Brazil influencer, bodybuilder Debora Michels found dead outside parents’ home, husband confesses

Débora Michels, 30, known as Deby, was found dead on the pavement covered in a red cloth just yards from her mum and dad’s home in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in the early hours of Friday morning.

Police confirmed to local media that Michels’ husband Alexander Gunsch, 50, had confessed to the killing, The Sun reported.

Police said CCTV from security cameras showed the moment Gunsch placed his wife’s body on the pavement before fleeing in his car.

When he was arrested, Gunsch allegedly told police he had grabbed Michels by the neck during a heated argument, lifted her up and threw her against a wardrobe, knocking her unconscious.

The pair had been married for 10 years but Michels, whose full name was Débora Michels Rodrigues da Silva, had decided to leave Gunsch before the tragedy, local media reported.

Gunsch told police he put Michels’ lifeless body in his car to take her to hospital but claimed he then discovered she was dead, panicked and took her to her parents house and dumped her outside.

Michels’ body was found under a blanket on the pavement in front of their home.

A women’s aid advocate at the Specialised Police Station, Cleusa Spinato, said Gunsch surrendered and confessed to the crime when police attended his address on Saturday, local media reports.

Ms Spinato added that police were treating the case as a femicide — the murder of a woman or girl due to her gender — and Gunsch was the main suspect.

Michels’ devastated brother Alex told local media: “This situation is revolting. What our family wants is justice. You cannot leave anyone unpunished.”

A close friend of Michels, Deise Chemelo, described her as a “magnetic person”.

“She lit up every place she went; she only had friends, and she only did good,” she said.

“A fighter, an entrepreneur, there is no explanation for what happened. She didn’t deserve it. We don’t understand.”

The young woman, a bodybuilder, was popular on Instagram and had thousands of followers who tuned into her regular educational posts related to her job as a personal trainer and her active lifestyle.

Friends and family mourned the tragic loss of Michels at a funeral held on Saturday morning before she was buried in the Municipal Cemetery of Montenegro about 11am the same day.

Police investigations are ongoing.

This article was originally published by The Sun and reproduced with permission.