adult children of a murderer Utah A shell executive is suing Brazil’s state-controlled oil company for ‘orchestrating’ the murder of his parents 20 years ago after his father uncovered an alleged multimillion-dollar corruption scheme in Rio de Janeiro .
Logan and Wesley Staheli were only 10 and 13 at the time – and were sleeping right down the hall from where the bloody scene took place at their home in Rio.
Brazilian authorities later accused him of using a toy hatchet to kill his parents, Todd and Michel.
The siblings claim that the government-owned Petroleo Brasileiro – better known as Petrobras – employed the 2003 murder of his parents to cover up a multimillion-dollar corruption scheme, the Todd investigation. was doing.
Todd, an executive of a subsidiary of Shell Oil Co. Brazil To determine why the company was losing millions.
The lawsuit claims it found that “millions of dollars were being paid in bribes and kickbacks involving Petrobras.”
The complaint also alleges that Rio de Janeiro law enforcement is questioning children without a legal guardian and preventing them from immediately returning to Utah with their grandparents.
At the time, local prosecutors held a press conference showing a small ax found in Wesley’s room, implying it was a murder weapon – despite no trace of blood on it.
Stahely’s other two children, Madison and Carly, then 8 and 10, were also sleeping in their rooms down the hallway at the time of the murders. Utah Star Tribune Reported.
Todd and Michelle Staheli were killed in their sleep in Brazil on November 30, 2003, while their children slept in their rooms down the hallway of their Rio home
Logan and Wesley Staheli were only 10 and 13 when they were accused by Brazilian authorities of using a toy hatchet to kill their parents.
At the time, local prosecutors held a press conference showing a small ax found in Wesley’s room, implying that it was a murder weapon despite no traces of blood.
The bed where Todd and Michelle were murdered while they were sleeping
In the lawsuit, the four siblings are now seeking monetary and punitive damages for emotional distress and trauma, in addition to the cost of their legal fees.
Dailymail.com has reached out to Staleys’ lawyers.
On November 30, 2003, Todd and Michelle died in their sleep while their children slept in their rooms down the hallway.
Logan found his father’s body and his wounded mother early in the morning.
Michelle was taken to the hospital, where she had surgery to stop her brain from bleeding, but she died five days later.
An autopsy revealed that Stellis had sustained wounds on his head from an unidentified blunt object.
Todd’s parents and Michelle’s sister travel to Rio to return the children to the United States, but a judge orders Logan and Wesley to remain in Brazil.
The lawsuit claims that Logan and Wesley were interrogated by police without any adult or legal guardian.
‘Now orphaned in a country where they did not speak the language, the Rio police interrogated us at length … immediately after the killings,’ the suit adds.
Todd’s parents petitioned Brazilian courts to allow the children to return to the US, the complaint said.
The siblings claim that the government-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro – better known as Petrobras – was investigating Todd to cover up a multimillion-dollar corruption scheme planning the 2003 murder of his parents.
He was assassinated on November 30 at his Rio de Janeiro home
Months after the murders, police arrested Josiel dos Santos, a handyman who worked at the compound where Stalis lived, in connection with the crimes.
Months after the murders, police arrested Josiel dos Santos, a handyman who worked at the compound where Stalis lived, in connection with the crimes.
Dos Santos initially confessed before giving his testimony.
The lawsuit, filed by the Staheli children, claims that government documents indicate that dos Santos was beaten, tortured and forced to give his false confession.
Dos Santos and Madison and Wesley were interrogated by two law enforcement officers who were later found guilty of corruption in an unrelated investigation.
Staheli’s children now argue that Petrobras and the Brazilian police have given them ‘severe emotional distress’ and attempt to derail the investigation to protect Petrobras.
In 2014, Brazilian police indicted dozens of Petrobras officials, politicians and police officers who had participated in a corrupt scheme.
Todd’s parents and Michelle’s sister travel to Rio to return the children to the United States, but a judge orders Logan and Wesley to remain in Brazil.
Staheli’s children claim their parents were murdered to hide corruption scandals in Petrobras
The lawsuit claims that the children were interrogated without any legal guardian.
Todd was first hired in 1991 by Shell’s subsidiary Royal Dutch Shell as an attorney for the oil company and then transferred to the executive board.
The lawsuit states that he served as vice president of joint ventures for the company’s Southern Cone Gas & Power.
In the summer of 2003, he was sent to Rio de Janeiro to investigate whether Shell should leave Brazil, as the company was losing millions in joint ventures with Petrobras.
In August of the same year, Michelle and children joined her.
Within months, Todd, then 39, reportedly told colleagues that the company was the “toughest partner” he had ever encountered.
According to the lawsuit, they found that the cost overruns on Shell’s projects with Petrobras were “the result of rigged contracts at inflated prices and the payment of related bribes to politicians and the government.”
Staheli’s children now claim that their parents were murdered to prevent Todd from revealing the plan, which would be uncovered a decade later as part of a Brazilian federal police investigation that led to 60 More than one Petrobras officials and government officials were arrested.