The two Brazilian lawyers representing the man accused of killing New York gallerist Brent Sikkema in Rio de Janeiro in January have resigned.
Attorneys Greg Andrade and Edna de Castro were representing Alejandro Triana Prevez, the Cuban man who has testified that he stabbed Sikkema to death as part of a murder-for-hire scheme allegedly orchestrated by Sikkema’s ex-husband, Daniel Carrera. After visiting Prevez at the Bangu 8 prison, where he is being jailed ahead of his trial, the lawyers said they resigned their powers of attorney “for reasons of personal conscience” and because they disagreed with Prevez on how to best defend him.
Additionally, Andrade and de Castro also cryptically cited “external influences” that have a vested interest in keeping relevant information from use in the defense.
“We do not agree with arrangements, schemes, and other maneuvers aimed at benefiting anyone for money,” Andrade and de Castro said in a joint statement via text message. “The career of lawyers Gregório Andrade and Edna de Castro is not for sale.”
When asked to clarify about the arrangements and schemes mentioned, Andrade said he can’t prove it but believes that Prevez has been talking to Carrera, the ex-husband believed to have orchestrated Sikkema’s death.
Ties between Carrera and Prevez were reported shortly after the latter was arrested, though Prevez initially denied carrying out the crime. In the following weeks, Prevez’s lawyers indicated that he might confess and suggested the murder was a “crime of command.” Family members of Prevez also pointed fingers at Carrera, suggesting he manipulated Prevez with money and exploited his need for a father figure.
By February, Prevez testified that Carrera paid him $200,000 to commit the murder, prompting Brazilian authorities to seek Carrera’s arrest. Carrera, reached by text message at the time, denied involvement. However, he was arrested in the United States in March on charges of passport fraud and was branded a flight risk by American prosecutors.
“Our defense line for Alejandro is for him to tell the truth,” Andrade said, adding that the lawyers will not condone “trying to protect other people who may be involved in this crime.”
The lawyers said they resigned in advance of an upcoming hearing; Prevez’s trial is scheduled for later this year in Rio de Janeiro.
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