Forbes-listed billionaire found dead alongside wife and dog at beachside mansion

12 September 2023 , 17:34

737     0

Jose Bezerra de Menezes and wife Luciana have been found dead alongside their dog (Image: Newsflash)

A billionaire has been found dead next to the bodies of his wife and dog inside their beachside mansion.

Brazilian Jose Bezerra de Menezes Neto, 64, died alongside Luciana, 62, and their pet on Saturday morning. All three are believed to have been killed by a suspected carbon monoxide poisoning following a boiler leak.

All three were found by the couple's son Rodrigo Passos Bezerra de Menezes, 27, who was at home with several other members of the family at the time of the deaths. No one else was affected. The tragic incident happened at their luxury home in Guaruja, on the coast of Sao Paulo in Brazil. It is thought that carbon monoxide had accumulated on the upper floors of the building, where Jose and Luciana were.

Jose Bezerra de Menezes (second from the left) and Luciana Bezerra (middle) with their family (Newsflash)

The Sao Paulo Civil Police said they believed that fumes leaked from equipment used to heat the building. While an autopsy later showed that the pair died of carbon monoxide poisoning, reports The Sun.

However, a police spokesman said they were waiting to confirm the technical reason for the leak but speculated that a pipe may have burst. This could have resulted in the poisonous gas remaining inside the property instead of being pumped safely outside.

African billionaire worth £7bn to move into English football with takeover close

Binho Bezerra, as he was known, was the ninth richest man in Brazil according to Forbes and lived in one of the priciest homes inside a private, gated community. It was reported, though, that the couple did not have a working carbon monoxide detector in their mansion.

The couple were found dead upstairs in their mansion by their son on September 9 (Newsflash)

Mr Bezerra was worth an estimated BRL 1.55 billion (£249million) and was also listed as number 205 on the list of Brazilian rich people. He worked as a banker and was the son of Colonel Humberto Bezerra, a federal deputy and mayor of Juazeiro do Norte (CE) during the 1960s.

At 38 years old, he was once the youngest bank president in Brazil following in the footsteps of his father who had also been president of BicBanco.

Steven White