Brazilian police said on Friday they had captured a suspected serial killer linked to at least 16 deaths since May, who was arrested while disguised as a woman and carrying a baby. He claims to have killed more than four times that number. The suspect was arrested on Sunday after a 30-hour police chase in a forested area of the northeastern Brazilian state of Paraíba. She was wearing a dress and a long black wig, which police described as a disguise to evade capture. In a statement they said she was carrying a baby in her arms. Images and videos published by local media, including O Globo, showed the suspect with painted nails, dressed in a striped dress, a dark wig, women’s sandals and sunglasses. Police said the child he was carrying was not related to him. Police did not release details about the baby’s condition. “Although the suspect claimed to have participated in 80 homicides, the civil police have confirmed his involvement in 16 murders in the region, 11 of which he confessed during interrogation,” the police told AFP. The 16 homicides all occurred since May. The identities of the victims and details of the murders have not been made public. The suspect was identified by authorities as Jorlan Lopes da Silva, 33, Record R7 reported. The suspect avoided a previous attempt to arrest him a few weeks ago after a confrontation with security forces, who consider him a member of an “ultraviolent” criminal group. In a video of his interrogation obtained by AFP, the man claims to have acted alone and denies having links to organized crime. Instead, he claimed that all of his victims were “linked to the criminal world” and that he was taking the law into his own hands in response to threats against him and his family. “I never acted against any father, mother or working person,” he said, denying that he was a “psychopath.” He said he had committed his first homicide at the age of 13. After the previous attempt to arrest the suspect, police confiscated bulletproof vests, the butt of a submachine gun and more than 100 rounds of ammunition, which the man admitted were his during interrogation. Two other men were detained during the operation on suspicion of participation in the crime, according to iG Último Segundo. Under Brazilian law, he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to Registry R7. The Mulungu region, where the murders took place, is located 1,553 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. The Associated Press contributed to this report. More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press in:
