Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime
Another of the many true crime series from Netflix, this recounts an infamous case from Brazil.
It’s a chilling story. In 2012 Elize Matsunaga admitted to murdering and dismembering her wealthy husband Marcos Kitano Matsunaga, heir to a food distribution company, after an argument about his infidelity.
The four-part series is unusual in that it gives much of its air time to the killer herself. Matsunaga is shown in 2019, after having spent seven years in prison, being released for a short period into the care of her aunt. Up to this point, she has not spoken to the press or media but she decides that she wants to tell her side of the story so that her young daughter – who was just a toddler when the murder took place – can learn the truth.
We also hear from members of her legal team and the lawyers for her late husband’s family. It is all quite disturbingly compelling as the film explores Matsunaga’s motives and state of mind at the time of the killing.