Captive (2016) s01e02 Episode Script
Cola Kidnap, Brazil
1 [man.]
The act of crime, it has two sides.
It has the victim's side and the criminal's side.
The majority of people know that if you pursue a life of crime, your life will be interrupted by either prison or death.
It was a game.
And I was prepared to play that game.
In my case, I believed that something would be different something good would happen.
[man.]
We live in a state of war.
Social war.
Between the "haves" and the "have-nots," those who can and those who can't.
The difference in classes, not only in Rio de Janeiro, but in Brazil is very large.
It is unequal and inhuman.
I lived as a young person who was a "have-not.
" My thinking was that they have it and I want it.
If I'm prepared to pay for what I'm going to do, I only have to take it.
At the end of the '80s and beginning of the '90s, kidnapping came into fashion in Rio de Janeiro.
[reporter.]
In Rio, a historic and dramatic record, this year alone, there have already been 150 kidnappings.
There have been 15 kidnappings in July alone, one after the other.
[Monteiro.]
Within the kidnapping network, I was perhaps one of the most highly regarded and respected people in Rio.
There were kidnappings of important people, of important businesspeople.
And quite a considerable sum of money, of resources, was taken from them.
In all the crimes I undertook, in drug trafficking in kidnapping, in theft, I felt like I was very good.
I was the CEO of our family business, the Coca-Cola business.
My father started that in 1944 here in Brazil.
I was born here in Brazil, although my parents were American.
I lived in a high-rise apartment building, and I had a maid and a driver and could afford to have my children study at a private school.
So, I had a wonderful life.
[Monteiro.]
When Corinne's name was mentioned as a potential victim for a kidnapping let's put it this way, we would be rich.
I followed Corinne for approximately 90 to 100 days, three months.
I started to map out all of Corinne's personal life.
Her family, who the people closest to her were.
This makes the person a little more vulnerable.
I waited in the doorway of her apartment building in Lagoa trying to obtain and confirm as much information as possible.
Doormen normally have a lot of information to give.
You have access to all the information, the schedules of all the residents.
Doormen [Coffin.]
In the morning, my driver would take me over to our main office, which was in one of our factories in Niterói, which is across the bay from Rio.
I monitored parts of Corinne's route.
She always used the same roads, the same route, with no variation.
This was the final stretch of the location where we would intercept Corinne Coffin's car.
This was the ideal place.
We would have visibility throughout the operation, on both sides of the road, left and right.
It was the perfect location for an ambush.
[Coffin.]
I was just sitting, relaxing in the back seat when suddenly, two cars came out of nowhere and cut us off.
[horn honking.]
My first impression was, "My God, these people don't know how to drive!" But that didn't last very long because all these armed men jumped out of the car.
[horn honking.]
[men yelling.]
Up until that point, I had never heard a gunshot.
[gunshots.]
[high-pitched ringing.]
I'd never had a gun pointed at my face.
This particular one with the hood on was yelling, you know, "Open the door! Open the door!" I thought they were just going to take my purse or the car.
This voice said, "Dona Corinne, please get out of the car.
" The realization started to sink in.
It was not a random hold-up or carjacking.
I'm being kidnapped.
[cars honking.]
[tires screeching.]
One guy yelled at me, "Stay there.
Lie down.
Don't look around.
" [Monteiro.]
In the moment that you come across the helpless victim, there is no feeling.
There's just a mission, a job that needs to be executed.
[Coffin.]
The initial shock was beginning to wear off.
And that's when the fear starts to come in.
The fear is far beyond fear.
It was pure terror.
Once ambushed and subdued the main thing is to get the victim into the hideout as quickly as possible.
The safety of the whole operation and the team depends on this, as well as the victim's own life.
The military life I lived for ten years, undoubtedly, was a great school for this.
I was part of an elite squad, and I was considered to be very good in this squad.
And so throughout all of the crimes that I committed, my military training was fundamental.
[fly buzzing.]
The fear, the uncertainty, the "Oh, my God, what is going to happen to me?" I was just thinking, "Why did I not tell my husband I loved him this morning? Why did I not hug my kids one more time?" And thinking about how maybe I would never be given that chance again.
[sobbing.]
[man.]
I met a friend for a drink at a bar in Leblon and I said, "I'm going to call the house.
" My secretary answered and said, "Ms.
Corinne isn't home yet.
" So I started to think it was strange that she wasn't home yet.
I ended up going home.
Roughly around 11 p.
m.
, I was starting to worry, very worried actually, as we had a very precise routine, and neither her driver nor she showed up.
[phone ringing.]
When I answered, I realized it wasn't her, but a man speaking.
I will never forget his voice.
[man.]
We are with Corinne.
She has been kidnapped.
We are professionals.
She trusts you to do what needs to be done.
Do not go to the police and tell as few people as possible.
[Coimbre.]
And he hung up.
The world collapsed in 30 seconds.
They had put in the room safety goggles.
They had put duct tape on the actual lenses in the front.
[knocking.]
[man.]
Goggles! I was very careful not to see who they were.
I felt that it would just condemn me to death.
And I heard this voice.
This man said "My name is Lúcio.
This is a kidnapping.
" I outlined our proposal, that the intention was money, and that if everything went to plan, she would be returning home as soon as possible.
[Coffin.]
In his voice, there was a certain amount of contempt and a certain pride to be in that position of having someone of my class under his power.
Lúcio said to me "We're going to ask for $10 million.
" I froze.
I don't have that kind of money.
I didn't understand it.
[Coimbre.]
That night, I didn't sleep at all waiting for the call.
You're stuck.
You don't hear anything, noise, nothing.
You are just lost there waiting for the call.
I remember calling a few friends.
You're negotiating somebody's life, and it's not easy, so you need help.
When I found out that she had been kidnapped, I, like all the other company directors, became really desperate.
