Federal authorities said Tuesday they arrested a Brazilian national living in the U.S. illegally who is accused of strangling a woman to death inside her Massachusetts home.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement identified the suspect as 43-year-old Flavio Alcantara Dias, who officials say entered the country unlawfully from Brazil and was later released into the United States during former President Joe Biden’s administration, despite prior arrests for driving under the influence and aggravated assault.
“Alcantara Dias illegally entered the United States in April 2019. In October 2024, an immigration judge granted Alcantara Dias’ motion to terminate his immigration hearings based on a technicality, bringing his immigration case to an end despite his criminal history and unlawful presence in the United States. He was then released into the country by the Biden administration,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
DHS also emphasized the role of local cooperation with federal immigration authorities, saying, “The safest way to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets is by lodging arrest detainers. 7 of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE. We are urging the Framingham Police Department to participate in a controlled transfer of this criminal illegal alien to get him out of our communities once and for all,” according to the statement.
“Our message is clear: if you come into our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you,” DHS added.
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Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Brandt recounted a 911 call Dias made after an altercation with the 33-year-old Brianna Connolly in her home last week.
“He states very clearly, ‘Can I have police? A homicide just happened here right now,’” Brandt told the courtroom, according to Boston 25 News.
“He then states, ‘I ended up killing a woman by mistake.’ He says, ‘I went crazy and suffocated her later on, says that he strangled her,’” Brandt said, noting that Dias had been speaking Portuguese.
Brandt said Dias had told police on the call that he and Connolly had been doing drugs inside her home and got into an argument because he wanted to have sex and she did not.
Dias claimed he fell asleep and woke up to find Connolly not breathing. Brandt added that police observed that Connolly had “blood marks on her forehead and also on the back of her head,” in addition to a “fabric-y cord around her neck.”