Who was serial killer Roberto Wagner Fernandes?
Serial killer Roberto Wagner Fernandes was a one-time flight attendant and a driver for tourists in South Florida. But he had a bloody history of killing and endangering woman on at least two continents, investigators say.
Police on Tuesday accused Fernandes of killing three women in South Florida starting 21 years ago, before he died in 2005 in a South American plane crash.
Though he initially became a suspect in 2001, his name barely surfaces in public records. Biographical information provided by investigators shows that Fernandes was born April 26, 1965, and later became a licensed pilot in his home country of Brazil.
That’s also where, in 1996, he stood trial for the murder of his wife. He was found not guilty, after claiming self-defense.
His dead spouse’s family, unhappy with that outcome, is believed to have paid for a hit man to hunt down Fernandes for a time, said Broward Sheriff ’s Detective Zack Scott.
Fernandes was a suspect in other criminal activity in Brazil.
“He was a person of interest in many violent crimes against prostitutes in that country,” Scott said.
Detectives learned that Fernandes traveled between Brazil and the United States on several occasions between 1996 and 1999; the latter year is when he obtained a U.S. driver’s license.
Fernandes for a time held a job as a driver for a company that gives tours of Miami. And he also worked as a flight attendant, coming through Miami International Airport.
Investigators say Fernandes had a habit of paying local prostitutes for sex. This is believed to be how he encountered his known victims: Kimberly Dietz-Livesey in Cooper City on June 22, 2000; Sia Demas near Dania Beach on Aug. 9, 2000; and Jessica Good, on Aug. 30, 2001 in Miami — her body was recovered floating in Biscayne Bay.
“All three of victims had addiction issues; all three were known to engage in prostitution in the same area of Miami,” Scott told reporters.
Not long after the Good murder, Miami investigators identified Fernandes as the main suspect. But then they discovered he had fled the country two days after stabbing her to death.
Back in Brazil, Fernandes in 2003 was identified as the suspect in a rape case, Scott said.
The violence ended when Fernandes perished at age 40 when his plane crashed in Paraguay in 2005, ensuring he never would face charges for the three killings and potentially other victims from South Florida.
“Unfortunately we were deprived that pleasure,” Scott said, adding that the killer’s death still brings a measure of satisfaction. “Knowing his last moments on earth were probably full of terror makes me feel a little better.”