Decades later, DNA in a grave in Brazil resolves murders of 3 South Florida women
It didn’t take long for Miami detectives to determine that a 24-year-old Miami woman found floating in Biscayne Bay two decades ago had been killed by a local tourist guide and flight attendant named Roberto Fernandes.
Finding Fernandes, however, proved much more difficult. They knew he fled to his native Brazil two days after the murder and that he had supposedly perished in a 2005 plane crash in Paraguay — the Miami murder case seemingly dying with him.
“We couldn’t find him after he fled to Brazil,” said Miami Detective Michael Vega.
On Tuesday, almost exactly two decades after the body of Jessica Good was recovered, Broward Sheriff’s deputies announced that, working with Brazilian National Police, they had opened Fernandes’ grave to run DNA tests on the remains inside. Based on the results, police now know Good wasn’t his only victim.
Police say Fernandes killed at least three women, two who were found stuffed in suitcases and bags left on the side of the road in Broward County. The three women, investigators said, all struggled with drugs and prostitution. Police fear there were likely more victims.
“I find it hard to believe he limited himself to three victims,” said Miami Police Sgt. Nikolai Trifonov. “And I wouldn’t limit it to locally.”
Police say Fernandes, 40 at the time of his death, was tried and acquitted in the 1996 murder of his wife in Brazil. He argued self-defense. He was also a licensed pilot who police believe fled to Paraguay in 2005 after his wife’s family hired a hit man to kill him, said Broward Sheriff’s Office Detective Zachary Scott. Scott said he also was known to have committed violent crimes against prostitutes in Brazil.
The DNA test also proved that Fernandes hadn’t faked his own death to escape his pursuers. The remains from the crash were his.
“He had amassed a certain amount of enemies,” said Scott. “Knowing his final moments were filled with a little bit of terror, makes me feel better.”
Fernandes is believed to have started his local killing spree in June 2000 with the murder of Kim Dietz-Livesy, 36, described in a South Florida Sun-Sentinel story at the time as a “beautiful” and “vibrant” woman who was excited about becoming a mom. Her body was found stuffed in a suitcase that had been stolen from Miami International Airport, on Flamingo Road in Cooper City.
She was living in Miami at the time of her death and had been in and out of rehabilitation. On Tuesday, her husband Michael Livesy said he came to grips with her issues a long time ago and that it was part of a burden the couple shared.
“My heart goes out to the other families,” Livesy said. “I certainly hope it gives them a sense of closure, as it does me.”
Scott believes Fernandes’ next victim was Sia Demas, a 21-year-old with a 4-year-old son at the time, who lived mostly on the streets. She was found stuffed in a large duffel bag in the 5200 block of Southwest 31st Avenue in unincorporated Broward in early August 2000. Investigators believe Livesy and Demas were killed in Miami.
A year later, Good’s body was found in the bay behind a building at 1450 Brickell Ave. Miami police said they quickly located her boyfriend, who had a description of Fernandes, a man he said Good told him about the previous night. By the time police found Fernandes’ tour van outside his home, he was gone. They knew he had flown to Brazil, but getting evidence was difficult. Brazil and the U.S. did not share an extradition agreement at the time.
They managed to secure Fernandes’ fingerprints and DNA from under Good’s fingernails. A break came a decade later in 2011 when investigators matched DNA evidence from all three victims. Still, during the investigation and until long after the 2005 plane crash, investigators retained a healthy skepticism that Fernandes’ death may have been faked.
Another break came in 2018, Scott said, when a Cuban judge agreed to try a man in Cuba who was wanted for a murder in Palm Beach County three years earlier.
“That laid the groundwork for us to ask if he could stand trial in Brazil,” said Scott. “They were receptive.”
It turned out, there was no need. With the help of the federal government and Brazil’s national police, a judge agreed to exhume the body in Brazil in late 2020. By early 2021 investigators had DNA samples that connected Fernandes to the three South Florida murders.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said Tuesday that with the passing of time, it’s been difficult locating family members of the victims.
“These crimes,” said the sheriff,” were devastating to the communities and devastating to the families.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 4:25 PM.