I was very close to Corinne, and so I was very close to Carlos and their sons.
She was like a mother figure to everyone.
[phone ringing.]
The next day the real negotiations began.
[Coimbre.]
The first demand was $20 million.
It was a mixture of panic, powerlessness, fear, anger, because there wasn't the slightest possibility that I could get together $20 million to pay for Corinne's life.
And I said, "We don't have that kind of money.
There's no chance.
" And then he hung up.
Lúcio.
Lúcio.
[Da Silva.]
We knew that it wouldn't be easy to free Corinne, at least not at the speed and urgency we wanted.
I would have paid the money right away if I'd had it.
I was willing to do anything.
One way or another, if they didn't pay, she would pay with her life.
We knew the kidnapper had said not to call the police, but we did not hesitate to call them, because you need the police's help in a kidnapping situation.
It doesn't matter whether it is a millionaire or a modest person, the procedure is the same.
At the time, we sometimes had to work on five kidnappings in one day alone.
They would kidnap supermarket and transport company owners more often because of their easy access to cash, real cash, real money.
In Corinne's case, it was different, because in the kidnapper's mind, she represented an empire, Coca-Cola.
You have to go back to that period and to what Coca-Cola represented.
Nowadays they have a lot of competition, but at the time Coca-Cola was everything.
When I arrived at the apartment, Corinne's family was very worried.
There were some company directors, everyone, a complete commotion.
Just as in any other kidnap, the family was desperate.
We managed to set up a headquarters there to work specifically on Corinne's case, with the family's permission.
The only technology we had at the time was we would get a phone call, and then we would contact the phone company so they could give us the location of the call.
[Monteiro.]
Through my training, I knew a little bit about communication.
I knew that it took a certain amount of time before you could identify the location of a call.
[Seiler.]
One sole call wouldn't solve things for us.
We had to have two or three calls from the same place, because we knew that was where they were calling from.
[Monteiro.]
And so, you mustn't use the same telephone device more than once.
It was archaic.
I was out in the jungle.
I hadn't spoken to my mother in about a week or ten days.
When I arrived at the apartment many people were there.
Police, the executives of my family's business.
Carlos was there.
Very emotional, very tense.
I was very shocked at the situation.
I was very concerned that something could happen to my mother.
[Coimbre.]
I was there to comfort him, to give him a hug, to tell him to stay calm, that everything would be resolved.
I didn't have anything other than words of comfort to say, you know.
[Shook.]
I have two brothers.
I'm the oldest.
And I really felt the responsibility to be as much support, help I could be.
I set up an altar with objects that were important to her.
It was a space where people can go to connect with her.
We'd been through a lot as a family together so I really felt that we would come out of this.
[Monteiro.]
My family was my mother, my father, my siblings that was my family.
And despite a few difficulties, we had a good life.
They gave me access to all education, training.
I was always brought up as a normal child.
I didn't see the difference between me and a white child.
Now I fully understand it.
In a school full of white people, I had nothing, and I had to do everything for them to give me the opportunity that should have been rightfully mine.
I really felt the power of the difference in the color of my skin, and that had a great impact on my life.
I got involved in another world, selling drugs, having access to favelas that had weapons.
It gave me power.
I was someone who was looked up to, respected.
And from there, it was difficult to get out.
[phone ringing.]
[Coimbre.]
The next day, when he called, he said, "Carlos, we were thinking $20 million.
We know that it's a lot of money, so we are going to start negotiating from $10 million.
" The family couldn't pay that amount.
We didn't have that money.
[Coimbre.]
He warned us that he wasn't in any rush to finalize the negotiations, because he had the means to keep her captive for two or three months if necessary.
What I found at the time was that it was a well-orchestrated kidnapping.
When you have someone who is experienced in that craft and has established an effective system of working, the investigation is much more difficult.
What we said at the time was not to negotiate, under any circumstances, without proof of life.
[Coimbre.]
I said that I needed proof that Corinne was alive.
I wanted to be sure she was alive.
It was risky for me to allow Corinne to have any kind of access or any type of contact that would put our location at risk.
So I decided that it would be through a recording.
[Coffin.]
I, very early on, did not want to show them any weakness.
I didn't cry in front of them.
And that was one of the things that Lúcio said to me.
He says, "What's wrong with you? You're a woman.
How come you're not crying?" Corinne expressed herself differently than all the other victims.
Her firmness, her position in trying to gain control of the situation she didn't appear fragile at any moment.
And that made an impression on me.
It was different from most of the other experiences I had in this area.
[Coffin.]
He could kill me.
He could keep me captive.
But he could not remove my dignity.
[Coimbre.]
Lúcio put a little cassette tape in the cemetery.
He gave me very clear instructions, and then he said I had to go alone.
Picking up a tape in a cemetery isn't pleasant.
It's a mixture of fear, panic, loneliness and I was genuinely afraid of being kidnapped, too.
[Shook.]
Hearing my mother's voice was a very strange situation.
Feeling relieved, hearing that she's okay, but at the same time, that she's not okay.
[Coffin.]
It was very emotional for me.
My family would actually be hearing my voice and perhaps, who knows, even hearing my last words.
[Shook.]
She said that she was being treated well, that they weren't harming her, but that she wanted us to do whatever we could to get her out as quick as possible.
I wanted to tell her so much, "I love you Come back home.
" A lot of things in my head, we were so helpless.
[Shook.]
I could feel in her voice that she was concerned that they could hurt her, that they could end her life.
That was [Coffin.]
I could imagine what they were feeling.
Especially my 12-year-old.
I didn't know whether they would you know, family members would allow him to hear my voice but just to imagine a 12-year-old hearing perhaps his last words from his mother.
Carlos was very traumatized.
He was no longer in a condition to negotiate.
[Da Silva.]
One of the directors of the company had to take over the negotiations.
