A woman who was sentenced to 39 years in prison for murdering her own parents with the help of her boyfriend and his brother when she was 18 years old has been allowed to attend university with an ankle tag.
Suzane Louise von Richthofen, now 37, started studying biomedical sciences at Anhanguera University in the Brazilian city of Taubate on Wednesday, 29th September, after she was granted judicial authorisation.
As part of her conditional release, Richthofen will have to travel to and from university by taxi and must be accompanied by her lawyer and wear an electronic ankle tag at all times.
Richthofen is currently serving her sentence in a semi-open regime, meaning she still has to spend her nights in the Santa Maria Eufrasia Pelletier Women’s Prison in the nearby town of Tremembe.
Judicial authorisation was granted for Richthofen to attend university despite the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s recommendation against the decision, claiming the inmate’s safety could not be guaranteed.
Richthofen’s closed-regime sentence was changed to a semi-open regime in 2015. Since then, she has been granted temporary leave from prison.
She had enrolled to study tourism at another university last year, but she had to postpone her higher-education plans after she was denied judicial authorisation.
The murder of Richthofen’s parents took place on 31st October 2002.
Richthofen had planned the murder for months and on the night of the crime, she disconnected their home alarm system after checking they were asleep.
She then opened the door to her boyfriend, 21-year-old Daniel Cravinhos, and his 26-year-old brother, Christian, who had been waiting outside.
The young men went upstairs to the parents’ bedroom and they struck them with iron bars before strangling them with towels as Richthofen waited in the living room downstairs.
Following the murders, they staged a break-in and left, with Richthofen returning with her 15-year-old brother Andreas, who had spent the night at Daniel’s house, the following day.
Richthofen then called the police after ‘discovering’ the crime scene. However, the police later arrested her and her two accomplices after finding her behaviour suspicious.
Her suspicious behaviour included swimming in the house’s pool with Daniel the day after the murders and celebrating her 19th birthday with friends just hours after her parents’ burial.
She subsequently confessed to her role in the crime, however the motive still remains unclear.
According to some, she committed the crime because her parents disapproved of her relationship with Daniel, who reportedly smoked cannabis daily and was a layabout.
However, according to others, it was to inherit her millionaire parents’ wealth.
The crime became widely known in Brazil due to Richthofen’s good looks and her upper-middle-class background.
Psychological tests revealed she was egocentric and had narcissistic personality disorder.
The murders inspired the 2021 Brazilian films ‘The Girl Who Killed Her Parents’ and ‘The Boy Who Killed My Parents’, which depict two different versions of the events.
