Woman’s Horrific Fatal Rope Jump Triggers Homicide Charges

It is the video that has left social. media and the world in shock. A young. woman seemingly [music] being tossed off. an abandoned bridge in Brazil without a. safety cord [music] in a rope jumping. incident gone horribly wrong. She falls. 130 [music] ft and dies. Now, three. people have been arrested and charged. The federal [music] government is also. being blamed. We are bringing on a. Brazilian criminal defense attorney to. determine whether anyone will [music] be. held responsible and to ask, how on.

earth could something [music] like this. happen? Welcome to Sidebar, presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. I'm sure you've seen this on your social. media pages, unfortunately. This. horrible. horrible video from June 13th of a woman. being thrown off an abandoned bridge 130. ft down to the ground and she ends up. dying in this rope jumping incident.

gone terribly wrong. And now, three. people, three apparent instructors, have. been arrested. They are facing criminal. charges. This is the story. This is the. case of 21-year-old Maria Eduarda. Rodrigues de Freitas, plunged to her. death on Saturday at the Ponte do. Esqueleto. Now, this is a bridge in. Limeira. It's a city over 90 mi north of. São Paulo, Brazil. Now, this is known as.

the skeleton bridge. It hasn't been in. operation for about 30 years. It was. apparently part of a rail line. When you. see the video, okay, she appears to be. wearing a helmet, a harness, but she wasn't attached to any safety. equipment or rope. While the. instructors, based on reporting and. maybe arguably you can see in the video, do seem to be attached to a safety rope. And if that is true, that's going to be. a key component in this legal case. Maria Eduarda had apparently asked to be.

tossed from the bridge in this airplane. Superman pose. So, two instructors. allegedly carried her onto the diving. platform and then allegedly threw over. the edge. The video that is circulating. is just awful. People in the background can reportedly. be heard screaming, "The rope, people, the rope." Or "Guys, the rope." The. video was posted on social media by the. group allegedly organizing some of the. jumps, Andre Cordas, show what was.

supposed to happen. Persons attached to. a rope with a harness is either tossed. or jumps off the bridge swinging back. and forth. There's a parent eyewitness, Igor Diniz, told outlet EPTV that he was on the. bridge, saw people panicking after they. let go of Maria Eduarda. Quote, "There. were a lot of people there, not just a. few. There were many people at the site. There were children there, too, and they. saw it happen. Some of the children were. only 6 years old. It was a very intense. scene. People panicked. Some who were.

further back grabbed their belongings. and started leaving." In fact, according. to the media outlet Thought Catalog, Diniz said it was supposed to be him, not Maria Eduarda, who was up next. And I got to call this out, too. It's. just incredibly sad. Before this happened, Maria Eduarda. posted to her Instagram showing herself. on the bridge writing in the caption, "Who is the crazy person who let me come. jump off a bridge?" She also posted a. sign near the bridge that warned of.

dangerous conditions, highlighting that. the area was not a safe one. According. to MSN, Brazil's military police claim. that two of the suspects here ran from. the scene into a wooded area once it. became apparent what had happened. They. were apparently found by helicopter. Another had been arrested as well. So, you're talking about three people here. Outlet 30 UOL Annos reports that two of. the suspects changed their clothes, too. According to G1 Globo, they have been. identified as Luis Felipe Feliciano. Egoroff, 32 years old. Metropoles.

reports that according to the military. police, he is a civilian firefighter. There is Vitor de Freitas Goncalves, 27. years old. Metropoles reports that his. work permit indicates he's a tour. operator. And then there's Maycon. Fernandes Cintra, 42 years old. Again, this outlet reports he works with a film. post-production company. According to O. Globo, they didn't have a reason why. this young woman was apparently not. secured properly. G1 Globo reported that.

the suspects also appeared disoriented. They couldn't say whose job it was, whose responsibility it was to attach. the rope, or explain why a safety check, a safety inspection, apparently wasn't. done beforehand. All right, real quick. I know this is a little bit of a 180, but for anybody out there who's running. a business, you know, it's tough enough. The question is why make it harder doing. things manually and relying on dozens of. apps that don't really talk to each. other? That's where our sponsor Odoo. comes in. So, Odoo is an all-in-one. business management platform with a full. suite of integrated apps that seamlessly.