In this case, it was the industrial director, Paulo Aury who was the one answering the kidnapper's calls.
But always with the support of Zé Maria when it was necessary.
[phone ringing.]
[Monteiro.]
The person on the other end of the line changed.
It wasn't the same person.
It wasn't just her husband who spoke.
There was another person speaking.
I got very annoyed.
It really bugged me.
[Shook.]
It was very quick, very direct, very tense.
My objective was to be as brief as possible, knowing I was being monitored and searched for by the police.
[Shook.]
He would ask for an exorbitant amount of money.
We'd tell him, "There's no way we can come up with this amount of money.
" I was pissed off, very angry.
Lúcio? Lúcio? We couldn't do anything immediately because we didn't have the information.
[Shook.]
The kidnapper called back and said that he would send my mother's finger or ear.
We tried to calm him down, saying, "We're gonna pay you.
We're gonna get this over with.
Please, do not hurt my mother.
" [Coffin.]
Lúcio came in and said to me that my family didn't want to pay.
I just could not believe that.
I honestly could not believe that.
But at the same time wondering, "Why? Why couldn't they just pay and then let me go?" [Coimbre.]
It seemed that we were in the middle of a dream, a nightmare.
[Coffin.]
I couldn't sleep.
And right outside this window there was somebody out there digging.
And this digging went on for several days.
I thought that they were going to bury my body there.
[Coimbre.]
The paper always arrived in my hand around seven o'clock in the morning.
When I opened it, there was a headline about the kidnapping.
So that surprised me.
Until then, we thought things were under control, that nothing had gotten out to the press.
[reporter.]
Despite the fact that over 30 people witnessed the businesswoman's kidnapping, until now nobody has called the police to provide any clues.
Then from that moment onwards, there was no control.
Then all the TV channels got it, all the newspapers, there were people downstairs the whole day, asking to come up to have an interview, it was the whole day.
[reporter.]
The kidnapping is being treated with complete secrecy by the company and by the relatives and people involved.
No one is giving any information.
[Shook.]
Whenever I would leave to get supplies, buy food, I would be surrounded by the reporters in the car.
There were times I felt that the press were not helping at all and that could be detrimental to her health and well-being.
[reporter.]
All the reports pointed to the municipality of São Gonçalo.
They carried out various searches but were unable to find any leads about the kidnappers or the businesswoman.
If the police had raided the hideout, me and my team could be forced to kill, to die.
I was trained to kill in a situation of war.
And in that situation, I was in a war.
But I was sure that we had all the aces up our sleeves.
I was completely certain that nothing could go wrong.
I was awake.
It was the middle of the night.
All of a sudden my whole body started feeling funny.
I don't know how to describe it, but it's a very strange feeling.
I could feel that my limbs were weak.
I didn't know what was going on.
As the days went by I was having these episodes several times a day.
Each time the effects were becoming more and more obvious in my physical body.
I was slurring my speech.
My hand, I wasn't able to hold anything.
My leg, I was dragging it.
Then I began to become very worried.
I heard Lúcio and I think a couple of others saying, "What's up with the lady?" "She is having a stroke.
" "Give her something.
Do something.
She's not going to a hospital.
" That was very frightening for me.
[Monteiro.]
I got very worried, because it could end in the death of Corinne if I maintained the operation for much longer.
Then I really saw that I didn't have all the aces up my sleeve.
[phone ringing.]
[Shook.]
Lúcio called.
He was desperate, saying my mother wasn't doing too well that she was ill.
We felt that extreme urgency, that she needed help.
[Seiler.]
Usually, he would speak for short amounts of time.
On this day he took longer.
[Shook.]
We tried keeping Lúcio on the line as long as possible to be able to trace him.
He tried to play Mr.
Nice Guy, saying that he really cared about her and "Let's get to the end of negotiation.
It's become really tiring, but we won't go lower than $5 million.
" We were able to keep him on the line long enough and we alerted the phone company, and so we received the precise location.
[man.]
Calling all units in Penha, we have a kidnap suspect at a pay phone on Praça Cai and Jacurutã.
Possibly armed and extremely We already had a team nearby.
[man.]
Attention! Calling all - I can't read you.
- Come in, over.
We said we had close to $250,000, more or less.
And then he got really angry.
Repeat! Attention, all units! I could see the police were very close, and I knew they were there for a purpose.
Attention, all units! Respond! [Seiler.]
Unfortunately, he was in a dead zone with no radio signal, and in that area, we couldn't make contact with anyone.
Copy! Copy! I would try to talk, trying to talk to the radio, and the radio wouldn't work.
Respond! Please respond! We wanted to take the radios and break them apart.
We wanted to destroy everything.
The moment we needed it the most, it failed and left us hanging.
We thought then it could have meant her death.
[Coffin.]
I had requested to go to the bathroom.
Lúcio came in.
I don't know why he chose to come in and get me and take me to the bathroom, 'cause that was unusual.
He had to support me with his one arm around my waist and actually almost carrying me.
[Monteiro.]
Looking at Corinne and her difficulty, her speech, Corinne's expression, the difficulty of her movement Even though I had my training and my thoughts, it was a life.
[Coffin.]
It was at this point that I felt a shift somewhat in Lúcio's energy.
He just felt more compassionate.
He didn't feel as cold and as calculating as as I felt before.
[Monteiro.]
I started thinking about her, looking at her not as an object, a pawn of negotiation, but as a human being.
As a person, as a mother, and independent of the wealth and money she had.
[Coffin.]
He said, "Take your goggles off.
" Which of course, I would not have done on my own.
But he took my goggles off, I think, to enable me to walk a little bit better.
[Monteiro.]
She looked down at the floor, saying she didn't want to look.
I could see his arms.
I could see his hands.
And that's when I saw this scar on his hand.
