Greece ambassador to Brazil, Kyriakos Amiridis’ wife, and two other men were detained by Rio de Janeiro police on Saturday in connection with his murder. The diplomat’s wife, Françoise, had directed her boyfriend, a policeman, to murder Amiridis, Reuters reported. Françoise on Wednesday had said that her 59-year-old husband was missing since Monday from Nova Iguacu, where the couple had been vacationing.
The ambassador’s Brazilian wife, Françoise, 40, and, 29-year-old Sergio Gomez Moreira, admitted to having an affair, reported AFP. Also in custody is Moreira’s cousin, who was paid $25,000 to participate in the crime. The ambassador’s wife denied any role in the crime and insisted that she was not at home at the time of the murder. However, the police said all the “evidence clearly puts the ambassador’s wife as the co-author of the crime”, reported AP.
Moreira confessed to the police that he had strangled the ambassador during a physical fight. However, the investigators found blood spots on the sofa in the house in Nova Iguacu, where the couple were staying. This led the police to believe Amiridis was stabbed and they started the investigation. A body was found in a burnt-out car that Amiridis had rented on December 21. Forensic experts are working to confirm if that is indeed him or not, AP added.
Amiridis served as Greece consul general in Rio between 2001 and 2004. After a stint as the Greece’s ambassador to Libya from 2012, he took up the post in Brazil in early 2016.
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