Lucas Terra Case

The Lucas Terra case refers to the rape and murder of 14-year-old Lucas Vargas Terra. The crime took place on March 21, 2001, in Salvador, within the Brazilian state of Bahia, and was committed by two pastors of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG).

The case gained national repercussions. His photo first appeared in the newspaper Correio in May 2001. It was shown on Rede Globo's Linha Direta on November 30, 2006.

Lucas Terra suffered sexual assaults and was burned alive. Suspects are Pastor Silvio Roberto Galiza, a bishop, a worker, and a security guard at the Universal headquarters in Salvador. UCKG pastor Galiza was convicted in 2004, sentenced to 18 years imprisonment, and released after seven years. The UCKG was convicted of moral damages and paid two million reais to Lucas Terra's family.

The popular jury hearing of the case was postponed in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Body On March 23, 2001, a body was found inside a burned crate in a vacant lot on Avenida Vasco da Gama. The body was put on hold for forty-three days at the Instituto Médico Legal, awaiting a DNA test. It was pointed out that the body would be that of Lucas Terra due to a lock of hair and parts of the clothes that were left intact, which days later was confirmed by the police expert report.

Witnesses According to witnesses, the boy was a very participatory member within the church and Galiza became obsessed with Lucas in a short time, demonstrating a domineering attitude towards him. The pastor was bothered when Lucas was close to the girls and always invited him to sleep in the church with other boys, which was unknown to Carlos Terra. The witness who was Lucas's girlfriend, A.P.R.M., 17, said she was harassed, humiliated and expelled. The same was reported by the witness M.O.C.

In an interview with Agência Pública in January 2020, journalist Gilberto Nascimento, who researched other criminal activities linked to the IURD, commented on the church's behavior in the face of crimes:Look, in these cases the church practically did not manifest itself. In the case of Lucas Terra (...), I interviewed the father and mother, the prosecutor, I spoke with journalists from Bahia who followed the case a lot, I spoke with lawyers and read everything that came out, I read the book by the boy's father, I read all the reports. I only saw the church speak at one point, that it was an individual action by the person who committed the crime. This is the case of that first pastor who was convicted, Silvio Galiza. In other cases, I don't remember having seen it, from everything I went to read.

(...)

I have not seen any manifestations of the church about these cases and surely they will say that they have nothing to do with it. They're going to say that João Monteiro de Castro [councilman, Universal worker and lead in the purchase of TV Rio who was executed when his car was shot with 20 rifle shots, also in Rio de Janeiro, in 2004] and Waldir Abrahão [another politician and Orange from Record, according to the book, and who also died mysteriously from a head injury in 2009] were no longer in the church. In the case of Valdeci Paiva de Jesus [pastor of Universal and newly elected at the time state deputy for the PSL, murdered in 2003 in Rio de Janeiro], there were no demonstrations by the church either. Valdeci's former advisor accused Bishop Rodrigues of involvement in the case, and Bishop Rodrigues accused the deputy's alternate. These are cases that have not been clarified.

New process When interviewed by Linha Direta in 2006, Galiza was accompanied by seven lawyers and presented a new version of the crime, as on other occasions. Always claiming his innocence, but this time accusing three other members of the church, Bishop Fernando Aparecido da Silva, In another interview, Galiza said he received threats from a Universal lawyer and was bribed to omit the facts of the crime. The popular jury hearing of the case was postponed in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further convictions

In 2021, a public petition was opened asking the Judiciary of the State of Bahia to set the date of the Jury Court; In April 2023 UCKG pastors Fernando Aparecido da Silva and Joel Miranda were sentenced to 21 years in prison. In 2016, a non-profit book was launched, titled Lucas Terra - Betrayed by obedience. It was written by Lucas Terra's father In 2019, the continuation of the first book, Betrayed by obedience, written by Carlos and Marion Terra, was released. The digital version was released on May 1, 2019.