And I realized then that, actually, I could identify him if it were necessary, from that.
The team was quite agitated, you know.
And some of them were already saying, "We should stop.
We are not going to put our lives at risk.
The money isn't coming.
" That was the moment I had to make a decision.
[Shook.]
Two days go by and Lúcio finally calls.
[Coimbre.]
On that day, he spoke with a really kind voice, as if talking to a good friend.
Then he said, "Let's end this negotiation.
How much do you actually have?" Then we said the amount again, "Close to $250,000.
" Then he said, "So we will call later with ransom payment instructions.
" There was a moment of relief, we hugged each other.
It's finally over.
We felt euphoric.
It was a complete joy.
[Shook.]
And we were all very, very surprised at him accepting this offer.
And at the time, very relieved, excited to get this over with.
But had no idea what he had planned.
I heard a lot of movement in the house that night.
A lot of shuffling and I heard vehicles leaving.
What does that mean? [Monteiro.]
The crime of kidnapping is a game of poker.
It's a game.
Whoever has more information whoever has more control, whoever is more calculated has the better hand.
[Shook.]
One of the directors went to the bank to get the money.
The kidnapper wanted Paulo Aury and Zé Maria, executives of my family's business, to take the ransom.
He didn't want any police, because if he saw any police, that he would he would kill my mother.
He did say that.
[Seiler.]
I think it was unnecessary in that moment to pay the ransom.
I and my team were certain that we would free her, but the family decided otherwise.
They weren't thinking about the negative aspect.
They were only thinking about the positive side.
[Coimbre.]
The specific instructions were that Paulo and Zé should go in my car.
And that it should be handed over at the end of the road where São Paulo Road starts, because there was a motel in a dark street.
Lúcio would come within a certain distance in another car.
We imagined that Paulo and Zé Maria would come back immediately, and Corinne would be with us.
[Monteiro.]
My team thought that we should take the $250,000 and kill them.
I said, "No, we are going to take the $250,000 and then I have a much better plan.
" Hour after hour went by.
Finally, I heard all of these cars coming back then commotion in the house.
Goggles! There was somebody there under a lot of stress and immediately what came to me is, "My God, what have you guys done?" [Monteiro.]
Knowing that things weren't going according to plan I needed to take new hostages.
[Coffin.]
I heard a voice.
"It's me, Paulo and Zé.
" [Monteiro.]
I remember the expression she had when I entered with the two directors.
She was shocked.
She wasn't expecting it.
And that was when I just said, "I don't care what you do with me.
You can kill me.
You can keep me.
Please don't do this.
" And I really did feel, at that point, I did feel that.
I was just ready just to die.
But I just promised them that I would do everything I could to get them out of there.
So, they took me out.
I didn't know if I was going to be released or not.
I thought that they might be taking me to an empty lot somewhere, where they would just shoot me in the back of the head.
[Shook.]
An hour went by, two hours.
It felt very strange.
I started getting worried.
Why is it taking so long for them to get back? What's going on? I was determined not to beg for my life and just to stand there and be strong.
I think I fainted for a couple of seconds there.
[sobbing.]
There was my purse and my clothes.
And my watch my mother had given me, an expensive watch, so that was surprising, I must admit.
And they also gave me a giant, hot pink teddy bear.
I bought it on the street, so it was a moment of showing feeling, but also, saying to her, "Their lives depend on you.
" [Shook.]
I saw a taxi arrive.
I knew that it was my mother.
I just embraced her.
My mother was finally at home.
[Coimbre.]
And then she stammered, "They kidnapped Zé and Paulo! They kidnapped Zé and Paulo!" And then a new nightmare began.
It was very difficult to think that that they would be in the same situation I was in.
[Monteiro.]
We moved on to different things, a different life, and one of the members of the team was arrested, having in his possession some of the ransom money.
And when that was identified, it all started snowballing.
He implicated other people.
Those other people were arrested, up until the moment that I, too, was arrested for the crime of extortion through kidnapping.
[reporter.]
Shortly after the businesswoman was released, this man was arrested, former army officer Ronaldo Monteiro.
A former officer of the parachute regiment, he was the leader of the gang that kept Corinne Coffin in captivity for 12 days.
From the newspaper, I found out that he was actually not Lúcio.
His real name was Ronaldo Monteiro.
What was the lesson that you took from all this? The lesson? Oh, my God.
The lesson? I was asked to appear as a witness during Ronaldo's arraignment.
I already said what I had to say.
And I was asked to identify him through any physical markings on his body.
Family members told me that it was not necessary to put myself at risk.
But I needed to show that people need to stand up for what is right.
I described the scar on his hand and was able to identify him as being the person that kidnapped me.
For the crimes I committed, I spent 13 years in prison.
I saw inside that prison system kids who had never left the favela they were born in.
And that many of them never really had an opportunity.
I started to change.
I started to like myself a bit more.
I started to respect other people more.
I saw that I could make a difference.
Because of this, I started to embark on a new journey.
I am the vice president of CISC.
Center for Social and Cultural Integration.
"A chance.
" A nonprofit organization that targets a specific population that consists of incarcerated offenders, ex-convicts, their relatives and young people at risk.
With opportunities, with needs, with desire, with effort from everyone, we can pave a new way for ourselves.
And by remembering this, we can think about our future.
My greatest legacy with crime is the experience that allows me to do what I do today.
This picture here, this was our first graduation class.
None of them reoffended.
There is not one reoffender in that first group of 25.
I really believe that my calling, my mission, is to in some way invest in lives, as I had previously worked to destroy lives.
I pray for Ronaldo that he has a chance to heal all of the issues and emotions that he may still have regarding his past.
I truly pray for that for him.
Ah, my daughter and granddaughter! [Coffin.]
For me, it's unimaginable, doing something like that to someone else.
But just because I suffered doesn't mean that I would like him to suffer.
