Need to know
Elize: Shadows of a Woman tells the true story of Elize Matsunaga, who murdered and dismembered her husband.
Elize Matsunaga ultimately confessed to killing her husband(Image: NETFLIX)
Everything you need to know about what happened to Elize Matsunaga and her daughter
- Netflix’s new crime drama Elize: Shadows of a Woman is a chilling retelling of a real-life Brazilian murder case. The series explores the true story of Elize Matsunaga, who shocked Brazil in 2012 when she shot and dismembered her husband, Marcos Kitano Matsunaga, after discovering his infidelity.
- Netflix describes the drama as showing how “a former escort discovers her wealthy husband’s infidelity and struggles to cope as betrayal poisons their marriage.” The series, which is a fictionalised retelling of the true story, follows on from the 2021 documentary Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime, which featured her first interview after the crime.
- Matsunaga, a trained nurse, had hired a private investigator to gather evidence of her husband’s cheating before confronting him about the affair. The confrontation had fatal consequences, and after the tragic event, she initially reported her husband missing but confessed to the murder weeks later.
- Convicted in 2016, she was sentenced to almost 20 years in prison, later reduced to 16 years in 2019. Having served 10 years, Matsunaga has been on parole since 2022. The Netflix documentary reveals the Matsunaga family wishes to disassociate themselves by “removing Elize’s surname.”
- Matsunaga had a daughter, who was only one year old when the murder occurred, and she was keen to keep in contact with her only child. However, her daughter remains in the care of Marcos’ parents with full custody. Tragically, Elize has had no contact with her daughter since the crime and has not even seen photographs of her.
READ THE FULL STORY: Where is Elize Matsunaga now?