Chilling tale of 'The Woman in White' who stalks the streets with a bizarre painted face – and her terrifying true identity
DESPITE being accused of enslaving and abusing her housekeeper in the US for 30 years, Margarida Bonetti will never be arrested.
Locked in her family's crumbling mansion in Brazil, with two guard dogs, FBI fugitive Margarida lives as a free woman and knows she is untouchable.
5
5
5
5
Margarida was charged together with her ex-husband Renê Bonetti for beating and abusing their housekeeper in their home in the suburbs of Washington DC in the US for 30 years.
Her husband was imprisoned, but Margarida managed to flee to Brazil and took refuge in her family's country house in Sao Paulo.
What was once the lavish home of one of the country's wealthiest families is now crumbling after years of neglect with boarded-up windows, peeling walls and no electricity.
But for Margarida it is a safe haven – because Brazil does not expatriate its citizens to be tried in other countries.
She has two dogs to guard the house and prevent curious strangers and tourists from breaking in – and she even throws buckets and plastic bags filled with feces out the window, neighbors claimed.
For years, she was known only as the reclusive neighbor who rarely left the house and appeared at the window with white lotion smeared over her face.
But in 2022, neighbor Chico Felitti launched a podcast titled The Woman In The Abandoned House and her dark past was revealed.
Chico told The Sun how he met Margarida, who introduced herself to him as Mari, and how he discovered the fugitive's story. next one door.
Although everyone knows where Margarida lives, she will never be arrested and taken to the US to serve her sentence since Brazil does not expatriate citizens, Chico explained.
However, her ex-husband, Renê, was already a US citizen when the investigation was launched and he served six years in prison. jail for his crimes.
Chico told The Sun: “I started this investigation not knowing where it would lead me and it took me in a twist I didn't expect.
“At first, when I didn't know her life story, she seemed like a super friendly neighbor who cared about my dogs and knew their names.
“She had a gracious exchange there, in the few conversations we had before everything happened.”
Even though it is a well-known one FBI As a fugitive, Margarida seemed “more than comfortable” walking around and being seen, Chico said.
“She seemed to have a sense of belonging and a sense of belonging current That may not have been what we expected from someone who was hiding,” he said.
Margarida is someone who knows she has privileges and power, and that's why she wasn't shy
Chico Felitti
“Instead of hiding 24/7, she went out and exercised some form of power, whether it was giving orders to city hall employees or demanding help from the local pharmacists.
He added: “She doesn't seem to be afraid of being seen and not afraid of being who she is and exercising the power that she has, because of her family and her wealth.
“Margarida is someone who knows she has privilege and power, and that's why she wasn't shy.
“I think there was a freedom that came with the certainty of impunity. As long as she is Brazil, nothing will happen to her.”
Chico's podcast caused a stir in Brazil, with fans blocking the street to take photos in front of the Margarida's home in the hope of catching a glimpse of her.
Neighbors were also quite divided when Margarida's crimes came to light, the podcaster said.
“Some responded to this information, but others had known about it for a long time and had done nothing about it,” he explained.
Since then, rumors circulated that Margarida fled the abandoned house and ran away again.
Chico said she never left the house in the first place, but she lives more secluded because he still sees her every now and then.
He told The Sun: “As far as I know from people very close to her, she never left that house. She only became more withdrawn during this period.
'And now everything is back to square one.
“She went out on the streets normally again, with the same frequency as before. People see her, I even see her sometimes.
“Everything is back to how it was before the podcast.”
Margarida, a trained engineer, and her ex-husband Renê moved to America from Brazil in the late 1970s after getting married.
The newlyweds brought along their housekeeper – a Brazilian woman – who previously worked in Margarida's parents' home and was given as a “gift” to the couple.
For years the housekeeper, only called Dos Santos worked for the couple for anonymity reasons without getting paid or getting days off.
US police said she was constantly subjected to aggression and humiliation. The Washington Post reported.
Dos Santos lived in a cold basement with a large hole in the floor covered with plywood, said social worker Annette Kerr.
Kerr said Dos Santos bathed in a metal bathtub that she filled with water that she dragged down in a bucket from an upper floor – and slept on a cot with a thin mattress.
A refrigerator upstairs was said to have been locked so that Dos Santos could not open it.
During Kerr's investigation, Dos Santos described the repeated abuse she suffered at the hands of Margarida, including hitting and hitting her, having her her torn out and fingernails digging into her flesh.
There was a freedom that came with the certainty of impunity
Chico Felitti
She also reported receiving hot soup in her face.
Dos Santos also lived for years with a benign tumor so large that doctors compared it to the size of a melon or a basketball.
When she was injured, she was reportedly denied medical attention despite suffering fractures and broken bones.
Dos Santos was not released until the early 2000s, thirty years later.
She managed to escape Margarida's house during one of the couple's trips out of town.
She received help from a neighbor, who reported the situation to the police Police.
After being treated in hospital for her tumor, the FBI launched an investigation into her living conditions.
On August 14, 2000, Renê was sentenced to six and a half years for trespassing immigration laws and ordered to pay $110,000, The Washington Post reports.
U.S. Attorney Lynne A. Battaglia of Maryland said at the time that she hoped Renê's conviction and sentence would deter anyone who would abuse foreign workers.
“This kind of slavery in the year 2000 is unbearable,” Battaglia told the BBC court.
Margarida has been living as a fugitive from the FBI in Brazil ever since and is still wanted by authorities.
5