That doesn't get us anywhere in this world.
The act of crime, it has two sides.
It has the victim's side and the criminal's side.
The majority of people know that if you pursue a life of crime, your life will be interrupted by either prison or death.
It was a game.
And I was prepared to play that game.
In my case, I believed that something would be different something good would happen.
[man.]
We live in a state of war.
Social war.
Between the "haves" and the "have-nots," those who can and those who can't.
The difference in classes, not only in Rio de Janeiro, but in Brazil is very large.
It is unequal and inhuman.
I lived as a young person who was a "have-not.
" My thinking was that they have it and I want it.
If I'm prepared to pay for what I'm going to do, I only have to take it.
At the end of the '80s and beginning of the '90s, kidnapping came into fashion in Rio de Janeiro.
[reporter.]
In Rio, a historic and dramatic record, this year alone, there have already been 150 kidnappings.
There have been 15 kidnappings in July alone, one after the other.
[Monteiro.]
Within the kidnapping network, I was perhaps one of the most highly regarded and respected people in Rio.
There were kidnappings of important people, of important businesspeople.
And quite a considerable sum of money, of resources, was taken from them.
In all the crimes I undertook, in drug trafficking in kidnapping, in theft, I felt like I was very good.
I was the CEO of our family business, the Coca-Cola business.
My father started that in 1944 here in Brazil.
I was born here in Brazil, although my parents were American.
I lived in a high-rise apartment building, and I had a maid and a driver and could afford to have my children study at a private school.
So, I had a wonderful life.
[Monteiro.]
When Corinne's name was mentioned as a potential victim for a kidnapping let's put it this way, we would be rich.
I followed Corinne for approximately 90 to 100 days, three months.
I started to map out all of Corinne's personal life.
Her family, who the people closest to her were.
This makes the person a little more vulnerable.
I waited in the doorway of her apartment building in Lagoa trying to obtain and confirm as much information as possible.
Doormen normally have a lot of information to give.
You have access to all the information, the schedules of all the residents.
Doormen [Coffin.]
In the morning, my driver would take me over to our main office, which was in one of our factories in Niterói, which is across the bay from Rio.
I monitored parts of Corinne's route.
She always used the same roads, the same route, with no variation.
This was the final stretch of the location where we would intercept Corinne Coffin's car.
This was the ideal place.
We would have visibility throughout the operation, on both sides of the road, left and right.
It was the perfect location for an ambush.
[Coffin.]
I was just sitting, relaxing in the back seat when suddenly, two cars came out of nowhere and cut us off.
[horn honking.]
My first impression was, "My God, these people don't know how to drive!" But that didn't last very long because all these armed men jumped out of the car.
[horn honking.]
[men yelling.]
Up until that point, I had never heard a gunshot.
[gunshots.]
[high-pitched ringing.]
I'd never had a gun pointed at my face.
This particular one with the hood on was yelling, you know, "Open the door! Open the door!" I thought they were just going to take my purse or the car.
This voice said, "Dona Corinne, please get out of the car.
" The realization started to sink in.
It was not a random hold-up or carjacking.
I'm being kidnapped.
[cars honking.]
[tires screeching.]
One guy yelled at me, "Stay there.
Lie down.
Don't look around.
" [Monteiro.]
In the moment that you come across the helpless victim, there is no feeling.
There's just a mission, a job that needs to be executed.
[Coffin.]
The initial shock was beginning to wear off.
And that's when the fear starts to come in.
The fear is far beyond fear.
It was pure terror.
Once ambushed and subdued the main thing is to get the victim into the hideout as quickly as possible.
The safety of the whole operation and the team depends on this, as well as the victim's own life.
The military life I lived for ten years, undoubtedly, was a great school for this.
I was part of an elite squad, and I was considered to be very good in this squad.
And so throughout all of the crimes that I committed, my military training was fundamental.
[fly buzzing.]
The fear, the uncertainty, the "Oh, my God, what is going to happen to me?" I was just thinking, "Why did I not tell my husband I loved him this morning? Why did I not hug my kids one more time?" And thinking about how maybe I would never be given that chance again.
[sobbing.]
[man.]
I met a friend for a drink at a bar in Leblon and I said, "I'm going to call the house.
" My secretary answered and said, "Ms.
Corinne isn't home yet.
" So I started to think it was strange that she wasn't home yet.
I ended up going home.
Roughly around 11 p.
m.
, I was starting to worry, very worried actually, as we had a very precise routine, and neither her driver nor she showed up.
[phone ringing.]
When I answered, I realized it wasn't her, but a man speaking.
I will never forget his voice.
[man.]
We are with Corinne.
She has been kidnapped.
We are professionals.
She trusts you to do what needs to be done.
Do not go to the police and tell as few people as possible.
[Coimbre.]
And he hung up.
The world collapsed in 30 seconds.
They had put in the room safety goggles.
They had put duct tape on the actual lenses in the front.
[knocking.]
[man.]
Goggles! I was very careful not to see who they were.
I felt that it would just condemn me to death.
And I heard this voice.
This man said "My name is Lúcio.
This is a kidnapping.
" I outlined our proposal, that the intention was money, and that if everything went to plan, she would be returning home as soon as possible.
[Coffin.]
In his voice, there was a certain amount of contempt and a certain pride to be in that position of having someone of my class under his power.
Lúcio said to me "We're going to ask for $10 million.
" I froze.
I don't have that kind of money.
I didn't understand it.
[Coimbre.]
That night, I didn't sleep at all waiting for the call.
You're stuck.
You don't hear anything, noise, nothing.
You are just lost there waiting for the call.
I remember calling a few friends.
You're negotiating somebody's life, and it's not easy, so you need help.
When I found out that she had been kidnapped, I, like all the other company directors, became really desperate.
I was very close to Corinne, and so I was very close to Carlos and their sons.
