Von Richthofen Murders
Every morning, something like four million vehicles move through São Paulo, Brazil on a highway system called the Rodoanel. Most of the drivers on it have never once heard the name of the man who helped engineer it.
Manfred, the engineer, didn't live to see it finished. He was forty-nine years old. Married for two decades. Father of two. And on the night of October 31st, 2002, in his own home, in a quiet and gated neighborhood on the south side of São Paulo, he was beaten to death while he slept.
His wife, Marísia, who was a psychiatrist was killed in the same room only minutes later.
This story has been sensationalized in media headlines talking about the von Richthofen’s mansion, and a large inheritance that turned this into one of the most obsessively covered criminal cases in Brazilian history. Before I get to any of that, I want you to know who Manfred and Marísia von Richthofen were. Because for over twenty years, almost everything written about this case has been about their daughter.
Photo Credits: Crime Reads, Istoé, Tuko News, The Crime Philosopher
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Muello, Peter. “Brazil Gripped by Murder Trial.” The Guardian, 6 June 2006, www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/06/brazil.mainsection.
"The Chilling Story of Suzane von Richthofen, The Law Student Who Let Her Boyfriend Murder Her Parents." Statestories, 21 Feb. 2026, statestories.com/the-chilling-story-of-suzane-von-richthofen-the-law-student-who-let-her-boyfriend-murder-her-parents/.
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"The True Story of Parent-Killer Suzane Von Richthofen." Grunge, 18 May 2022, www.grunge.com/473553/the-true-story-of-parent-killer-suzane-von-richthofen/.
"Two Decades Later Brazil Still Haunted by the Tragic Von Richthofen Murders." LatinAmerican Post, 15 Sept. 2024, latinamericanpost.com/americas/politics/two-decades-later-brazil-still-haunted-by-the-tragic-von-richthofen-murders/.