Man accused of killing his wife in front of his children goes to trial in Ponta Grossa

The trial for femicide in Ponta Grossa of Dirceu Cristo Ferreira is scheduled for this Thursday (8), at 8:30, in the Auditorium of the Jury Court of the region. He is accused of killing Eli Maria Soares dos Santos Madureira in the presence of the victim’s two teenage sons, in a crime registered on September 22, 2024.

The session will be chaired by Judge Luiz Carlos Fortes Bittencourt. The date appears both in the decision that referred the process for trial and in the agenda of sessions of October 2026. According to the court documents, the prosecution points out that Eli Maria was killed with a knife after a fight. The victim's children were 14 and 12 at the time of the incident.

Also read: Man arrested after attempted femicide in Piraí do Sul

The complaint filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Paraná attributes to the defendant the crime of femicide practiced in the physical presence of adolescents.

Dirceu was arrested in flagrante on the day of the crime. During the custody hearing, the prison was converted into a preventive detention facility. In a decision dated September 18, 2026, the judge upheld the measure. According to the magistrate, there was no alteration of the facts that justified the revocation of the prison. The decision also mentions the concrete gravity of the accusation, taking into account the circumstances described in the case.

The trial had testimony and appeal from the defense

The complaint was received by the court on October 8, 2024. During the investigation, special testimonies of the victim’s teenage sons were collected, witnesses and informants were heard and the accused was interrogated.

A daughter of Eli Maria has been qualified to act as an assistant prosecutor. After the final statements of the parties, the court handed down the decision, referring the defendant to the Jury Court. The defence lodged an appeal against that decision, but the application was not granted.

Request for victim's background was denied

In preparation for the trial, the magistrate denied a request from the defense to update the victim’s background and gather all the incident reports in which she was listed as a party. According to the decision, the relevance of these documents to clarify the facts was not demonstrated. The judge also grounded the refusal in protecting the dignity of the victim.

The trial will be held at the State Justice Forum, in Rua Doutor Leopoldo Guimarães da Cunha, 590, in Oficinas. Dirceu responds to the accusation and will still be tried by the Judgment Council.