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understood what had happened when he. heard the people screaming. That's when. he claims he left the platform, saw what. happened, claims he repelled down, sees. police, sees a healthcare professional. performing life-saving measures. Actually, that's another chilling aspect. of this story. According to TMZ, a nurse. identified as Reza Diaz who apparently. tried to save Maria Eduarda told local. news that she was still alive after. hitting the ground. And we've seen other reports that Maria. Eduarda was pronounced dead at the.

scene, that her body was transported to. the Legal Institute. This is according. to the Daily Mail. So, six people were. ultimately detained at first. They were. questioned, three were released, and. then the three that I just mentioned. before, they were ultimately charged. Now, I've seen this one of two ways. I've seen them being charged with. homicide with implied malice. 30 UOL. Anos reporting that that means there's. no direct intention to kill, but the. risk of death is assumed. So, I'm. wondering, we're going to talk about. this a little bit later on. I'm.

wondering if that's kind of like when. you look at second-degree murder. in certain cases where it's like, you. know, there's an extreme indifference to. human life or manslaughter, it's a. reckless disregard for the apparent. risk, for the known risk. I want to. again talk about that with the Brazilian. lawyer we're going to bring on. But, outlet G1 said that they were charged. with homicide with eventual intent. So, that's another way of looking at it. It's possible there's some variance in. translation. It's possible there's some. variance in translation. But, these are. the three reportedly in the video. And.

G1 reports though that the three cases. have now been converted to preventive. detention. Seems the men are currently. detained, currently locked up. Again, we're bringing on this Brazilian lawyer. who's going to make sense of this in. just a moment. To be clear about. something, I don't know if there's been. misreporting about it, but this is not. bungee jumping, okay? This is rope. jumping. It's different. Bungee jumping. uses elastic cords that result in a. bounce up and down motion. Rope jumping. is this extreme sport that uses. different cords, ropes, and it creates.

this horizontal pendulum swing at the. very end. According to 30 UL Anos, only. bungee jumping has a protocol that's. registered with ABNT. This is Brazilian. Association of Technical Standards. There are strict requirements regarding. who can sell or purchase bungee cords. Delegate Andrea Dantas Levy told the. Globo outlet that the company operating. this rope jump, quote, "didn't even have. authorization to be there and that this. was the result of a failure to verify. and supervise the placement of the rope.

on Maria Eduarda's jump." G1 reports. that in the video the men carrying her. appear to be wearing shirts that are. emblazoned with the brands Andre Kordas. and Evoy. Authorities say these are. informal groups of rope jumping. practitioners. There's no official. company behind this operation. According. to Thought Catalog, the tickets for this. rope jumping experience range from about. 130 to 180 reais, or roughly 25 to 32. dollars. There were even future dates. that were scheduled at even higher.

prices. And on the day that Maria. Eduarda died, it was expected that about. 100 people would jump. Now, in the. aftermath, Thought Catalog reports that. both organizations. have deactivated their social media. accounts. There is a lawyer for the. operators that said, "While rope jumping. isn't regulated, like I said, in the. same way that bungee jumping is, it's. not illegal, per se. It's not against. the law, per se." Now, lawyers for the. suspects told the G1 outlet that these. individuals were highly experienced, that this had been the organization's. only death in years. According to NBC.

News, a defense lawyer said the suspects. are in shock at what happened. Also, we. talked so much about the video, right? The video that's circulating around. social media. According to 30 UOL ANOS, Maria Eduarda was reportedly holding a. camera as well, but it hasn't been. found. Some reports indicated it was a. GoPro-style camera. Interesting when you. think about what evidence there could be. there. According to G1, a witness claims. the instructors had failed to perform. the proper safety check. Reports say. that the thick rope that was supposed to. be used to secure Maria Eduarda was.

tangled up on the ground, and you can. arguably see it lying there in parts of. the video. There is also another legal. development in this case we have to talk. about. According to 30 UOL ANOS, the. municipality of Limeira may file a legal. action against the federal government. over alleged negligence in maintaining. and controlling access to the skeleton. bridge. The city government reportedly. said it had previously sent letters to. the federal government requesting. security inspections of this bridge. Mayor Murilo Felix reportedly stated.

that the risks of this bridge were. already known to authorities. That this. bridge reportedly has a history of. accidents, including a cyclist falling. from the bridge and dying in 2024. Last. year, two other people were reportedly. injured. By the way, the mayor posted on. social media, and this is per reporting. from Fox, quote, "A young woman of just. 21 lost her life in a tragedy that. should never have happened. More than. sorry, action must be taken so that no. other family has to go through such. pain." And before we even get into the. legal aspects of all this and the.

