Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor: Lee Bullen, Agency: Newsflash
A young man who starred alongside his adoptive father in a documentary that alleged their former church stole children from poor families and put them up for adoption is suspected of brutally knifing his adoptive mother to death.
Lucas Paulo, 23, is suspected of murdering his 53-year-old adoptive mother, Teresa, at their home in the civil parish of Aldeia de Paio Pires, in the Portuguese municipality of Seixal, on Monday this week (2 November, 2020).
Teresa’s body was found by Lucas’ adoptive father, Alfredo Paulo, who became worried when his wife did not answer her mobile phone or reply to his messages. He rushed home, where he found her lifeless body in a pool of blood on the floor at around 8:15 pm.
He called the emergency services and told them he suspected his son was behind the crime. Lucas and Teresa had frequently argued, mostly over Teresa’s unhappiness at seeing Lucas at home all day neither working nor studying.
Teresa’s body was found to have over 20 stab wounds in the chest, neck, back and arms from a kitchen knife, which was found at the scene. She also had wounds on her body that showed she had tried to defend herself from the attack.
Lucas was arrested a few hours later in a nearby street and was taken to the police station in the nearby city of Setubal for questioning.
The family is Brazilian and Lucas also has Portuguese citizenship. He does not remember his biological parents.
His adoptive father, Alfredo, is an ex-bishop from the controversial Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), an evangelical Protestant church with 1.8 million members worldwide.
Alfredo lives in Portugal, as he is wanted in Brazil, where he is accused of defamation against his former church.
In a 2017 Portuguese documentary called ‘O Segredo dos Deuses’ (The Secret of the Gods), Alfredo alleged that children had been stolen from poor Portuguese families by the UCKG in the 1990s and given up for adoption. Lucas also appeared in the documentary to denounce his former church, in which he was a minister.
Alfredo has since expressed regret over his role in the church and its adoption scheme.
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