Mother accused of killing her two kids, keeping decomposing bodies for 2 weeks

Brazilian police have arrested a 31-year-old mother of two after discovering the decomposing bodies of her children at their house in Guarapuava, Parana.

The woman, identified as Eliara Paz Nardes, is alleged to have killed her 9-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son two weeks before the bodies were found lying on the woman's bed.

The incident came to light after Nardes approached a lawyer to confess what she had done. Her lawyer then informed the police, who raided the house on Saturday.

According to police, the bodies were lying on a bed with a blanket placed over them. The children initially appeared to be sleeping, but their bodies were already in an advanced state of decomposition.

"She said the boy was killed by suffocation with a pillow and, later, the girl was strangled with a scarf, but we are waiting for a report to confirm this. The suspect would have committed the crimes against her own children 14, 15 days ago," The Sun quoted police spokesperson Ana Hass as saying.

"She claimed she was very tired and alone, and could no longer afford to raise her children, not just financially but also emotionally. As a result, she said she intended to kill herself, but as the children had no one to count on, according to her, she ended up killing them first," added Hass.

The woman claimed that she had killed both her children on the same day, but evidence suggests that they were killed four days apart.

"Evidence shows that the boy was killed on the 13th [August] and the girl on the 17th due to the state of the bodies," said Hass. She had continued to live a normal life for the two weeks that her children lay decomposing in the house. She would clean her house, go to work, and do all the things a normal person would do.

Nardes now faces a number of charges including murder, concealing the bodies, and procedural fraud. She remains in a pre-trial detention centre as police carry out a probe in the case.