BOSTON — An international fugitive and former Brazilian military police officer convicted of murdering 11 people in a 2015 massacre in his home country was arrested Monday at a construction site in New Hampshire where he was working.
Antonio Jose de Abreu Vidal Filho was sentenced in June to nearly 276 years in prison for 11 murders, as well as charges of attempted murder and physical and mental torture. Three other military police officers were also convicted in the “Curio Massacre,” named for the neighborhood where it took place in the city of Fortuleza.
Vidal, 29, became the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, with federal agents finally tracking him down to Rye, N.H., and arresting him with the assistance of five local police officers.
Sammy Johnson, 35, a new father and framer who was returning to the job for the first time since having his baby boy, found himself in the middle of a terrifying take-down.
“This F150 comes bombing up the driveway, turns. Blue lights, but no sirens, and these guys are just coming out. And they’re like bombing around the car, like, ‘Get on the ground!” Johnson told Boston 25 News Wednesday. “You have your nerves, your adrenaline’s going, and there’s a snippet in your head where you’re like, ‘Am I going to get shot?’”
Johnson, who knew Vidal simply as a roofer named “Tony,” had no idea he had been working feet from a dangerous criminal as they built a large home in the small, coastal town.
“We had no clue, no clue,” Johnson said. “The guy seemed like a nice guy, made chit-chat. It’s just crazy how you have no clue in this day and age – and how he got into New Hampshire.”
Rye Police Chief Kevin Walsh said his department was prepared for the unusual mission despite only having a day’s notice.
“No area in New Hampshire is safe from somebody like that,” Walsh said. “So, we want to support the federal agency to make sure the person is apprehended safely.”
“They had a job, they had a mission,” Johnson said of law enforcement, “and they got it done and did an amazing job at that – and just scared the crap out of me.”
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