investigation, I just want to take a. moment to talk about Maria Eduarda. Rodrigues de Freitas. She had been. living in Jandira. This is the. metropolitan region of São Paulo. She. was a recent graduate with a degree in. physical education and sports. management. She was very into fitness. and physical activity. She was active on. social media. According to Thought. Catalog, she had a fiance as well who. reportedly became physically ill when he. found out what happened to her. Family, friends, they have described this.

tremendous loss online. A family member. reportedly posted on Instagram, "Until. now, I don't believe it. I love you so. much. I'll never forget you. From our. jokes, I'll always remember you. I love. you so much, princess." Another friend. posted on Instagram that Maria Eduarda. was a quote "beautiful young woman full. of dreams and now interrupted plans.". According to NBC News, Maria Eduarda's. mother posted a statement on social. media, too. This is per local reporting, quote, "My beloved daughter, today.

alone, I wanted to hug you more than a. thousand times. How much your departure. hurts me. I love you eternally, my. princess. And thank you so much for. being a part of my life for these 21. years. What an honor it was to hear you. call me mom. God, thank you for this. privilege." Panel Bianco Academia, the. physical fitness center where Maria. Eduarda had taught, where she worked, said, quote, "Today we said goodbye to a. very special person, to our Panel Bianco. Silverstone family. Maria Eduarda left. her mark through the dedication, affection, joy, and respect with which.

she treated everyone around her. Your. presence illuminated the environment and. your memory will remain forever in our. hearts. In this moment of deep sorrow, we join together in prayer and. solidarity with family, friends, and. colleagues, wishing strength and comfort. to face this loss. May the good. memories, shared moments, and the love. left by her be a source of peace and. comfort. Rest in peace, Maria Eduarda.". And then there was a later post that. said this gym, this fitness center would. suspend its activities, quote, "as a.

sign of respect and mourning." Maria. Eduarda was reportedly buried on Sunday. All right, so I want to bring on. somebody who has expertise in the law in. this region. I'm joined once again by. Adrielle Barca, Brazilian criminal. defense attorney. Thank you so much for. taking the time to talk about this. First of all, this is a story that. everybody is now talking about. It went. on social media. So many people have. seen the video. A a of major outlets. here in the states are talking about it. How many people are talking about it in.

your area? Is it Is it a story that in. Brazil uh, has is getting a lot of. attention? >> Yes, everyone is talking about it. Not only because of the accident, but. because of the commentary on the. victim's body after she passed. So, it's been talked about a lot. >> When you say that the the commentary on. her body, what do you mean? >> There has been a lot of sex-sex. commentary. about the fact that she was a young girl. and people talking about how they wanted.

to see her body and in the. >> Really? That's what people That's what. people are saying? >> Yes, a lot of men talking about it. It's. awful. >> That's. That's That's an element that. I didn't even comprehend. That's an. element that I didn't even know was. going on. Um, that's disgusting. That's disturbing to. say the least in light of everything. that our family and friends have to deal. with. That's the next part. Um, >> Yeah. >> Putting that to the side for a second.

Um, I didn't know about rope jumping. Is. rope jumping common in Brazil? >> Yes, it's very common. >> And it's legal, right? Like a lot of. people do it? >> Yeah. When you have the proper authorizations, it's legal. >> But we talked about it before. The. authorization is a little bit different. than bungee jumping, right? It's a It's. Is bungee jumping more regulated? >> No, they're both equally unregulated, actually. >> Okay.

Do you know if these operators, the. people who have been arrested and. charged, do you know if they had a. license or they had authorization? Cuz. I've seen commentary that they weren't. authorized. >> They didn't. They didn't They didn't. even have a formal company for this. >> So, is it illegal for them to be doing. what they were doing? >> Yes, completely illegal. >> Do you know how they wouldn't have been. stopped or arrested beforehand if what. they're doing is illegal? How How is it.

possible they could be doing. or allegedly doing these kinds of um. uh. you know, selling tickets for it, these. kinds of rope jumps and authorities. didn't get involved? >> They would have possibly been charged if. they were caught. doing this because not only they didn't. have a company, they didn't have. authorization, but the place where this. happened was a scenario of. prior accidents. at this. So, they wouldn't even get that. authorization whatsoever.

>> Mhm. Yeah, I'm going to talk about the. Skeleton Bridge in a second. I want you. to talk to me about what they're charged. with. So, what exactly are these three. individuals charged with? Is it called. homicide with implied malice? What does that mean? >> Yes. They're being charged with homicide. Um. this case uh brings up. a very old debate about intent or blame, which is what we call dolus or culpa.

