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An Invisible Victim - The Eliza Samudio Case · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Welcome back. Everyone, Ready for a deep dive?
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  Speaker 2: Always ready.
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  Speaker 1: Today we're diving into a case that shook Brazil, the
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  murder of Eliza Smudio.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, this one's intense. It grabbed headlines all over the
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  globe for a reason.
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  Speaker 1: Right, It's got everything, murder, celebrity, power, struggles. You guys
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  really outdid yourselves to these sources.
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  Speaker 2: It's a story that reveals some unsettling truths about Brazil, that's.
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  Speaker 1: For sure, definitely, But we're not just about the headlines here, right,
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  We're going deeper.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. We need to understand Eliza Samodio, the woman at
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  the heart.
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  Speaker 1: Of it all totally. It's easy to forget she was
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  a person with hopes and dreams, not just a victim.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, So let's start there. Who was Eliza Smudio.
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  Speaker 1: Well, she was born in those to Guguassu, Brazil, and
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  she had this dream of becoming a model, right, catwalks,
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  photo shoots, the whole deal. But life had other plans,
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  as it often does. She ended up working as a
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  call girl to get by.
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  Speaker 2: She went by the name Fernanda Farree.
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  Speaker 1: Imagine the struggle she must have faced. It's a side
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  of this story we don't hear enough about It's.
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  Speaker 2: Easy to get caught up in the sensationalism. But she
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  was a young woman just trying to build a life for.
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  Speaker 1: Herself, exactly. And it's with that backdrop that she meets
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  Bruno Fernandez.
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  Speaker 2: Ah, Bruno Fernandez, the.
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  Speaker 1: Bruno Fernandez, star goalkeeper for Flamingos.
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  Speaker 2: Huge celebrities, a big deal, right.
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  Speaker 1: Married, successful, live in the high life.
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  Speaker 2: More than just a soccer player in Brazil, really almost
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  like a god, fame, money, you name it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that kind of influence. Well, it can be dangerous, definitely,
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  and that's where things get complicated. Eliza gets pregnant in
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  May two thousand.
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  Speaker 2: And nine, and Fernandez wasn't exactly thrilled about fatherhood.
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  Speaker 1: Right to put it mildly. Some sources even say he
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  pressured her to have an abortion.
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  Speaker 2: You have to think about the societal pressure too. These
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  guys are constantly in the spotlight.
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  Speaker 1: Image is everything in an unplanned pregnancy.
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  Speaker 2: Career suicide, especially with someone outside his marriage so.
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  Speaker 1: Much pressure, it's no wonder things escalated.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, this wasn't just personal. You've got Eliza's world colliding
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  with Fernandez and the insane pressure of his career a
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  recipe for disaster.
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  Speaker 1: And this is where things get really dark. Eliza files
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  a police complaint she did, yeah, in October two thousand
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  and nine, accuses Fernandez and some of his friends of
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  assault and making threats. Wow, saying they tried to force
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  her to have an abortion. She even went public with it.
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  That's brave, right, talk about taking a stand, especially.
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  Speaker 2: With the power dynamics at play here. Brandas could just
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  deny everything.
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  Speaker 1: Oh he did more than that, What do you mean?
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  A judge actually dismissed the case at first, seriously, they
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  questioned if Eliza even had a real relationship with Fernandez.
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  Speaker 2: Oh but what's that got to do with anything.
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  Speaker 1: It's like they were saying her claims didn't matter because
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  of it.
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  Speaker 2: That's awful, but we see that happen all the time. Unfortunately,
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  You're right, powerful people they can silence others. It's a pattern.
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  Speaker 1: It's a huge problem, This systemic bias we see over
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  and over.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely the system failed Eliza, tragically, it did.
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  Speaker 1: But Eliza, she wasn't giving up. She has her son
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  in February twenty ten. Good for her, right, and Fernandez
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  still denied he was the father, of course, but get
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  this June fourth, twenty ten, Eliza goes to Fernandez's farm
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  in Mina's Garais to the lions, den right, why would
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  she do that? They were going to talk about child support.
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  Speaker 2: She was fighting for her son's future and that was.
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  Speaker 1: The last time anyone saw her.
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  Speaker 2: Just like that, she was gone.
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  Speaker 1: It gets worse. The investigation was all over the place,
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  anonymous tips rumors, it was chaos.
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  Speaker 2: What about Fernandez?
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  Speaker 1: And then they find Eliza's son abandoned.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my god, those poor investigators. Talk about pressure, a
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  missing woman, an abandoned child, and one of Brazil's biggest
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  stars at the center of it all.
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  Speaker 1: And just when you think it couldn't get more intense,
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  July sixth, twenty ten, the police make an arrest.
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  Speaker 2: Who did they arrest Fernandez's cousin, his own cousins.
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  Speaker 1: Seventeen years old at the time, and he gave him everything.
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  Speaker 2: Wow, the walls were closing in.
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  Speaker 1: The cousin said Eliza was strangled, dismembered. Oh god, he
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  even said they fed her remains of dogs.
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  Speaker 2: That's horrific.
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  Speaker 1: And get this, they buried her in concrete.
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  Speaker 2: Afterwards, trying to hide the evidence.
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  Speaker 1: Trying to hide the evidence they thought they could get
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  away with it.
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  Speaker 2: This is Bruno Fernandez. We're talking about a national hero, right.
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  Speaker 1: It was a huge scandal. The whole country was disgusted.
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  The trow finally started in November twenty twelve.
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  Speaker 2: It must have been a circus.
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  Speaker 1: Cotal media frenzy and it went on forever, delays, appeals,
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  you name it.
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  Speaker 2: But Fernandez was found the guilty right.
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  Speaker 1: March twenty thirteen, guilty of homicide, kidnapping, hiding a body.
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  How long did he get over? Twenty years? Wow?
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  Speaker 2: What about the others involved?
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  Speaker 1: His friend Makrau got fifteen years? They all went down?
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  Speaker 2: Could they deserved it? It wasn't just.
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  Speaker 1: Fernandez He is always a network, right. But here's where
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  it gets crazy. Fernandez he tried to his soccer career.
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  Speaker 2: Are you serious?
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  Speaker 1: Dead serious? After everything?
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  Speaker 2: That's unbelievable, there were people who still wanted to see
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  him play.
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  Speaker 1: It was all over the news. People were outraged, rightfully so.
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  And then new leads came out about where Eliza's body
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  might be.
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  Speaker 2: New leads years later.
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  Speaker 1: Conflicting stories, rumors. It was like the case just wouldn't die.
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  Speaker 2: So many unanswered questions.
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  Speaker 1: It's haunting, that's what we keep coming back to, isn't
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  it the why? What would make someone do something so awful?
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  Speaker 2: It makes you think would things have been different if
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  Liza hadn't gotten involved with a celebrity like Fernandez, if
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  he was just an ordinary guy.
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  Speaker 1: That's the question. Isn't it fame? Power? It can distort everything,
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  and sometimes the people who need protection the most are
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  the ones who suffer the most.
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  Speaker 2: It's a harsh truth, it is.
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  Speaker 1: But shining a light on these stories it's the least
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  we can do. So to everyone listening, thank you for
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  joining our deep dive. You guys sent in some incredible sources.
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  We've covered a lot, but there's always more to uncover.
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  The allies of some media case. It reminds us that
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  justice is a fight, not a guarantee, and sometimes the
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  pursuit of truth never really ends