In late July 2026, 22-year-old Isabelle Caracristi began her dream internship in Fortaleza, Brazil. She was in her second semester of law school, and hoped to become a criminal lawyer.
Within weeks, she was dating João Munhoz Neto, an older manager at the office and a man she believed would make her dreams come true.
Theirs was a whirlwind romance, soon she would leave the internship and began living with him and his family.
The relationship, however, deteriorated just as fast.
Isabelle started telling people close to her that she felt controlled and unable to bear the relationship. She had walked into a gilded cage.
On September 13, she sent a relative a long audio message. “If anything happens to me, this audio is proof,” she said.
About an hour later, Isabelle was found lifeless in the courtyard of their condominium.
Isabelle met João at a legal office and began dating him within days of starting her internship
Isabelle joined the legal correspondence office on July 24. Her mother, Isorlanda Caracristi, said she was enthusiastic about the opportunity to take part in online hearings and gain experience.
She spoke well and wrote well, dreaming of becoming an excellent criminal lawyer one day.
João had already reached that goal, or at least looked like he did. He held a management role at the office and conducted himself with confidence. To 22-year-old Isabelle, he looked like a knight in shining armor.
There were some critical chinks, however.
Although he had a law degree, he was not registered with Brazil’s bar association and did not practice as a lawyer. Still, he was about 12 years older than Isabelle and had authority over aspects of Isabelle’s work.
The relationship developed quickly.
Isorlanda said Isabelle told her she was dating her boss less than ten days after beginning the internship. João later gave police several possible dates in early August for when they became a couple, saying he could not remember precisely.
He described their attraction as “love at first sight.”
The office owner, Rudá Bezerra de Carvalho, said he spoke to each of them when he learned they were involved. He warned them to keep their personal relationship separate from their duties.
Before long, Isabelle went to Rudá with more than a simple complaint. João had turned from a shining knight into her worst nightmare.
João allegedly took control of every aspect of Isabelle’s life, both private and professional
According to the account his lawyer gave of his police testimony, she said João would not allow her to conduct hearings or perform certain activities independently. She felt “suffocated” at work.
Rudá then confronted João, warning him that his actions would not be tolerated and moved their workstations apart. The office had become a toxic environment.
On August 17, after roughly 20 days at the office, Isabelle asked to leave the internship.
She cited personal reasons and did not specifically blame João when she resigned, according to Rudá. He said João later pressed for her return, but the office refused. João subsequently stopped attending in person, citing his mother’s health.
Instead of separating, however, Isabelle remained close to João — A decision that puzzled many Brazilian readers.
Around the same period, she began staying at the La Piazza condominium in Fortaleza’s Aldeota neighborhood. João lived there with his mother, Sara Regina Alexandre Munhoz, and his brother.
João told police he had suggested the arrangement because Isabelle faced a long journey home after evening classes. In his account, she brought her belongings over gradually. Then the couple became engaged.
He had successfully isolated Isabelle from her family and friends, replacing them with his own.
Isabelle then discovered that João’s life wasn’t as perfect as she had thought.
He had married a physiotherapist in January 2025. Divorce documents examined by Diário do Nordeste showed that the marriage ended on August 12, after he and Isabelle had begun dating.
The discovery left Isabelle feeling betrayed and exploited.
João became increasingly jealous of Isabelle’s friends, classmates, and even her own relatives
During a call about a week before her passing, a relative and close confidant of Isabelle said he heard João in the background ordering Isabelle to hang up during a phone call.
“You don’t give me orders,” she responded, according to his account.
She told the relative she could no longer stand João and wanted to desperately end the relationship.
Other accounts collected by police described restrictions on Isabelle’s movements and contact with people close to her.
Investigators said witnesses reported that she could not even go to a pharmacy alone or leave the office unaccompanied.
Money, as is often the case, had also become a source of conflict.
At some point, Isabelle asked João to “lend” her about $2700 for “investments.” His mother had provided money too, he said. He maintained that he asked for repayment without threatening her.
The truth of what the money was used for only exacerbated the tension between the two.
On Saturday, September 12, Isabelle spent part of the day with her mother at a family birthday gathering. She complained of neck pain and wanted to stay with her mother over the weekend. They spent time together again on Sunday before Isabelle returned to João’s building.
Messages reported by Folha de S.Paulo indicate that on September 13, João pressed Isabelle for approximately $2,600 and said he needed the money back by Wednesday.
Information about Isabelle being involved in an alleged gambling scheme shattered her image
In Brazil, the image of Isabelle being an innocent victim began shattering the moment it was revealed she had been involved in a civil lawsuit for allegedly scamming a woman via a gambling scheme.
In July 2024, a woman in Rio Grande do Sel met Isabelle on TikTok, where she used to stream under the name “Morgana.”
Isabelle allegedly persuaded the woman to send her money for an online gambling game, promising a return. The money was transferred in August of that year, with a second sum being sent in January 2025.
