Police capture suspected serial killer disguised as woman, carrying baby

Read the original at CBS News ↗
CBS News · collected 2026-09-18 · by The Associated Press

Quick Summary

Brazilian police captured Jorlan Lopes da Silva, a suspect linked to at least 16 deaths since May, after a 30-hour manhunt in Paraiba state. Disguised as a woman with a long black wig and dressed in a dress while carrying a baby unrelated to him, the suspect claims responsibility for over 80 homicides but police have confirmed his involvement in only 16 killings. The identities of the victims were not released, though details suggest they may have been connected to organized crime according to the suspect’s statements.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Jorlan Lopes da Silva, a 33-year-old suspect, was arrested in Paraiba state, northeastern Brazil, while attempting to evade capture dressed as a woman and carrying an unrelated child. According to the reports, da Silva confessed during questioning to killing around 80 people over his lifetime, starting at age 13. However, police confirmed only 16 killings since May, all in the isolated region of Mulungu. Local residents nicknamed him "Mosquito" due to his frail build, which allowed him to elude capture for years by living in makeshift camps in dense forests. The arrest followed a two-day manhunt led by Detective Douglas Garcia and was made after da Silva allegedly shot an 18-year-old victim in public, tying him to the crime spree.

Written for “Brazilian Serial Killer Arrested Disg…” on 2026-10-14, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Brazilian Serial Killer Arrested Disg…
Crime & Law · 6 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 25% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Al Jazeera · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the capture of the same suspect, Jorlan Lopes da Silva, disguised as a woman with a baby in Paraiba state on the same date.”
The Independent
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 13% hedged 2 of 15 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles describe the arrest of a suspected serial killer in Paraiba state, Brazil on September 13, 2026 after a manhunt during which he was disguised as a woman and carrying a baby.”
New York Post · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 50% hedged 6 of 12 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe the arrest of Jorlan Alves da Silva in Brazil on September 16-18, 2026, where he was dressed as a woman and carrying a baby while attempting to evade police.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe the capture of Jorlan Lopes da Silva, a suspected serial killer who was disguised as a woman and carrying a baby during his arrest in Paraiba state, Brazil.”
South China Morning Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 6 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe the arrest of the same suspected serial killer nicknamed 'Mosquito' who was disguised as a woman and carrying a baby, arrested after evading capture for months.”

Cite this article

The Associated Press. (2026, September 18). Police capture suspected serial killer disguised as woman, carrying baby. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suspected-serial-killer-disguised-woman-carrying-baby-brazil/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
25%
5 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 2796 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

The Associated Press
1145 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by The Associated Press
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 1145 articles by The Associated Press →

Topics

AFP Brazil Brazilian Paraiba Record R7

Subjects

AFP ORG · 2× Brazilian NORP · 2× Brazil GPE · 1× Jorlan Lopes da Silva PERSON · 1× Mulungu GPE · 1× O Globo ORG · 1× Paraiba GPE · 1× Record R7 ORG · 1× Rio de Janeiro GPE · 1× iG Último Segundo ORG · 1×

Narrative

Instead, he claimed all his victims were "linked to the criminal world" and he was taking justice into his own hands in response to threats against himself and his family. "I never acted against any family man, mother or working person," he said, denying being a "psychopath."
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19
🔮 Brazilian police said Friday they had captured a suspected serial killer linked to at least 16 deaths since May, who was arrested while disguised as a woman and carrying a baby.

Claims (20 extracted, 5 hedged)

Brazilian police said Friday they had captured a suspected serial killer linked to at least 16 deaths since May, who was arrested while disguised as a woman and carrying a baby. uncertain
who → say → baby
He claims to have killed more than four times that number. uncertain
He → claim → number
The suspect was arrested Sunday after a 30-hour police manhunt in a forested area of Paraiba state in northeastern Brazil. asserted
suspect → arrest → Brazil
He was wearing a dress and long black wig, which police described as a disguise to evade capture. asserted
police → wear → capture
In a statement, they said he had been carrying a baby in his arms. asserted
he → say → arms
Images and video published by local media, including O Globo, showed the suspect with painted nails wearing a striped dress, a dark wig, women's sandals and sunglasses. asserted
suspect → publish → dress
Police said the child he was carrying was not related to him. asserted
he → say → him
Police did not release details on the baby's condition. asserted
Police → release → condition
"Although the suspect claimed involvement in 80 homicides, civil police have confirmed his participation in 16 killings in the region, 11 of which he confessed to during questioning," police told AFP. asserted
police → claim → AFP
The 16 homicides all took place since May. uncertain
homicides → take → May
The identities of the victims and details of the killings have not been made public. asserted
identities → make → killings
The suspect was identified by authorities as 33-year-old Jorlan Lopes da Silva, Record R7 reported. asserted
R7 → identify → Silva
The suspect evaded an earlier attempt to arrest him a few weeks ago after a confrontation with security forces, who consider him a member of an "ultra-violent" criminal group. asserted
him → evade → group
In a video of his interrogation obtained by AFP, the man said he acted alone and denied having ties to organized crime. asserted
he → obtain → crime
Instead, he claimed all his victims were "linked to the criminal world" and he was taking justice into his own hands in response to threats against himself and his family. "I never acted against any family man, mother or working person," he said, denying being a "psychopath." asserted
he → claim → man
He said he had committed his first homicide at the age of 13. asserted
he → say → 13
After the earlier attempt to arrest the suspect, police seized bulletproof vests, the stock of a submachine gun and over 100 rounds of ammunition, which the man acknowledged were his during questioning. asserted
man → arrest → questioning
Two other men were arrested during the operation on suspicion of involvement in the crime, according to iG Último Segundo. uncertain
men → arrest → Segundo
Under Brazilian law, he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to Record R7. uncertain
he → face → R7
The region of Mulungu, where the killings took place, lies 1,553 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. asserted
killings → take → Janeiro
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