She was like a mother figure to everyone.
[phone ringing.]
The next day the real negotiations began.
[Coimbre.]
The first demand was $20 million.
It was a mixture of panic, powerlessness, fear, anger, because there wasn't the slightest possibility that I could get together $20 million to pay for Corinne's life.
And I said, "We don't have that kind of money.
There's no chance.
" And then he hung up.
Lúcio.
Lúcio.
[Da Silva.]
We knew that it wouldn't be easy to free Corinne, at least not at the speed and urgency we wanted.
I would have paid the money right away if I'd had it.
I was willing to do anything.
One way or another, if they didn't pay, she would pay with her life.
We knew the kidnapper had said not to call the police, but we did not hesitate to call them, because you need the police's help in a kidnapping situation.
It doesn't matter whether it is a millionaire or a modest person, the procedure is the same.
At the time, we sometimes had to work on five kidnappings in one day alone.
They would kidnap supermarket and transport company owners more often because of their easy access to cash, real cash, real money.
In Corinne's case, it was different, because in the kidnapper's mind, she represented an empire, Coca-Cola.
You have to go back to that period and to what Coca-Cola represented.
Nowadays they have a lot of competition, but at the time Coca-Cola was everything.
When I arrived at the apartment, Corinne's family was very worried.
There were some company directors, everyone, a complete commotion.
Just as in any other kidnap, the family was desperate.
We managed to set up a headquarters there to work specifically on Corinne's case, with the family's permission.
The only technology we had at the time was we would get a phone call, and then we would contact the phone company so they could give us the location of the call.
[Monteiro.]
Through my training, I knew a little bit about communication.
I knew that it took a certain amount of time before you could identify the location of a call.
[Seiler.]
One sole call wouldn't solve things for us.
We had to have two or three calls from the same place, because we knew that was where they were calling from.
[Monteiro.]
And so, you mustn't use the same telephone device more than once.
It was archaic.
I was out in the jungle.
I hadn't spoken to my mother in about a week or ten days.
When I arrived at the apartment many people were there.
Police, the executives of my family's business.
Carlos was there.
Very emotional, very tense.
I was very shocked at the situation.
I was very concerned that something could happen to my mother.
[Coimbre.]
I was there to comfort him, to give him a hug, to tell him to stay calm, that everything would be resolved.
I didn't have anything other than words of comfort to say, you know.
[Shook.]
I have two brothers.
I'm the oldest.
And I really felt the responsibility to be as much support, help I could be.
I set up an altar with objects that were important to her.
It was a space where people can go to connect with her.
We'd been through a lot as a family together so I really felt that we would come out of this.
[Monteiro.]
My family was my mother, my father, my siblings that was my family.
And despite a few difficulties, we had a good life.
They gave me access to all education, training.
I was always brought up as a normal child.
I didn't see the difference between me and a white child.
Now I fully understand it.
In a school full of white people, I had nothing, and I had to do everything for them to give me the opportunity that should have been rightfully mine.
I really felt the power of the difference in the color of my skin, and that had a great impact on my life.
I got involved in another world, selling drugs, having access to favelas that had weapons.
It gave me power.
I was someone who was looked up to, respected.
And from there, it was difficult to get out.
[phone ringing.]
[Coimbre.]
The next day, when he called, he said, "Carlos, we were thinking $20 million.
We know that it's a lot of money, so we are going to start negotiating from $10 million.
" The family couldn't pay that amount.
We didn't have that money.
[Coimbre.]
He warned us that he wasn't in any rush to finalize the negotiations, because he had the means to keep her captive for two or three months if necessary.
What I found at the time was that it was a well-orchestrated kidnapping.
When you have someone who is experienced in that craft and has established an effective system of working, the investigation is much more difficult.
What we said at the time was not to negotiate, under any circumstances, without proof of life.
[Coimbre.]
I said that I needed proof that Corinne was alive.
I wanted to be sure she was alive.
It was risky for me to allow Corinne to have any kind of access or any type of contact that would put our location at risk.
So I decided that it would be through a recording.
[Coffin.]
I, very early on, did not want to show them any weakness.
I didn't cry in front of them.
And that was one of the things that Lúcio said to me.
He says, "What's wrong with you? You're a woman.
How come you're not crying?" Corinne expressed herself differently than all the other victims.
Her firmness, her position in trying to gain control of the situation she didn't appear fragile at any moment.
And that made an impression on me.
It was different from most of the other experiences I had in this area.
[Coffin.]
He could kill me.
He could keep me captive.
But he could not remove my dignity.
[Coimbre.]
Lúcio put a little cassette tape in the cemetery.
He gave me very clear instructions, and then he said I had to go alone.
Picking up a tape in a cemetery isn't pleasant.
It's a mixture of fear, panic, loneliness and I was genuinely afraid of being kidnapped, too.
[Shook.]
Hearing my mother's voice was a very strange situation.
Feeling relieved, hearing that she's okay, but at the same time, that she's not okay.
[Coffin.]
It was very emotional for me.
My family would actually be hearing my voice and perhaps, who knows, even hearing my last words.
[Shook.]
She said that she was being treated well, that they weren't harming her, but that she wanted us to do whatever we could to get her out as quick as possible.
I wanted to tell her so much, "I love you Come back home.
" A lot of things in my head, we were so helpless.
[Shook.]
I could feel in her voice that she was concerned that they could hurt her, that they could end her life.
That was [Coffin.]
I could imagine what they were feeling.
Especially my 12-year-old.
I didn't know whether they would you know, family members would allow him to hear my voice but just to imagine a 12-year-old hearing perhaps his last words from his mother.
Carlos was very traumatized.
He was no longer in a condition to negotiate.
[Da Silva.]
One of the directors of the company had to take over the negotiations.