They're being initially charged with. homicide with the intention to kill. somebody, which is homicidio doloso. >> So, just to be clear, the prosecutors. have to prove they had the intent to. kill or is it to say they were so. reckless, they knew how risky this was, and they just were negligent, they. ignored the risks? I mean, what do they. have to prove at trial to convict them? >> So, here's what's going on. This case. has brought a lot of media attention to.

it. And when this happens, sometimes. these cases are dealt with. in a different way that they would be. dealt. in other. in other cases. For example, we have. many other cases, similar cases of. accidents with sports, and those were. always dealt with as non-intentional, as. negligence, as impericia. And this case, because of the media attention, it's. been dealt like it was intentional for.

them to kill these people, which, as a. lawyer, personally, I don't think those. apply. >> No, it seemed like it was I mean, based. on what's been presented in the. reporting, it seems like a horrible, horrible accident, but there's a serious. question of how did they not properly. secure her, right? I mean, there's a. question of if they were seemingly. secured and the rope wasn't on her, there was a mistake that was made that. may be, again, it may be a form of.

homicide, it may be criminal liability, but I don't know if it's an intent to. kill. I guess the question is what's the. difference between what they're charged. with now and murder. I mean, is this. murder? Is that what they're not being. charged with murder, right? >> No, uh. actually, they are. They are, but they. shouldn't be. >> From the reporting I saw, it said it. wasn't murder, but they could be charged. with murder. Have they been charged with. murder now? >> Yes. Yes, this is why they're they are. in jail right now. Because when it comes. to.

a case of homicide where there is no. blame where there's negligence with. which you call homicidio culposo, where. we talk about the negligence, the. impericia, the the duty to protect, but the absence. of protection, those cases, they are not punishable by. prison. You don't get imprisoned because. of this type of criminal a crime. So, when you don't get imprisoned for some. type of crime, you can't be in. preventive detention. That's what's.

going on right now. They are There are. three people in preventive detention. because of this crime. And in order to. get that preventive detention, they have. to charge them initially with homicidio. doloso. >> What could they be facing if they're. convicted? Life in prison? >> No. Um if they are convicted in the terms. which they are being investigated right. now, it's to from 6 to 20 years of. imprisonment, but if this is dealt with.

like any other case of accident, even. with consequences like this, with grave. consequences like this one, it would be. 1 to 3 years of detention. Same with a. semi-open or open regime, which means. they don't get arrested, they don't they. don't go to prison. >> Okay. Is it possible they go to trial on. these charges and a jury says, "No, they're they shouldn't be found guilty. of this. They should be found guilty of. a lesser crime." So here in the United.

States, sometimes somebody who's charged. with murder, a jury will look at them. and say, "It's not murder. We're going. to find them guilty of manslaughter.". Right? It's a lesser charge. Is that. something that's possible in Brazil? >> Yes. >> Okay. Okay. So what are you envisioning here. in terms of a defense? You have three. different people. I wonder if one is. going to say it wasn't my. responsibility, it was this person's. responsibility. In the video, you see I. think just two of them carrying her or. allegedly carrying her out onto the.

ledge. What do you imagine is going to. be the defense for each of these three. uh suspects? >> I imagine that the defense is going to. argue that this is a case of culpa. This. is a case of homicidio culposo. And why. is that? There's a line in criminal. doctrine, which is we have dolo eventual. and culpa consciente, which is in one. side, you have the intent, but it's not.

exactly the clear. You know that there's. a risk and you don't care that somebody. might die because of that. And in culpa. consciente, you have a situation where. you know there's a risk, but you hope. that it's not going to happen. In your. conscious, you're clear that you're. trying your best to not make it to not. let it happen. And here's the catch. This is very difficult to prove in. court. So, when you have any type of. doubt, the court has to rule in favor in. favor of the defendant. This is why I.

believe this is going to fall as. homicidio culposo because it's going to. be very hard to prove intent in this. case. Even though there is a lot of. negligence and there were a lot of. things that happened in order for this. accident to take place where there. should be more responsibility, the. government should have blocked the. bridge, the police should have been. seeing what is going on if they know. that there's always the risk of this. accident that people go there to jump, there should be some kind of security. there. The people that wanted to make.

this jump, they should have at least ordered an. authorization, they should have a legal. company at least and they and they. didn't. Every other thing that happened. to make this possible, to make this. horrible accident possible. But, in. court, which is what is going to be. analyzed actually is only the fact in. that day that led to that accident. So, you have federal authorities and state. authorities and the police that are.

