Military police lawyers Dennis Antônio Martins, Ruan Silva Rodrigues and Fernando Genauro da Silvadefendants for the murder of the whistleblower PCC (First Command of the Capital) Antonio Vinícius Lopes Gritzbachin November 2024, with rifle shots at the International Airport of São Pauloin Guarulhosclaim that the accusation was based on forged evidence during the investigation of the case.
The defense says it has evidence that none of the three PMs were at the airport at the time of the attack. The origin of the new evidence is the same as that used by the Prosecutor’s Office to place police officers at the crime scene: data collected by telephone antennas.
The lawyers also dispute genetic material tests and other expert evidence used to point to them as the perpetrators of the attack.
One of Main trials in the Gritzbach case began this Monday (22). The trio of police officers are identified as shooters and drivers of the car used in the attack. Three other defendants identified as the mastermind and scout of the attack are at large.
Lawyers Cláudio Dalledone Júnior, Mauro das Costa Ribas Junior and Renan Canto, who defend the PMs, listed arguments at a press conference in front of the Guarulhos Forum on Monday morning.
The defense’s main line of argument points to evidence of civil police participation in planning the crime.
“We have the rotten band of Civil Policewhich was investigated by Gaeco (Special Action Group to Combat Organized crimefrom the Public Ministry of São Paulo), extorting Vinícius Gritzbach and who had been interested and motivated to end his life”, said lawyer Cláudio Dalledone, who defends corporal Ruan Rodrigues. “We have documentary, testimonial and material evidence of this.”
The civil police Fabio Baena Martin and Eduardo Monteiro were listed by the defense as witnesses to be heard at the trial. According to lawyer Mauro Ribas, the two have “a lot to explain”.
The police officers worked at the DHPP (Department of Homicide and Personal Protection) at the time of Gritzbach’s arrest for suspected participation in the death of a PCC drug dealer in 2021 – this crime is considered, by the prosecution, to be the motivation for Gritzbach’s murder.
Baena and Monteiro were arrested on suspicion of extorting Gritzbach. The two were reported by him. The defense maintains that the investigation did not explore the hypothesis that civil police officers participated in the crime.
According to the defense, the ERBs (Base Radio Stations, used to send cell phone data) indicate that the accused were in the municipalities of Osasco and Cotia at times close to the attack. The documents from telephone operators that indicate the positions of the PMs far from Guarulhos would not have been taken into account by the investigation, according to the lawyers.
The accusation states that the ERBs demonstrate that the police officers left Osasco and traveled along the Castelo Branco highway towards Guarulhos, according to the final report of the Civil Police investigation. At least one had turned off his cell phone and the car had a signal blocker, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Another point that should be explored during the trial is the collection of DNA from the accused in the car used in the attack and escape. Lawyers claim that the first examination of the vehicle did not find genetic material from the accused.
They say that Ruan Rodrigues’ genetic material, for example, only appeared in the investigation after an anonymous tip named him as the perpetrator of the crime. “The prosecution has to show what (the genetic material) is, whether it is hair, sweat, whether it is blood, because so far we don’t know,” said Calledone.
The defense talks about breaking the chain of custody of the genetic material found, that is, that the evidence collected was not preserved by the police.
Lawyer Renan Canto even disagrees with the thesis that Emílio Carlos Gongorra Castilhothe Cigarreira, would be the mastermind of the crime. Appointed as a trafficker linked to CV (Red Command), Cigarreira would have participated in a “crime court” held in 2022 to try Gritzbach for the murder of a drug dealer who operated in the Tatuapé region, in the east zone of São Paulo.
“Another piece of evidence set up to extort,” said Canto about the mention of Cigarreira. “We have an investigation launched by the Federal Police which, in a single tone, says what? That the DHPP police officers were forging evidence.”
He highlighted that these accusations against civil police officers were contained in a plea agreement made by Gritzbach eight days before the murder.
