Brazil: Three jailed after human flesh 'baked in pastries'

Three people in Brazil have been sentenced to 20-23 years in prison over killing two women, eating parts of their bodies and using some of their flesh to make and sell stuffed pastries.

An official at the court in the north-eastern city of Olinda said the seven-person jury handed down the sentences last night.

Jorge Beltrao Negromonte da Silveira was sentenced to 23 years in prison while his wife, Isabel Cristina Pires, and his mistress, Bruna Cristina Oliveira da Silva, each received 20-year terms.

The defendants’ lawyers told reporters they would appeal the sentences.

The three were arrested in April 2012, and police said they confessed to the crimes.

At the time, the three reportedly told police they belonged to a sect that preached “the purification of the world and the reduction of its population”.

Officers said the three lured women to their house by promising them a job as a nanny. Remains of the two women were found in the home’s backyard.

Authorities said the trio used the victims’ flesh to make thick empada pastries, which were eaten by them and a child who lived with them. The pastries were also sold to some neighbours.

Shortly after their arrest, police found a 50-page book written by Silveira entitled Revelations of a Schizophrenic, in which he said he heard voices and was obsessed with killing women.