In this case, it was the industrial director, Paulo Aury who was the one answering the kidnapper's calls.
But always with the support of Zé Maria when it was necessary.
[phone ringing.]
[Monteiro.]
The person on the other end of the line changed.
It wasn't the same person.
It wasn't just her husband who spoke.
There was another person speaking.
I got very annoyed.
It really bugged me.
[Shook.]
It was very quick, very direct, very tense.
My objective was to be as brief as possible, knowing I was being monitored and searched for by the police.
[Shook.]
He would ask for an exorbitant amount of money.
We'd tell him, "There's no way we can come up with this amount of money.
" I was pissed off, very angry.
Lúcio? Lúcio? We couldn't do anything immediately because we didn't have the information.
[Shook.]
The kidnapper called back and said that he would send my mother's finger or ear.
We tried to calm him down, saying, "We're gonna pay you.
We're gonna get this over with.
Please, do not hurt my mother.
" [Coffin.]
Lúcio came in and said to me that my family didn't want to pay.
I just could not believe that.
I honestly could not believe that.
But at the same time wondering, "Why? Why couldn't they just pay and then let me go?" [Coimbre.]
It seemed that we were in the middle of a dream, a nightmare.
[Coffin.]
I couldn't sleep.
And right outside this window there was somebody out there digging.
And this digging went on for several days.
I thought that they were going to bury my body there.
[Coimbre.]
The paper always arrived in my hand around seven o'clock in the morning.
When I opened it, there was a headline about the kidnapping.
So that surprised me.
Until then, we thought things were under control, that nothing had gotten out to the press.
[reporter.]
Despite the fact that over 30 people witnessed the businesswoman's kidnapping, until now nobody has called the police to provide any clues.
Then from that moment onwards, there was no control.
Then all the TV channels got it, all the newspapers, there were people downstairs the whole day, asking to come up to have an interview, it was the whole day.
[reporter.]
The kidnapping is being treated with complete secrecy by the company and by the relatives and people involved.
No one is giving any information.
[Shook.]
Whenever I would leave to get supplies, buy food, I would be surrounded by the reporters in the car.
There were times I felt that the press were not helping at all and that could be detrimental to her health and well-being.
[reporter.]
All the reports pointed to the municipality of São Gonçalo.
They carried out various searches but were unable to find any leads about the kidnappers or the businesswoman.
If the police had raided the hideout, me and my team could be forced to kill, to die.
I was trained to kill in a situation of war.
And in that situation, I was in a war.
But I was sure that we had all the aces up our sleeves.
I was completely certain that nothing could go wrong.
I was awake.
It was the middle of the night.
All of a sudden my whole body started feeling funny.
I don't know how to describe it, but it's a very strange feeling.
I could feel that my limbs were weak.
I didn't know what was going on.
As the days went by I was having these episodes several times a day.
Each time the effects were becoming more and more obvious in my physical body.
I was slurring my speech.
My hand, I wasn't able to hold anything.
My leg, I was dragging it.
Then I began to become very worried.
I heard Lúcio and I think a couple of others saying, "What's up with the lady?" "She is having a stroke.
" "Give her something.
Do something.
She's not going to a hospital.
" That was very frightening for me.
[Monteiro.]
I got very worried, because it could end in the death of Corinne if I maintained the operation for much longer.
Then I really saw that I didn't have all the aces up my sleeve.
[phone ringing.]
[Shook.]
Lúcio called.
He was desperate, saying my mother wasn't doing too well that she was ill.
We felt that extreme urgency, that she needed help.
[Seiler.]
Usually, he would speak for short amounts of time.
On this day he took longer.
[Shook.]
We tried keeping Lúcio on the line as long as possible to be able to trace him.
He tried to play Mr.
Nice Guy, saying that he really cared about her and "Let's get to the end of negotiation.
It's become really tiring, but we won't go lower than $5 million.
" We were able to keep him on the line long enough and we alerted the phone company, and so we received the precise location.
[man.]
Calling all units in Penha, we have a kidnap suspect at a pay phone on Praça Cai and Jacurutã.
Possibly armed and extremely We already had a team nearby.
[man.]
Attention! Calling all - I can't read you.
- Come in, over.
We said we had close to $250,000, more or less.
And then he got really angry.
Repeat! Attention, all units! I could see the police were very close, and I knew they were there for a purpose.
Attention, all units! Respond! [Seiler.]
Unfortunately, he was in a dead zone with no radio signal, and in that area, we couldn't make contact with anyone.
Copy! Copy! I would try to talk, trying to talk to the radio, and the radio wouldn't work.
Respond! Please respond! We wanted to take the radios and break them apart.
We wanted to destroy everything.
The moment we needed it the most, it failed and left us hanging.
We thought then it could have meant her death.
[Coffin.]
I had requested to go to the bathroom.
Lúcio came in.
I don't know why he chose to come in and get me and take me to the bathroom, 'cause that was unusual.
He had to support me with his one arm around my waist and actually almost carrying me.
[Monteiro.]
Looking at Corinne and her difficulty, her speech, Corinne's expression, the difficulty of her movement Even though I had my training and my thoughts, it was a life.
[Coffin.]
It was at this point that I felt a shift somewhat in Lúcio's energy.
He just felt more compassionate.
He didn't feel as cold and as calculating as as I felt before.
[Monteiro.]
I started thinking about her, looking at her not as an object, a pawn of negotiation, but as a human being.
As a person, as a mother, and independent of the wealth and money she had.
[Coffin.]
He said, "Take your goggles off.
" Which of course, I would not have done on my own.
But he took my goggles off, I think, to enable me to walk a little bit better.
[Monteiro.]
She looked down at the floor, saying she didn't want to look.
I could see his arms.
I could see his hands.
And that's when I saw this scar on his hand.
And I realized then that, actually, I could identify him if it were necessary, from that.
