Church is possible link in slayings

Police in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, say there may be a connection between the November slayings of a Utah couple and that of a Brazilian man shot and killed four days later. The victims all attended church meetings in the same LDS chapel.

Todd and Michelle Staheli were found in their home Nov. 30 in a west Rio condominium complex. He was dead at the scene, and she died four days later in a Rio de Janeiro hospital.

Now police want to know if DNA material found under Michelle Staheli's fingernails matches DNA from 61-year-old Jose Silver Frossard, the newspaper Jornal do Brasil reported Friday. The material does not match DNA of any of Michelle Staheli's family members, so police conjecture it may be from the killer.

DNA samples were taken from Frossard's body and stored prior to his burial, the paper reported. Two men are being sought in connection with Frossard's death. He was shot in the back with a pistol in Jacarepagua.

One possible suspect in the case is Sebastian Moura, a Brazilian who worked as a driver for the Stahelis. Moura also attended the same church as the couple and Frossard and was also in Jacarepagua at the time of Frossard's death, investigators told the newspaper. Moura has maintained his innocence.

But some of the blood samples and other genetic material collected from the steering wheel and trunk of the car by police do not match DNA samples from Moura. Nor do the samples match either of the Stahelis, nor any of the security guards from the secure, gated condominium complex where the Stahelis lived, police have said. Investigators plan to compare Frossard's DNA to those samples as well, the Jornal do Brasil said.

Police also told the newspaper they believed they are close to solving the crimes.

Todd and Michelle Staheli are believed to have been killed with an ax as they slept in their Porto Dos Cabritos condominium in west Rio. Todd Staheli, 39, an executive for Shell Oil Co., was found dead by the couple's 10-year-old son on the morning of Nov. 30. None of their three children was injured and nothing was stolen.

Residents of the complex reported seeing nothing unusual at the time the Stahelis were attacked, but police said Friday that one theory they have considered is that the killer might have been smuggled into the complex in the trunk of the family's car.

No motive has been established. However, in December the Houston Chronicle reported that Todd Staheli might have been killed as a result of some of his work for Shell Oil. The paper reported that the Stahelis had received threatening phone calls related to an international oil pipeline.

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E-MAIL: jdobner@desnews.com