Júlio Geraldo Sanches Júnior Kawaguishi, 52 years old, was arrested this Tuesday (10) in Mirante do Paranapanema. He is accused of the murder of a young man in 2025.
The man was captured while helping with a house move. Kawaguishi was also wanted on a conviction of 1 month and 16 days for domestic rape.
The crime occurred on July 14, 2025, after a disagreement over a leak. The defendant allegedly attacked the tenant Thalles Henrique de Souza Santos with a hoe.
The accused's defense accompanies the custody hearing. Lawyers are awaiting judgment on the appeal in court and are contesting the link between the hoe and the victim's death.
A 52-year-old man wanted by the courts for the death of gas station attendant Thalles Henrique de Souza Santos, aged 19, in Presidente Prudente (SP), was arrested by the Civil Police, in Mirante do Paranapanema (SP), this Tuesday (10), while helping with a move.
Júlio Geraldo Sanches Júnior Kawaguishi was placed under preventive detention as part of the investigation into the young man's murder, which occurred in July 2025. He became a defendant in court following a complaint from the Public Prosecutor's Office. Kawaguishi was also wanted after a conviction for domestic rape.
According to the Civil Police, the capture was the result of monitoring work by the Mirante do Paranapanema Police Station, after identifying the whereabouts of the wanted man.
During the searches, police received information that he was helping with a residential move. The team went to the indicated location and found the man tying objects to the back of a pickup truck, parked on the street.
Upon confirming Kawaguishi's identity, the police executed the two arrest orders issued by the Presidente Prudente Court. He was taken to the Presidente Venceslau Public Prison.
Júlio Kawaguishi became a defendant in the case investigating the murder of Thalles Henrique de Souza Santos, on July 14, 2025, in front of the house where he lived with his wife, in Jardim Vale do Sol, in Presidente Prudente.
At the time, according to the investigation by the Specialized Division in Criminal Investigations (Deic), Júlio and his teenage son went to the property to repair a water leak. The man owned the house rented by the tenant couple.
According to police records, the couple said they were going to work and, as a result, the accused asked the victim to leave the door open. Thalles refused to leave the property unlocked and asked them to return at another time.
According to the Public Ministry's complaint, after the refusal, the defendant started an argument and hit the victim in the head with a hoe. Thalles would have tried to resist, but suffered further blows to the back with a sharp tool, which would have been inflicted by the son of the person being investigated, according to the MP. The victim was rescued, but did not survive his injuries.
In 2025, the Public Ministry indicted Júlio for double homicide and corruption of minors. The prosecution pointed out the qualifications of a futile motive and an appeal that made the victim's defense difficult, in addition to the teenage son's participation in the crime.
The complaint was accepted by the Court and Júlio Kawaguishi became a defendant. He was placed under preventive detention, but his whereabouts were unknown.
In a note to g1, lawyers Ana Carolina de Jesus and Joselito Costa Barbosa, who represent the defense of Júlio Geraldo Sanches Júnior Kawaguishi, stated that they are following their client's custody hearing after his arrest in Mirante do Paranapanema.
The lawyers are awaiting the judgment of an appeal at the São Paulo Court of Justice (TJ-SP), in which they request a review of the conviction in the first instance and the acquittal of the accused, on the grounds that there is not sufficient evidence of authorship and materiality.
Kawaguishi was sentenced to one month and 16 days in prison, in a semi-open regime, for the crime of home invasion.
The defense also challenged the interpretation of the circumstances of Thalles' death. According to the lawyers, the necroscopic report indicated that a superficial blunt wound had no direct causal relationship with the death, which would rule out the theory that it was caused by a hoe.
