Brazil: Female Inmates Convicted of Murder Marry in Prison

Two female inmates convicted of murder have married in a prison in Brazil.

Suzane von Richthofen, 30, was sentenced to 38 years in prison in 2002 after arranging for her then-boyfriend and his brother to kill her parents, who were beaten to death with iron bars. According to local news, the homicide was carried out because Von Richthofen's father did not approve her relationship.

Sandra Regina Gomes, the inmate who is now Von Richthofen's wife, is serving a 27-year sentence for participating in the death of a child who was kidnapped in 2006 and killed after a ransom was not paid.

The pair married in the prison of Tremembe, São Paulo, where they signed a document which is considered as a marriage certificate in the facility.

It is believed that Von Richthofen refused parole in order to continue her relationship with Gomes in prison.

The two women live with other 16 people in a special cell reserved to couples. If the two break up, they cannot return to the special cell for at least six months.

Von Richthofen had already married another inmate, Elize Matsunaga, 32, arrested for killing and dismembering her husband Marcos Kitano Matsunaga, 41, in June 2012.

However, their relationship ended when Von Richthofen met Gomes.

Homosexual people can marry in Brazil after a law allowing same-sex marriages was passed in May 2013.

Same-sex couples are also recognised to have the same civil rights granted to heterosexual companions, and may also adopt children.