Brazilian police sorting through clues in killings

Brazilian police are sorting through the slim collection of clues into the brutal murder of a Utah couple in Brazil two weeks ago.

Todd Staheli was killed Nov. 30 in the home where his family had lived in Rio de Janeiro for about four months. His wife, Michelle Davis Staheli, died a few days later from injuries suffered in the attack.

Police reported Wednesday the security camera of a neighbor captured an image of two individuals heading toward the lake behind the condo about the time of the attacks, according to reports on O Globo, a Brazilian newspaper.

The tape is not very clear, but police are enhancing the images and continuing their investigation into the murder in the tony area where the family lived while Todd Staheli worked as a vice president for Shell Oil Company in Brazil.

Police also announced Wednesday they had found blood in the trunk and back seat of the family car, according to Roberta Novis of the O Dia newspaper, which is closely watching the investigation.

The vehicle was used by the Staheli family driver, a man that Shell Oil Company recommended to the family. The driver told police he transported meat in the car after the supermarket one day, and officers are continuing to interview him.

Blood samples taken from the car will be analyzed at the state university in Rio de Janeiro and will be matched to DNA from blood found at the crime scene.

In addition, police said more than the usual number of people were around the condo the day of the attacks because there was a party in a nearby house.

Police have been baffled by the lack of clues in the case, according to Gary Neeleman, a Utah media consultant who works with newspapers in the South American country and just returned from a trip there.

"They've literally exhausted every clue," said Neeleman, who speaks fluent Portuguese and has been following the case. "They are running up against brick walls in all directions."

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