Law&Crime Sidebar - Bodybuilder Butchered by 'Possessive' Wife in Frenzied Knife Attack: Cops

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

A champion bodybuilder is found brutally murdered, and his wife is the prime suspect. As new details emerge about the tumultuous relationship between Valter de Vargas Aita and his wife, Andrea Carvalho Aita, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober joins Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber to help make sense of how love could devolve into such hate.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. A bodybuilder who was known for his hulking muscles, his training regimen, his caring spirit, somebody who was loved, he was stabbed over and over and over again. And apparently this attack started while he was sleeping. And despite his efforts to crawl away from the frenzied attack, He was found dead. Police say it was his own wife who was the one holding the knife.

And as new details come out about possible motives and what she was allegedly doing beforehand, we try to make sense of this entire situation with forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Bober. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. 41-year-old Walter DeVargas Aito was a champion bodybuilder from the city of Shepeco in Brazil. According to reporting from Universal Online in the New York Post, he represented his country in bodybuilding competitions around the world.

He was a five-time state champion. He was even at one time a World Fitness Federation runner up. He worked as a personal trainer. He shared his workout routines online and in person, but everything came crashing down in early September because that is when Brazilian police, a Volter was stabbed nearly two dozen times, and the attack started while he was in bed asleep. During a news conference, police release new details about the suspect. That suspect, Volter's wife, Andrea Carvajalo Aita.

And you will not believe what she is accused of doing in the lead-up to Walter's death. So the two apparently got married in 2021. This is according to Universal Online, but they apparently had a rough, tumultuous relationship. Santa Catarina civil police say that Carvajo Aita was convinced that Volter was having an affair, although it's unclear if he actually had been unfaithful in the relationship or she just suspected this. However, a friend of Valtors identified as Camille told Outlet N.D. Maiz that she was surprised when the news came out about Volta's death, not only because of the heinous crime, but because he had apparently said he was single. Now, police say that on September 7th, Volter was sleeping

inside that apartment that he shared with his wife when she allegedly started stabbing him repeatedly with a large knife, according to the New York Post and Globo. During their news conference, police revealed that neighbors had heard cries for help, with one person claiming they heard him yell, my God, why are you doing this? This is per reporting from Nd. Maiz. Now, Universal Online reports that at least one neighbor had claimed that she saw Walter stumbling out of his unit into the hallway, apparently naked and bloody, and saw this through her peephole. According to the New York Post and ND. Maiz, investigators say that

Volter was stabbed 21 times that he had apparent injuries to his face, his head, his neck, arms, legs, chest, abdomen. When he got out of bed to try to get away, the New York Post has reported that police believe his wife followed him, continuing to strike him with a massive trail of blood leading out into the hall. Volter was found dead in a stairwell near the entrance to the building. This is according to multiple Brazilian news outlets. Now, as for his wife, Carvajo Aita, she was taken to a hospital for her own injuries,

some cuts on her fingers, head, left arm. This is according to the Court of Justice of Santa Katerina. And when she was released is when she was arrested. Just a brutal situation. So I want to get insight into this. And I want to welcome back on to the program. Forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Bober. Dr. Bober, thanks so much for coming on. Really appreciate it. We're going to get into some of the details of what she's accused of doing. But the, if she really did do this, or just generally speaking, the brutal nature of this attack. What does that tell you psychologically about what might be going on here? Well, it's a familiar story, Jesse. We think about things like O.J. Simpson, J. Simpson, Jody, Arias. We have a familiar cycle, right? A suspicion and insecurity,

which leads to this obsessive surveillance and control. And then finally, threats and intimidation. If I ever see you with anyone, if you ever betray me, escalation, planning. obtaining a weapon, preoccupation, and then finally, lethal violence. So this is a very unfortunately common story in society that we see of pathological jealousy. Now, you brought up an interesting point, which is, did he actually commit infidelity? Well, it turns out that's not critical for the diagnosis. Usually the diagnosis is associated with a delusional disorder, but any time the focus is irrational, excessive, disproportionate extreme, it moves over from jealousy,

which is an appropriate reaction if you believe your partner is committing infidelity. Then it becomes pathological. It's irrational, it's excessive, it's disproportionate, and results in extreme behavior as in this case. That's interesting if you're talking about what she believed. So assuming she did this, if you had the opportunity to interview her, what kind of questions would you ask?

What would you want to know from her? I would want to know, one, does she have a history of mental illness? I would want to know, is she using substances? I would want to know what her evidence is for why he's been, been unfaithful. I would want to challenge her. I'd want to see if there was an alternative explanation that she would be willing to entertain. Those are some of the things I would talk to her about. By the way, I don't think I've asked you this before, but your role, and let's say a criminal investigation, have you ever seen a situation where somebody may not open up or confess to authorities, but during the course of an interview, they're not.

they may admit to the crime? Yeah, and I think that goes just back to not necessarily your qualifications, whether you're a psychiatrist or a police officer. A lot of times that has to do with building rapport, trust, making them feel like they're being validated. I think they're much more likely to open up to you in those circumstances. Let me talk about the evidence in this case so far. So I want to talk about some of the digital evidence that the civil police uncovered.

