The disappearance
Mércia Nakashima was last seen on May 23, 2010, after a family lunch in Guarulhos. She was a lawyer and had previously been in a relationship and law-office partnership with Mizael Bispo de Souza, a retired military police officer who was also a lawyer.
On June 10, search teams found Mércia's Honda Fit submerged in the Atibainha reservoir near Nazaré Paulista. The next day, a body found in the reservoir was identified by police as Mércia. At that stage, investigators were still building the case and Mizael denied involvement.
The investigation
Police and prosecutors developed a theory that Mizael had killed Mércia after the relationship ended and that Evandro Bezerra Silva helped him leave the reservoir area. Telephone records, witness testimony and forensic evidence became central to the prosecution. Both defendants denied the prosecution's account before their respective trials.
Their cases were ultimately tried separately. This matters because responsibility was not established by a single joint judgment: each defendant faced a different jury and received a different sentence.
Mizael Bispo's jury trial
Mizael was tried in Guarulhos in March 2013. The jury convicted him of qualified homicide and concealment of a corpse. The first-instance sentence was 20 years in prison. His defense announced an appeal and continued to challenge the evidence and verdict.
In 2017, the São Paulo Court of Justice considered appellate challenges and increased Mizael's term by two years and eight months, taking it to 22 years and eight months. Later proceedings in Brazil's higher courts did not erase the homicide conviction.
Evandro Bezerra's separate conviction
Evandro Bezerra Silva was tried separately in July 2013. Jurors found him guilty of participating in the murder, and he received a sentence of 18 years and eight months. Reporting on the verdict described the jury as accepting that he had helped Mizael in the crime.
Because the cases were split before trial, this page does not merge the evidence or sentencing outcomes. Mizael's later appellate sentence and Evandro's jury sentence are reported independently.
Prison-execution decisions were not acquittals
In August 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, a Superior Court of Justice minister temporarily granted Mizael home confinement after his defense raised health concerns and complained of delay by the sentence-execution court. That order concerned where the sentence was served; it did not overturn the murder conviction.
On December 3, 2020, the same STJ minister revoked the temporary order and directed that Mizael return to prison while the state court addressed the underlying request. In 2023, later reporting said he progressed to the open regime after years in custody. Sentence progression likewise did not amount to an acquittal.
Timeline
May 23, 2010: Mércia disappears after a family lunch in Guarulhos.
June 10, 2010: her car is found submerged in the Atibainha reservoir near Nazaré Paulista.
June 11, 2010: police identify a body recovered from the reservoir as Mércia Nakashima.
February 24, 2012: Mizael surrenders after having been considered a fugitive following the preventive-detention order.
March 14, 2013: Mizael is convicted by a jury and initially sentenced to 20 years.
July 31, 2013: Evandro Bezerra is convicted in a separate jury trial and sentenced to 18 years and eight months.
June 28, 2017: São Paulo appellate judges increase Mizael's sentence to 22 years and eight months.
August–December 2020: an STJ minister temporarily grants, then revokes, home confinement during the pandemic; the underlying conviction remains in force.
August 2023: reporting records Mizael's progression to the open regime after years serving the sentence.
Current status
The murder of Mércia Nakashima is solved / adjudicated for this archive. Mizael Bispo de Souza and Evandro Bezerra Silva were convicted in separate jury trials. Mizael's sentence was later increased on appeal to 22 years and eight months; Evandro received 18 years and eight months. Later decisions about prison regime and temporary home confinement affected sentence execution, not guilt.
Sources
- Folha de S.Paulo — June 14, 2010 investigation report and discovery chronology
- Folha de S.Paulo — March 14, 2013 Mizael Bispo jury conviction and initial sentence
- Folha de S.Paulo — July 31, 2013 Evandro Bezerra jury conviction
- R7 / Agência Record — June 28, 2017 São Paulo appellate increase to 22 years and eight months
- Superior Tribunal de Justiça — August 25, 2020 temporary home-confinement decision
- Superior Tribunal de Justiça — December 3, 2020 revocation of temporary home confinement
- UOL — August 23, 2023 later sentence-execution status and case review