Fans decapitate soccer referee in Brazil after he stabs, kills player: police
Fans attacked and killed Brazilian soccer referee Otavio da Silva after he stabbed a player, who later died, officials said.
SAO PAULO — Police say enraged spectators invaded a football field, stoned the referee to death and quartered his body after he stabbed a player to death.
The Public Safety Department of the state of Maranhao says in a statement that it all started when referee Otavio da Silva expelled player Josenir Abreu from a game last weekend. The two got into a fist fight, then Silva took out a knife and stabbed Abreu, who died on his way to the hospital.
Police in Maranhao have taken Luis Moraes de Souza, here pictured in a booking photo, into custody in relation to the beheading of Otavio Jordao da Silva but are on the lookout for two other men.
The statement issued this week says Abreu's friends and relatives immediately "rushed into the field, stoned the referee to death and quartered his body."
Local news media say the spectators also decapitated Silva and stuck his head on a stake in the middle of the field.
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Fans attacked and killed Brazilian soccer referee Otavio da Silva after he stabbed a player, who later died, officials said.
Police have arrested one suspect.