The woman said she was blocked when she sought repayment, which many believe is the same thing that ended up happening to João.
In February 2025, the woman reported the matter to the police. She filed a civil suit against Isabelle, seeking repayment and more than $1900 in damages.
Recordings said to have been sent to the woman circulated online. In them, Isabelle claimed to have the online game “figured out,” promising to make them both loads of money. In another, she asked the woman for money to buy “medicine.”
The dispute would take on a new life after Isabelle made her final, fatal move.
Isabelle went to the rooftop alone, then told her brother to take care of their mother and to be strong
At about 5:58 pm on September 13, condominium cameras recorded Isabelle arriving at La Piazza. João met her at the entrance, and they went up together to the family apartment on the 15th floor.
João left at approximately 6:33 pm, dressed in different clothes. He said he was going to Mass at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima. Isabelle remained in the building.
At 7:12 pm, a camera captured her entering the elevator alone, holding her phone and heading toward the rooftop on the 23rd floor. Ten minutes later, she sent her last known message to Isorlanda.
Her mother has described one of their final exchanges as Isabelle writing, “Mom, I love you.” Isorlanda replied and suggested a muscle relaxant for the neck pain.
Around 7:40 pm, Isabelle sent her confidant a lengthy audio message, described in early reporting as approximately 13 minutes long. She said she felt exploited and could no longer endure João’s “emotional games.”
She described threats and asked the relative to preserve the recording.
“If anything happens to me, this audio is proof. João Munhoz is sick. Don’t believe him,” she said, according to the relative’s testimony reported by Diário do Nordeste. She asked him to respond.
Isabelle also sent recordings to a friend. In audio later broadcast by Fantástico, she said she was feeling very unwell and called João “crazy.”
Isabelle alleged that he had stood in front of a door to prevent her leaving the building, objected to photographs she posted, controlled her finances and made it difficult for her to do things alone.
Then came an even more worrying message. Addressed to her mother and brother, the text read as a farewell.
“I want to ask you both for forgiveness.”
“Fear always got the better of me, and perhaps this time it defeated me.”
“You have to promise me that you’ll protect our mother and be strong.”
The relative, reported to be her cousin, said he was at a snack bar when the audio arrived and initially listened to only part of it. At 8:11 pm, he tried calling Isabelle. She did not answer. He sent a short message that also went unanswered.
At approximately 8:40 pm, Isabelle fell from the rooftop into the condominium courtyard near the pool. A police patrol arrived at 8:51 pm.
Thousands of Brazilians rallied behind Isorlanda after she posted a video demanding answers
Isorlanda said João and his family did not directly tell her about Isabelle’s passing that night.
When Isabelle did not answer the next morning, Isorlanda tried to reach her. She also sought João and found that he had blocked her on social media.
She then went to La Piazza, she had to see with her own eyes what had happened to her dear daughter.
It was then that the building manager, not João, told her that Isabelle had lost her life and that her body had already been taken to the forensic institute.
Isorlanda’s world came crashing down. A mix of anger, helplessness, and grief overwhelmed her, but she still needed to see her daughter. She went to the forensic institute to identify Isabelle’s body.
In the days that followed, João and his mother had offered her no explanation.
On September 18, Isorlanda posted a video demanding answers. It went massively viral across Brazil, with thousands empathizing with the mother’s anguish and demands for justice to be done.
João soon became the prime subject after trying to interfere with the investigation
Investigators examined the courtyard, the apartment, and the rooftop. An inquest was formally opened on September 16.
The initial examination found that Isabelle had sustained multiple injuries compatible with striking the ground. Toxicology found no relevant substances, and examiners reported no injuries indicating a physical struggle.
Forensic authorities later said the evidence, including footage of the fall, supported a voluntary movement over the rooftop barrier. Investigators then examined whether anyone had influenced Isabelle’s actions through threats or sustained psychological violence.
Police collected Isabelle’s damaged phone and accounts from family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, domestic staff, and people near the pool that evening. They also seized a phone and tablet belonging to João’s mother during a search at a property in Cumbuco.
João knew he was the prime subject, and started moving.
Police said they had information that he returned to look for her phone, removed belongings, changed address, and could not be located for several days.
The building manager said he had asked staff to search bins for the device and had instructed them not to admit Isabelle’s relatives. Investigators also examined reports that the apartment had been cleaned and put up for sale.
João’s defense was running out of compelling arguments. João appeared for questioning with a lawyer on September 21, eight days after Isabelle’s fall.
The next day, police arrested João under a preventive warrant. Investigators suspect he instigated Isabelle to take her own life via psychological violence and threats.
João currently denies everything. He hasn’t been convicted.
By September 28, police had heard 28 people and forensic authorities had completed 13 reports.
“There was another person.” Brazilian readers believe there’s still key information missing in the case
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