Criminal law and Paranormality

About one month ago, in Brasília, the police chief Martha Vargas appealed to telepath Maria Jaques to cooperate in investigating the murder of retired minister of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Jose Guilherme Villela, 73, his wife, Maria Mendes Carvalho Villela, 69, and the couple's housekeeper, Francisca Nascimento da Silva, 58. The triple murder occurred on August 28 last year at apartment of SQS 113, where everyone lived. The case did not please the authorities. She was removed from case.

It is a polemic question: could the psychic, the paranormal be considered able to contribute with criminal investigations? In Brazil and in other countries of the world, examples are rare but eventually the clairvoyants were important in the elucidation of some crimes and for the definition of veredict of the judge too.

The Brazilian expert on relations between law and parapsychology, Valter Borges da Rosa, recalls some cases in wich paranormal phenomena were registered in court proceedings at Brasil. In 1944, there was a legal dispute over the copyright of Humberto de Campos (1886-1934), journalist, writer and brazilian politician.

The widow of the writer, Catarina Vergolino Campos, went in the Justice against the Brazilian Spiritist Federation demanding payment of authoral rights on psychographed works by the medium Francisco Cândido Xavier. The question was that the books had been a creation by the spirit of the deceased. The lawsuit was dismissed. The judge not considered nor the exploiting the name of the writer under ground that the Judiciary is not an organ of consultation to decide on the intellectual activity of a dead man.

In two other cases, judical sentences were established with the help of dead people letters. Texts psychographed by Francisco Cândido Xavier, called Chico Xavier, the most famous spirit medium of Brazil.

They were all crimes of murder. The first happened in the city of Campinas de Giânia, Goiás state, in 8 of may of 1976. It was practiced by Mr. José Divino Gomes against Mr. Maurício Gargês Henrique. The accused was acquitted based in a message of victim, dead victim, that, revealing the facts, exempted the defendant from guilt.

The second crime occured at the city of Campo Grande, Mato Grosso state. The tragedy happened in first of march of 1980. The victim, Mrs. Cleide maria, ex-miss, left her post mortem and appeared at the court through the same medium spiritualist. The ghost declared that her husband realy killed her, but the episode has been an accident.

SOURCE: Valter da Rosa Borges - Polêmica do além
IN Brasília Em Dia — published em 20/05/2010
[http://www.brasiliaemdia.com.br/2010/5/28/Pagina7528.htm]