Pretty Brazilian businesswoman Priscila Lacerda Custodio, 24, has been gunned down by her much older boyfriend, João Roberto Bolelli, 62, shortly after she ended their relationship during a phone call.
The shocking report has sparked outrage and renewed conversations about jealousy, possessiveness, and the dangers women can face when leaving relationships.
Priscila was young, glamorous, and building her life as a businesswoman. Her future should have been filled with opportunities, exciting plans, and the freedom to choose who deserved a place in her life. Instead, her story ended in a horrifying tragedy.
And for what? A breakup.
Priscila Lacerda Custodio, 24, had only been dating cattle rancher João Roberto Bolelli, 62, for four months — but complained he’d hired people to watch her while also threatening to kill her, an unidentified friend told Globo.
He also scared her by the way he quizzed her about trips she took, accusing her of cheating on him — and also allegedly assaulted her just four days before the murder Friday.
When someone says they want to leave, the correct response is to respect their decision. It is not to threaten them, intimidate them, or behave as though their independence is an unforgivable crime.
Custodio, who worked in digital marketing, was so scared of her much-older lover she made her brother and a friend join her as she went to Bolelli’s São Paulo ranch on Friday to return a pickup she’d been using.
But they started arguing during a phone call before she even got there, with the glamorous 24-year-old saying she’d finally had enough and was ending their short-lived romance, the outlet said.
Bolelli allegedly opened fire when his lover arrived, killing her with shots to the chest and arm.
Bolelli — who was previously banned from seeing a different ex years earlier — then aimed the gun at his slain ex’s brother, chasing him before fleeing the scene.
An arrest warrant has been issued for what is being treated as femicide.
Custodio was a “wonderful person” whose life “was cut short by an evil man,” one friend, Juliana Amaral, told Globo.
The age difference between Priscila and Bolelli has also attracted attention. However, the central issue is not simply that the couple had a significant age gap. It is the reported violence surrounding the end of their relationship.
Age does not automatically make someone controlling, just as youth does not make someone incapable of making relationship decisions. What matters is how people behave when things do not go their way.
“She was beautiful, charming, and extremely polite,” Amaral said. “In three years of friendship, I never saw her speak badly of anyone.”
Bolelli was previously convicted for breaching protective orders obtained by another former partner. He was sentenced to three months and 15 days in prison in December 2021.
A relationship ending should mean two people going their separate ways, not one person deciding that nobody gets to leave alive.
