Handyman admits slayings

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A 20-year-old handyman confessed Thursday to the bludgeoning death of Shell Oil executive Todd Staheli and his wife Michelle in the bedroom of their high-security, luxury condominium last year, saying he was upset about an alleged racial insult.

But the confession by Jociel Conceicao dos Santos at a police news conference did not appear to end a case that had sparked intense media coverage in Brazil for months, with police speculating on suspects ranging from the former Utah couple's children to a contract killing ordered from overseas.

Police are suspicious about the motive dos Santos provided and planned to investigate further, said Rio state security chief Anthony Garotinho.

"The crime is partially cleared up," Garotinho told reporters at the news conference with dos Santos at his side. "We have the killer. He confessed. We found the weapon, but the motive is not totally clear."

At the news conference, dos Santos calmly admitted using a crowbar police displayed on a nearby table to beat the Stahelis in their bed in their condominium on Nov. 30.

"It was me, yes sir, I did it with this weapon. A crowbar," dos Santos said after Garotinho asked him if he was responsible.

Dos Santos, who is black, told reporters he was called one of the worst racial slurs for Brazilian blacks in fluent Portuguese by Todd Staheli.

However, Todd Staheli's father, Zera Staheli, told the Deseret Morning News he doesn't believe his son used a racial slur against dos Santos.

"That is just stupid," Zera Staheli said as he stood sheltered from a light rain in the doorway of his Spanish Fork home Thursday evening. "My son wouldn't slur a man. He doesn't even speak Portuguese."

Zera Staheli declined to respond to any other questions.

The slain man's uncle, Elias Staheli, was also puzzled over the handyman's alleged motive for killing his nephew.

Elias Staheli said the Shell executive would "never, ever" use a racial slur. "He just wouldn't do it."

He also doubted his nephew had learned to speak Portuguese fluently to even deliver an alleged slur in that language.

"I just doubt it myself, that the caretaker would do it," said Elias Staheli, who was surprised to learn police identified a crowbar as the murder weapon after saying for months that it was a hatchet.

"It puzzles me, but who am I to say?" he said.