going to answer this and. administratively, they're going to answer this in their or. in their own companies, but as to the. death itself, it's going to fall only on. the people that were there at the. moment, that were carrying her, that. should have secured her. And for those. people, it's going to be very hard to. prove that he had they had the intent of. killing her. >> Mhm. So, let me see if I understand this. correctly and tell me if I'm wrong. They've been charged with murder in.

order to keep them detained. But, if. this goes to trial, there's a. possibility they will not be found. guilty of murder because there's not. there's not that intent to kill. They. could be found guilty of something less. and they may not get prison time. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Exactly. >> Um when when would a trial happen and is. it in front of a jury or is it in front. of a judge? >> If this was from the beginning treated. as a procedure proposal, there wouldn't. be a jury. There would There would be.

only a judge. But since it is being. dealt with under the procedure doloso, they are going to face a jury. >> And is it unanimous? It has to be a. unanimous jury. They And how many jurors. are there? >> it doesn't have to be unanimous. >> I thought one of the key aspects of this. case is the allegations of escape. That. two of them had allegedly ran into the. woods. How do you see that? Is that oh, you know, they were panicking, they. didn't know what was going on or can a. prosecutor say that's evidence of their.

guilt, that's evidence of they knew what. they did was a crime? How do you see it? >> As far as I can see it, I understand. that of course they knew what happened. was a crime. But I don't think that the fact that. they ran away means they were guilty of. something or they that they planned. because. >> Right. >> they didn't do it and run away right. away as it was planned. They just ran.

away. >> Yeah. >> They were in shock. >> And again, I mentioned that's what one. of the defense attorneys had said. Just. let me ask you, how is it possible. this happened? I mean, you watched the. video and they seem to be carrying her. It seems very clear she's not buckled. in. It seems very clear there's no rope. You arguably see the rope on the ground. all tangled up. How is it possible they. would fail to secure her? How does. something like this happen? >> It's very hard to believe that this.

would happen the way it did. At the same. time, I panicked when I saw the video. because I was like, "You can see that. she's not secured. Stop." People. screamed. People shouted that she. doesn't have her rope. Stop. And they. didn't hear. Probably because they are. accustomed to always hearing people. shouting when they're when they're doing. this and they can get distracted or they. hurt the person. But at the same time, it's hard to believe that something like. this would happen. >> Yeah. So, the federal government, the uh the.

municipality, the city, may be filing a. legal action against the federal. government, right? That they say they. were negligent. They should have been. properly securing this bridge. No one. should have had access to it. Where do. you see that going? Is this going to be. a lawsuit? Is this a strong lawsuit? Uh. talk to me about what you think there. >> I think it is a a strong lawsuit because. the bridge is actually the. responsibility of the federal. government. So, they should have secured.

the bridge. But they weren't the only. ones who are responsible for it. Any. authority that is related to the. security of the city could have done. that. Not only the federal government. They should have all done it. But when. it comes to discussing responsibility, I. think it's very clear that it falls. under the federal government in this. case. >> What would happen if they sue them? It goes to I imagine a trial. What. what's the result? What what is the.

federal government if they lose? What do. they have to do? Do they pay fines? Do. they I mean, is that what happens? They. the federal government pays fines to the. city? >> Yes. Probably probably a fine. >> Okay. >> Probably a fine or a compensation. >> Do they have to. you know, make a change? Do they have to. secure the bridge? Do they have to tear. it down? Do they have to make sure. nobody has access to it? >> Yes, that should have already been done. >> Okay. Um one more question before I let you. go. So, apparently uh Maria Eduarda had a.

camera. Uh there's some reporting that. it might have been a GoPro. Authorities. can't find it. I don't know if you've. seen something new about that. If they. find the footage, if they find the. camera and they get the footage, why is. that so important? How does that affect. the case? >> That depends on what is going to be. found on the on that footage. If she tried to stop it, because in the. recording we don't hear her saying stop, but if that camera shows that she asked.

to stop, that she said anything to try. to stop what was going on, that would. show that they knew that she was. unsecured, but I think that's very. unlikely. >> Yeah. Look, I I'm thinking if you could. loudly hear people saying "She has no. rope. She's not secure. She has no rope. She's not secure." and they allegedly. threw her over that edge, that is. important for intent. But again, we're. in the early stages of this. We'll see. where this goes. This is a tragic tragic.

situation. It is so awful, that video. It is terrible to think about what she. went through. It is terrible to think. about what her and her family and her. friends have to experience right now. On. top of what you said at the the. beginning, commentary from people about. Maria Eduarda is just awful. Adrieli. Barca, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it. >> Thank you, Jesse. Thank you for having. me. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple.

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