Valdeir Goncalves-Santos was one of three Brazilian men charged with killing the man, his wife and son
(A-P)
A man who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2009 deaths of a Brazilian missionary family living in Omaha was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison.
Valdeir Goncalves-Santos was charged with killing Vanderlei Szczepanik, his wife, Jacqueline and their 7-year-old son Christopher. Goncalves-Santos pleaded guilty during his murder trial last year in exchange for his testimony against the others charged in the case.
Investigators say Goncalves-Santos told them the men beat Vanderlei Szczepanik to death and hanged his wife and son and threw the bodies in the Missouri River.
The boy's remains were found in the swollen Missouri River last year. Jose Oliveira-Coutinho was convicted last month of three counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are trying to extradite Elias Lourenco-Batista from Brazil.
