man also said that the “choice” of the victim was made randomly after the request on the app, a version that will still be confirmed by the police through the data already requested from the platform in a judicial manner.
The police also located the knife that would have been used by João Vitor in investigations at the scene of the crime and where Pâmela's body was found. The material was sent for forensic examination.
The suspect remains detained in the Avaí jail and must be taken to the Bauru Provisional Detention Center (SP).
Pâmela was found dead on October 8 on a dirt road near the Café Museum. Her body had marks from stab wounds.
The investigation found that João Vitor, who lives in Jardim Redentor, in Bauru, left the victim's stolen vehicle parked in the same neighborhood. The vehicle was examined and found with a large amount of blood on the driver's seat, as well as traces on the roof.
Police officers from the 3rd Homicide Precinct of the Specialized Criminal Investigations Division (Deic) located the suspect at his girlfriend's house, also in Jardim Redentor. According to the delegate responsible for the case, two of the victim's cell phones were not located.
The man was temporarily detained by the police, who are continuing the investigation to find out whether the suspect was the one who killed Pâmela and to find other possible suspects in the crime.
In a statement, Uber lamented Pâmela's death. According to the company, they are collaborating with the competent authorities and emphasize that all trips on the platform are covered by insurance.
He also said that "the account of the man who requested the ride has been temporarily deactivated while investigations into the case take place", says the text.
The app driver had been missing since Wednesday (7), when she left home to go to work. According to the Civil Police, the victim's body was found with marks of violence.
Pâmela's family filed a missing person report shortly after losing contact with the young woman. Relatives were surprised by the fact that her cell phone was turned off and that the vehicle was missing.
Messages sent in a WhatsApp group by Pâmela helped the Civil Police find the app driver's body and car.
In an interview with TV TEM, Stefânia Nolastro Cunha, the victim's sister, reported that the alert about Pâmela's whereabouts began to emerge after contact with other drivers.
“Suddenly we started meeting her friends who are also Uber drivers and the tracks started,” explained Stefânia.
Stefânia explained that her sister left for work around 6am on Wednesday and kept in touch with relatives until around 2pm. After that, the family lost communication with the driver.
Upon realizing that she had not returned home, her relatives went to the police station on Thursday morning to file a missing person report, until then with no clue as to her location.
In a print of the conversation, Pâmela reported that she had been with a passenger for ten minutes in the Café Museum area and that he was facing difficulties paying for the fare, in addition to having pending issues. The driver also sent the exact location of where she was.
In the conversation, Pâmela wrote in her last message: "I ended up here at the coffee museum in Piratininga. I've been here with the guy for 10 minutes. And he says he can't get into the bank. I'm here with the car waiting."
