A couple was found dead in an alleged murder-suicide just a week before they were set to get married in Brazil.
Caroline Morales, 30, was strangled by her fiancé, Vinicius Rodrigues, 33, on April 5, a day after she had called off their ceremony, according to a police report.
Rodrigues apparently hung himself in another room of the home they shared in Bragança Paulista, a city in the southeastern state of São Paulo.
Morales, a flight attendant, and Rodrigues, an airplane mechanic who also owned a bakery, had been dating for five months before they got engaged in December 2024.
A search of Rodgrigues’ phone following the murder uncovered a text to a jeweler where he inquired about returning Morales’ engagement ring, police said.
Morales decided to end the relationship because Rodrigues had become too controlling, her sister, Ingrid Novaes, told Brazilian news outlet G1.
‘He controlled her every action and speech,’ Novaes said.
‘She was also a dreamer, she dreamed of being a mother. She was the best aunt my children could have. And if there is something I can highlight about her, it was her good heart.’
Morales broke the news to her family Friday around 8:30pm local time and informed them the wedding set for April 12 had been cancelled.
Caroline Morales (left) and Vinicius Rodrigues (right) were found dead at their home in São Paulo, Brazil on Saturday. Police said Rodrigues allegedly strangled his fiancée and then hung himself a day after she had called off their wedding, which was set to take place April 12
Caroline Morales (left) and Vinicius Rodrigues (right) had been dating for five months before they got engaged in December 2024
Morales allowed Rodrigues to stay in her home because he had nowhere else to stay and did not have any relatives in the city.
On Saturday morning, her loved ones became concerned when she failed to answer their phone calls and text messages.
The family made their way to a bakery the couple operated and discovered a sign that read, ‘Closed due to mourning.’
They then went to the couple’s residence and broke down the door and discovered Morales lying on her bed.
The family told Brazilian news outlet Metropoles that the couple had an argument April 4 and that she had already made up her mind that she no longer wanted to marry Rodrigues.
One of her family members said that Morales wanted some time off to see if they could resolve their issues before resuming the relationship.
‘She got involved very quickly and, when she realized that it was getting out of control, she tried to back out,’ they said.
Caroline Morales found that her fiancée was too controlling, her family said
A text message found in Rodrigues’ cell phone revealed that he had reached out to the store where he purchased the engagement ring and asked for instructions on how to return it.
‘They went to sleep peacefully, he didn’t give any signs of anything,’ one of Morales’ family members told Metropoles.
‘During the early hours of the morning, he woke up and committed the crime, suffocating Caroline while she was sleeping, went to the bakery, put up a mourning sign there and returned home and hung himself.’
The São Paulo Civil Police is investigating the incident as a femicide and suicide.
