Federal authorities have arrested a Brazilian man they say strangled a woman to death inside her Massachusetts home.
Flavio Alcantara Dias, 43, is accused of killing Brianna Connolly, 33, during an altercation at her residence last week, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Middlesex County prosecutors. Authorities say Dias is an illegal immigrant who was released into the United States under former President Joe Biden’s administration despite previous arrests for DUI and aggravated assault.
The Department of Homeland Security detailed Dias’s immigration history in a statement following his arrest. “Alcantara Dias illegally entered the United States in April 2019,” DHS wrote. “In October 2024, an immigration judge granted Alcantara Dias’ motion to terminate his immigration hearings based on a technicality, bringing his immigration case to an end despite his criminal history and unlawful presence in the United States. He was then released into the country by the Biden administration.”
Dias himself contacted authorities after the killing, placing a 911 call that prosecutors played in court. Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Brandt recounted the call during a hearing, telling the courtroom that Dias “states very clearly, ‘Can I have police? A homicide just happened here right now.'”
“He then states, ‘I ended up killing a woman by mistake.’ He says, ‘I went crazy and suffocated her later on, says that he strangled her,'” Brandt said, noting that Dias had been speaking Portuguese during the call.
Brandt told the court that Dias claimed he and Connolly had been using drugs inside her home and became embroiled in an argument because he wanted to have sex and she did not. Dias told police he later fell asleep and woke to find Connolly not breathing.
Physical evidence at the scene contradicted aspects of Dias’s account, according to the prosecutor. Brandt said police observed that Connolly had “blood marks on her forehead and also on the back of her head,” in addition to a “fabric-y cord around her neck.”
DHS added a warning in its statement: “Our message is clear: if you come into our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you.”
Dias was taken into custody on Tuesday. The case remains under investigation by multiple agencies.