From Deseret News archives:
Wife of slain oilman dies
Rumors rampant as the FBI arrives in Brazil to investigate
The death of Michelle Staheli, 36, follows that of her husband, Z. Todd, 39, who was found dead Sunday morning.
As days passed this week, intrigue increased about the Stahelis' deaths. Police believe they were mortally wounded with a small ax in their Porto Dos Cabritos condominium in the tony area of Rio's west zone.
The Stahelis have three daughters, ages 3, 8 and 13, and a 10-year-old boy, who found his parents after the attack. The children are being cared for by friends.
"It's very sad," Todd Staheli's uncle, Elias Staheli, said Thursday night from his Spanish Fork home.
Elias Staheli said no plans have yet been solidified about a funeral or when the children will fly home. He was reluctant to talk to a Deseret Morning News reporter because the family has been deluged with calls from local, national and international reporters.
Todd Staheli has a number of relatives living in Utah, including Elias Staheli, his parents, who are now in Brazil, and his brother, Chad Staheli, who said Wednesday the family would no longer make comments on the investigation or the slayings.
Todd Staheli was a graduate of Utah State University and Brigham Young University law school, finishing in 1991. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia in 1983. The family purchased property in Eden, Weber County, according to a neighbor.
Todd and Michelle Staheli lived in Rio de Janeiro due to Todd Staheli's job as vice president for joint ventures in the Southern Cone gas and power unit of Shell Oil Co.
"Everybody here is totally baffled," said Utah businessman Gary Neeleman, who speaks Portuguese and is in the South American country this week.
"The condominium is totally secure. There was a very high level of security with high fences around it," said Neeleman, who serves as Utah's informal Brazilian consulate. "You couldn't get in there with a Sherman tank, but there was no sign of a break-in and this happened."
Nothing was stolen in the attack, according to police.
Rumors ran thick Wednesday and Thursday and included some questions about the couple's children and a diary police found after the attack, Neeleman said.
