Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London
Her focus is reporting on culture and entertainment
She has covered the world of Film and TV extensively from true-crime dramas to reality TV and blockbuster movies
Molli joined Newsweek in 2021 from the Daily Express
She is a graduate of The University of Glasgow
You can get in touch with Molli by emailing m.mitchell@newsweek.com
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Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime on Netflix consists of four episodes and explores the crime that shocked Brazil and the world in 2016
Elize Matsunaga shot and dismembered her husband Marcos Matsunaga
and the Netflix documentary features her first-ever interview since her incarceration in 2016
After a three-day trip to her hometown of Chopinzinho
former nurse Elize Matsunaga's life would change forever
Elize Ramos Kitano Matsunaga shot her husband Marcos Matsunaga
multiple times in their São Paulo apartment in Brazil
placing the remains in plastic bags before scattering them alongside a road
Marcos and Elize Matsunaga met through an escort website when Marcos Matsunaga was still married to his first wife
He cheated on his first with Elize Matsunaga and the pair lived together for three years before his divorce was finalized
They later got married and had a daughter together
Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime delves deep into Elize Matsunaga's past
with no father figure and an absent mother
She was raised by her grandparents and her aunt until she was 10-years-old
After being reunited with her mother and stepfather
she was abused by her stepfather and ran away from home at age 15 as a result
Elize Matsunaga trained a nurse before deciding she wanted to become a lawyer
Elize Matsunaga turned to prostitution and moved to São Paulo
The last CCTV images of Marcos Matsunaga alive are of him in the lobby of his and Elize's apartment
looking very irritated and even kicking the elevator wall
CCTV footage picked up Elize Matsunaga entering the same elevator
As for what happened in between those images
After Marcos Matsugana's family began to worry about his whereabouts
Elize Matsunaga told his concerned family her husband had fled on Sunday
May 20 with a bag of clothes and between R$15,000 and R$20,000 in cash
She even gave the family a reason why he had left—he had been cheating on her
She even showed the family a video recorded by a private detective Elize Matsunaga had hired of Marcos Matsunaga kissing another woman
the decapitated head of Marcos Matsunaga was found
Other remains had been found throughout the week
and he was eventually able to be identified by his family
Elize Matsunaga was made a suspect after her phone records placed her at the location where Marcos Matsunaga's remains were found
she was arrested over her husband's brutal murder and stood trial in 2016
it was uncovered Marcos Matsunaga had been cheating on his wife
Elize's defense attorney at her trial stated Marcos Matsunaga had threatened to petition for custody of their one-year-old daughter if they ended their relationship over his affair
They argued the killing was a "crime of passion"
as heard in the Netflix documentary Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime
the pair had an argument and Marcos Matsunaga slapped her and threatened her
leading Elize Matsunaga to pull the trigger
the prosecution argued it was a case of premeditated murder
and Elize Matsunaga had shot her husband without any warning
Piaui reported at the trial that judging by the autopsy reports
she had cut his throat whilst he was still alive and breathing
Speaking in Elize Mutsunaga: One Upon a Crime
Elize Mutsunaga states: "I still don't know what kind of emotion made me pull that trigger."
Elize Matsunaga pleaded guilty to the murder of her husband and the concealment of a corpse in December 2016
She was sentenced to 19 years in prison and is currently being held at the Tremembé Women's Penitentiary São Paulo
it was reported by news service Istoe that Elize Matsunaga had moved to a semi-open regime
where she coordinates the sewing workshop of the Professor Doctor Manoel Pedro Pimentel Foundation (FUNAP)
her sentence was reduced because she confessed to the killing
Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime premieres Thursday
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she discovered he was cheating and wanted a divorce
They put their issues aside once she found out she was pregnant
six months after their daughter Helena's birth
his pattern of cheating with escorts resurfaced
He was married with a daughter when they met
Elize claims an argument escalated when Marcos slapped her after she countered his cheating denials with proof
He said she could leave but without Helena
and used her former profession to disparage her and her family
She felt threatened and allegedly shot him with one of their 33 guns in self-defense (per Netflix)
but suggests she shot him once he returned from getting pizza and didn't see it coming
The trial began on November 28, 2016, and ended on December 5. Her prison sentence for concealment of a corpse and aggravated homicide was 19 years, 11 months, and one day. But, her sentence was reduced to 16 years and three months in 2019, according to Esta de Minas
Eliza says the only person she would tell everything to is Helena
There's stuff here that I wasn't able to expose
And there are secrets in life that we take with us to the grave," she said
The court granted custody of Helena to the paternal grandparents. Elize has not seen her daughter, but hopes she will someday. Helena is aware of what transpired, and whether Elize and Helen will unite remains to be seen (per Cinemaholic).