The murder of Isabella Nardoni is one of Brazil’s most famous crimes.
On March 29, 2008, 5-year-old Isabella Nardoni fell from the sixth-story window of the São Paulo apartment building where she was staying with her father, Alexandre Nardoni, and her stepmother, Anna Carolina Jatobà.
Isabella died on the way to the hospital. As the bizarre nature of the case started making headlines across Brazil, suspicions about her father and stepmother’s involvement in her death began to grow.
The details of the case — and the ultimate outcome for Alexandre Nardoni and Anna Carolina Jatobà — are discussed at length in Netflix’s new documentary A Life Too Short: The Isabella Nardoni Case.
Where Is Alexandre Nardoni Now?
In April 2008, 29-year-old Alexandre Nardoni and 24-year-old Anna Carolina Jatobà were arrested and charged with Isabella’s murder, according to Australia’s National Nine News.
Their trial began two years later.
On March 27, 2010, Alexandre Nardoni and Anna Carolina Jatobà were found guilty of triple homicide in a joint trial. Nardoni was sentenced to 31 years, one month and 10 days in prison. Jatobà was sentenced to 26 years and eight months in prison, according to Agora São Paulo.
Both remain in prison in Brazil to this day.
They maintain their innocence and insist that they did not murder Isabella.
What Happened to Isabella Nardoni?
On March 29, 2008, the doorman at the Edifício London apartment building heard Isabella Nardoni fall from her sixth floor window and hit the ground. He immediately called the building manager, who called an ambulance. Isabella’s mother, Ana Carolina Oliveira, received a call from Jatobà and came rushing to the scene, where she found her daughter still breathing. However, attempts to save Isabella failed and she died on the way to the hospital.
Alexandre Nardoni told police that he had seen an intruder wearing black break into his apartment and that he suspected this person of cutting the netting and throwing Isabelli out the window to her death.
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But investigators began to question his story after they failed to find evidence of a break-in. A medical examiner noticed signs of other injuries on Isabella’s body that could not be attributed to the fall, including strangulation marks on her neck and a small wound on her forehead.
Investigators also found Isabella’s blood spatter throughout the apartment. They said they were able to rule out the possibility that Isabella could have accidentally fallen or jumped because the child protective netting on the window had been deliberately cut open.
At the trial, the prosecution argued that Anna Carolina Jatobà had strangled Isabella and that Alexandre Nardoni had thrown her out the window to cover up the crime.
The defense denied the accusation, and the couple continue to insist that they are innocent.
Isabella Nardoni’s case was closed after her father and stepmother were convicted of her murder.
Her mother Ana Carolina Oliveira was interviewed in the documentary about how devastated she was by the loss of her daughter and how difficult the trial was on her mental health. She went on to remarry and have two more children.
A Life Too Short: The Isabella Nardoni Case is now streaming on Netflix.
Main Image: Alexandre Nardoni and Anna Carolina Jatobà pictured in A Life Too Short: The Isabella Nardoni Case courtesy of Netflix.
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