Last week, the documentary ‘Brutal Pact: The Assassination of Daniella Perez’, which explores the crime committed by former actor Guilherme de Padua against the actress in 1992, arrived in the HBO Max catalog.
At the time, the daughter of author and producer Gloria Perez was just 22, and the crime shocked the country, leading to Guilherme’s 19-year-old conviction for capital murder.
Directed by Tatiana Issa and Guto Barra, who also wrote the script, the production reconstructs in five episodes the details of the case that impacted Brazil. Now, in an interview with Splash, the duo have revealed why Padua doesn’t appear on the show.
Issa and Barra revealed that they chose not to give more press or screen space to Pádua or his accomplice, Paula Peixoto (who, at the time, was known as Paula Thomaz).
“Over the years, they’ve had a lot of press space. They offered different versions that changed. There were even situations where they promised to “say what was never said”, but nothing happened. We are a documentary, it’s different from journalism,” Barra explained.
Issa added comments to Barra’s speech, saying that if they asked the criminals to tell their stories, countless lies would be propagated and aired – and it would take the peace away from a family that had already suffered too much.
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The decision not to put the duo in the documentary was also accepted at Gloria’s request.
“I really didn’t want them to interview the killers at the moment, but that wasn’t part of their proposal either. Both Tatiana and Guto, when they made this proposal, they already didn’t include the testimonies killers,” Gloria commented. “Everything they said during the process is there on the show. That is what matters. […] Nowadays, if you want to know how they are doing, you just have to open social networks. They are there displaying their impunity. Now you don’t have to waste time giving away a microphone. That would be giving the psychopath a stage.
On the other hand, Padua used his YouTube channel to try to give himself the floor, since he claims that the production is partial and that he was not asked to give his testimony.
Very early on, he tries to justify himself by saying:
“The news came that I would have blocked my social networks to be aware of this series. It is not true, because in May 2020, when I left, I still did not know this show. Has anyone there heard from you?I found out about six months ago, by surprise, that I hadn’t been contacted.
He goes on to say that he will use social media to defend himself.
“At that time, we were at the height of the pandemic. And, it seems the debate was off limits. The animosity was strong, and my life involves several communication difficulties. That’s why this pastor told me that. Social networks are very useful to me, and the press has never given me the floor, because one side always pursues me and rightly so, I understand. If I were them, I would too. But since I am me, I have to defend myself. And social media is useful for that.
#PactoBrutal is not the version of the prosecution, as Guilherme de Pádua says, it is the definitive version, of the judgment. He was convicted based on the evidence, so there’s no longer a party. There is the truth of the matter and which, now, he is trying to deny.
— Daniel Cesar (@demlocesar) November 27, 2022
Throughout the video, he states that he will present his version of events and present new evidence about the crime with the help of his ex-wife and accomplice, Paula Nogueira Thomaz.
“I can devastatingly shatter some of the theses that are presented. HBO, so famous, so professional, made such a mistake, left this space for a contestant to present the proof, the proof that is hidden from you who watch this show.
Now 52, after serving just seven years of his sentence, Pádua is pastor of the Lagoinha Baptist Church in his hometown of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and says he thinks less and less about crime.
Saying he is sad and upset, he recognizes that Gloria and all of Daniella’s family are the ones who suffer the most from the loss.
“I will not play the victim, but [a situação] it is not pleasant. I’ve spent nights trying to fix this, but there’s no way to fix the past,” he says.
Still, he says he doesn’t accept the way the story was told in the documentary.
“You are going to watch a totally partial series, what does that mean? An investigative work, an investigative journalism, it intends to bring to light all the evidence, the evidence and to present the hypotheses, which fit, with the dynamics of what has been discovered, with the evidence, with the expertise. “, he explained. HBO was able to do a very thorough thing and give us viewers the right to do our own analysis, but they missed that opportunity.
Finally, he says he can “bring some stuff” to the case, but doesn’t say exactly what or how he’s going to do it.
“You can wait for me to bring you some things. It’s not about saying “believe my version”, but about thinking about yourself, right? What they don’t do, like this brown press, this biased press that wants to pull the sardines aside, this show is totally based on just the prosecution’s version.”
Watch the video and follow CinePOP on YouTube:
In 1992, actress and dancer Daniella Perez was murdered by Guilherme de Pádua and his wife, Paula Thomaz, in a cruelly premeditated crime. The 22-year-old’s untimely death shook the country. The murder of Daniella, daughter of international Emmy-winning Brazilian author and producer Gloria Perez, gained notoriety and occupied the front pages of national newspapers for years.
After three decades, Gloria Perez revisits the search for the truth behind the story that changed her life forever. The author shares his experience as the production presents, in never-before-seen files, the details of the investigations and the trial of this doubly qualified homicide case.
As the mother of the victim, she tracked down witnesses, identified evidence and helped expose the mistakes of Brazilian authorities. His performance was fundamental for the resolution of the case, in addition to having left a legacy when he succeeded in modifying Brazilian legislation, beginning to include aggravated homicide among heinous crimes.
For director and screenwriter Guto Barra, the production of true crime contributes to the elucidation of this tragedy which marked Brazil. “Through extensive research, we bring to light the barbarity of the crime, with information that was not revealed at the time of the murder.” According to Tatiana Issa, who directed and worked with Guto, “the Daniella Perez case inspires many feelings and its documentary representation not only reveals Daniella as an artist, daughter and wife, but also the deficiency of the Brazilian legal system”.