The team was quite agitated, you know.
And some of them were already saying, "We should stop.
We are not going to put our lives at risk.
The money isn't coming.
" That was the moment I had to make a decision.
[Shook.]
Two days go by and Lúcio finally calls.
[Coimbre.]
On that day, he spoke with a really kind voice, as if talking to a good friend.
Then he said, "Let's end this negotiation.
How much do you actually have?" Then we said the amount again, "Close to $250,000.
" Then he said, "So we will call later with ransom payment instructions.
" There was a moment of relief, we hugged each other.
It's finally over.
We felt euphoric.
It was a complete joy.
[Shook.]
And we were all very, very surprised at him accepting this offer.
And at the time, very relieved, excited to get this over with.
But had no idea what he had planned.
I heard a lot of movement in the house that night.
A lot of shuffling and I heard vehicles leaving.
What does that mean? [Monteiro.]
The crime of kidnapping is a game of poker.
It's a game.
Whoever has more information whoever has more control, whoever is more calculated has the better hand.
[Shook.]
One of the directors went to the bank to get the money.
The kidnapper wanted Paulo Aury and Zé Maria, executives of my family's business, to take the ransom.
He didn't want any police, because if he saw any police, that he would he would kill my mother.
He did say that.
[Seiler.]
I think it was unnecessary in that moment to pay the ransom.
I and my team were certain that we would free her, but the family decided otherwise.
They weren't thinking about the negative aspect.
They were only thinking about the positive side.
[Coimbre.]
The specific instructions were that Paulo and Zé should go in my car.
And that it should be handed over at the end of the road where São Paulo Road starts, because there was a motel in a dark street.
Lúcio would come within a certain distance in another car.
We imagined that Paulo and Zé Maria would come back immediately, and Corinne would be with us.
[Monteiro.]
My team thought that we should take the $250,000 and kill them.
I said, "No, we are going to take the $250,000 and then I have a much better plan.
" Hour after hour went by.
Finally, I heard all of these cars coming back then commotion in the house.
Goggles! There was somebody there under a lot of stress and immediately what came to me is, "My God, what have you guys done?" [Monteiro.]
Knowing that things weren't going according to plan I needed to take new hostages.
[Coffin.]
I heard a voice.
"It's me, Paulo and Zé.
" [Monteiro.]
I remember the expression she had when I entered with the two directors.
She was shocked.
She wasn't expecting it.
And that was when I just said, "I don't care what you do with me.
You can kill me.
You can keep me.
Please don't do this.
" And I really did feel, at that point, I did feel that.
I was just ready just to die.
But I just promised them that I would do everything I could to get them out of there.
So, they took me out.
I didn't know if I was going to be released or not.
I thought that they might be taking me to an empty lot somewhere, where they would just shoot me in the back of the head.
[Shook.]
An hour went by, two hours.
It felt very strange.
I started getting worried.
Why is it taking so long for them to get back? What's going on? I was determined not to beg for my life and just to stand there and be strong.
I think I fainted for a couple of seconds there.
[sobbing.]
There was my purse and my clothes.
And my watch my mother had given me, an expensive watch, so that was surprising, I must admit.
And they also gave me a giant, hot pink teddy bear.
I bought it on the street, so it was a moment of showing feeling, but also, saying to her, "Their lives depend on you.
" [Shook.]
I saw a taxi arrive.
I knew that it was my mother.
I just embraced her.
My mother was finally at home.
[Coimbre.]
And then she stammered, "They kidnapped Zé and Paulo! They kidnapped Zé and Paulo!" And then a new nightmare began.
It was very difficult to think that that they would be in the same situation I was in.
[Monteiro.]
We moved on to different things, a different life, and one of the members of the team was arrested, having in his possession some of the ransom money.
And when that was identified, it all started snowballing.
He implicated other people.
Those other people were arrested, up until the moment that I, too, was arrested for the crime of extortion through kidnapping.
[reporter.]
Shortly after the businesswoman was released, this man was arrested, former army officer Ronaldo Monteiro.
A former officer of the parachute regiment, he was the leader of the gang that kept Corinne Coffin in captivity for 12 days.
From the newspaper, I found out that he was actually not Lúcio.
His real name was Ronaldo Monteiro.
What was the lesson that you took from all this? The lesson? Oh, my God.
The lesson? I was asked to appear as a witness during Ronaldo's arraignment.
I already said what I had to say.
And I was asked to identify him through any physical markings on his body.
Family members told me that it was not necessary to put myself at risk.
But I needed to show that people need to stand up for what is right.
I described the scar on his hand and was able to identify him as being the person that kidnapped me.
For the crimes I committed, I spent 13 years in prison.
I saw inside that prison system kids who had never left the favela they were born in.
And that many of them never really had an opportunity.
I started to change.
I started to like myself a bit more.
I started to respect other people more.
I saw that I could make a difference.
Because of this, I started to embark on a new journey.
I am the vice president of CISC.
Center for Social and Cultural Integration.
"A chance.
" A nonprofit organization that targets a specific population that consists of incarcerated offenders, ex-convicts, their relatives and young people at risk.
With opportunities, with needs, with desire, with effort from everyone, we can pave a new way for ourselves.
And by remembering this, we can think about our future.
My greatest legacy with crime is the experience that allows me to do what I do today.
This picture here, this was our first graduation class.
None of them reoffended.
There is not one reoffender in that first group of 25.
I really believe that my calling, my mission, is to in some way invest in lives, as I had previously worked to destroy lives.
I pray for Ronaldo that he has a chance to heal all of the issues and emotions that he may still have regarding his past.
I truly pray for that for him.
Ah, my daughter and granddaughter! [Coffin.]
For me, it's unimaginable, doing something like that to someone else.
But just because I suffered doesn't mean that I would like him to suffer.
That doesn't get us anywhere in this world.