The Murder of Isabella Nardoni

Isabella Nardoni

Isabella Nardoni was five years old when she died in São Paulo on the night of 29 March 2008. She was at the home of her father, Alexandre Alves Nardoni, and her stepmother, Anna Carolina Trotta Peixoto Jatobá, at their flat in Vila Isolina Mazzei, in the city's northern zone. Her mother has remained a public voice in the case and criticised the couple's release from prison in 2023.

What happened

Shortly before midnight on 29 March 2008, Isabella fell from a window of the couple's sixth-floor apartment and died. Early in the investigation the couple said an intruder must have entered the flat. Forensic examination, however, found no sign that anyone else had been there, and the evidence instead pointed to the two adults in the apartment. Prosecutors also concluded that the scene had been altered after the fact, which led to an additional charge of procedural fraud.

The investigation

The case was among the most heavily covered crimes in Brazilian history. Forensic work on the apartment, which contradicted the intruder account, became central to the prosecution. Both Alexandre Nardoni and Anna Carolina Jatobá denied any guilt and have continued to do so. They were held in pre-trial detention and later sent to separate prisons in Tremembé, in the interior of São Paulo state.

The 2010 jury trial

The jury trial took place over five days at the Fórum Regional de Santana before Judge Maurício Fossen, and drew intense national attention, including a request to broadcast it live. In the early hours of 27 March 2010 the jury convicted both defendants of homicide aggravated by cruelty, by a method that left the victim unable to defend herself, and by the aim of covering up an earlier offence, noting that the victim was under 14. They were also convicted of procedural fraud for tampering with the scene. Alexandre Nardoni received 31 years, one month and ten days for the homicide; the judge set a heavier term because he was the child's father. Anna Carolina Jatobá received 26 years and eight months. Each also received eight months for the fraud. The defence appealed immediately and has continued to pursue appeals in higher courts, but the convictions remain in force.

From closed to open regime

Brazil's penal system lets prisoners move from closed to semi-open and then open regimes once they have served a set share of the sentence and show good conduct. Jatobá moved to the semi-open regime in 2017 and Nardoni in 2019, which allowed temporary leaves. In May 2023 the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) ordered São Paulo's court to reconsider Jatobá's request after a lower court had demanded an additional psychological test; on 20 June 2023 a Taubaté judge granted her the open regime and she left prison. Nardoni was granted the open regime and released on 6 May 2024, about 16 years after the crime, with the judge citing good prison conduct and time served. In this regime the person lives outside prison but must meet court conditions such as work and staying home at night. Open regime is still part of the sentence, not a pardon or a finding of innocence.

The 2026 challenge

In 2026 an association, the Associação do Orgulho LGBTQIAPN+, asked the STJ to send both back to the closed regime. It argued that Nardoni had been seen at times and places inconsistent with his work routine, noted that prosecutors had opposed his progression, and attached a petition signed by about 2,000 local residents; it also alleged that Jatobá had enjoyed privileges in prison. These were claims in the filing, not findings. On 2 September 2026 the STJ's Fifth Panel, with Minister Ribeiro Dantas as rapporteur, unanimously rejected the request, so both remain in the open regime under its conditions. The challenge concerned how the sentences are served; it did not reopen the question of guilt.

Why the case matters

The Nardoni case remains a reference point in Brazil for public debate over progressive sentencing, especially when people convicted of notorious crimes leave prison. Because the crime was committed in 2008, the couple's progression followed the rules in force at the time, under which first-time offenders convicted of heinous crimes could move regimes after serving two-fifths of the sentence. The 2019 anti-crime package raised that threshold to half for heinous crimes resulting in death, but Brazil's constitution bars applying a harsher criminal law retroactively, so the change did not affect this case.