According to Universal Online, investigators apparently found me. messages between the couple in which this wife had threatened to kill her husband, even including knife emojis in some of the texts. M.D. Maiz reports that there were also audio recordings where she reportedly said that Volter would, quote, pay for what he was doing to her. She had also allegedly sent photos of Walter, of him sleeping, so reinforcing that he was constantly being watched. Civil police also alleged that she had drilled holes in the walls of the apartment to watch him, to see what he was up to. Dr. Bober, if that is true, and we talk about escalating behavior that, you know, allegedly ended with this brutal attack, what does that tell you?

So again, we have obsessive surveillance and rumination. We have possessiveness and fear of abandonment, which is often a sign of deep-seated insecurity. And very often, the more intense the attachment, the more aggressive the reaction. So in these, types of relationships, and we've heard about them probably even through friends of ours, that are very intense. They often tend to be very unstable. And those are the ones that have the unfortunate tendency to result in violence. So we have this threat control cycle where it starts off with anxiety, these betrayal fantasies. And then finally, it goes from anxiety and insecurity to threats of punishment. And you have these pre-homicidal warning signs, like the letter that he wrote, that said,

if anything were to happen to me, this is the person who did it. By the way, you know why we're able to bring you stories like this? Not only because of the amazing support from you guys, but also from our incredible sponsor, Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm, a firm with over 1,000 attorneys. You know why they're so big? Because they win a lot. They have recovered over $25 billion for more than 500,000 clients. In fact, in the past few months, a client in Florida received $12 million after the insurance company

offered just $350,000. Out in Pennsylvania, a client was awarded $26 million. That is 40 times the insurer's $650,000 offer. Another client in Pennsylvania received $29 million after being offered only $500,000. And look, even if you think that your case isn't worth millions of dollars, why not just start a claim and fight for what you deserve? Morgan and Morgan makes it so simple. You can start a claim from your phone in just eight clicks. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar by clicking the link below or scanning the QR code on screen. By the way, she also allegedly communicated with some sort of artificial intelligence, some AI, relaying the problems with her marriage to some sort of chat bot.

So Basia Notizias reports that message logs obtained by police show her talking to this bot about her symptoms of depression and feelings of frustration and suspicions that her husband was cheating on her. You know, Dr. Bowber, we've talked before here on Sidebar about AI and how people feel comfortable to ask this chatbot questions and relay personal information, almost like it's a friend. Are you surprised to hear this? I'm not in this day and age, and it's very concerning to me.

I keep telling people all the time, AI is not your friend. AI is not your therapist. AI doesn't act with intention because AI is simply a language prediction model. It is designed for reinforcement, social engagement, and to keep the conversation going. So if you're relying on AI for advice, you're making a huge mistake. And it's obviously can be incriminating evidence, right? I think that's coming up more and more that what you put in there. It's similar to Google searches that can come back in a criminal case and really hurt someone.

Now, despite Volter's extensive injuries, the civil police. said that this woman admitted to stabbing him. However, she says it was only three times. This is according to the New York Post. She claims she was acting in self-defense. She claims that he had the knife first, but she was able to get it away from him. I will tell you, authorities weren't buying it. And let me ask you, Dr. Bober, about that. Self-defense cases, domestic violence cases, wouldn't be the first time that we've seen those. What would you be looking out for to see if this was or was not a legitimate case of of self-defense.

Well, listen, I don't buy it either. You have to look at the physical evidence. You have to look at the fact that there seemed to be a lead-up to all this, a crescendo, if you will. And that doesn't necessarily prove it definitively. But again, at least in the United States, we're talking about beyond a reasonable doubt. So certainly a defense team would try to present an alternative theory. But given the obsessiveness, drilling holes in the wall and watching him, sending the text

messages with the knife emojis, all this would be highly, high. difficult to overcome. I want to talk about that letter that you mentioned before because it seems that Volta was aware that his wife could cause him great harm. The post reported that he told her he planned to write a letter explaining that if he were to be found dead, it was his wife who did it. I will say, apparently police couldn't find any such letter. But if that's true and you're talking about somebody who has a recognition of what would happen to them, what does that tell you in B? I'm not placing any blame. I'm not placing any blame. But is it difficult for someone to separate themselves from a relationship like that,

particularly if they're married, right? I mean, what does that tell you? That this was a very intense, unstable relationship. Now, what were the reasons that were motivating her? Was she someone who had a legitimate mental illness? For example, psychosis? Was she someone who had paranoid traits where she was suspicious and hostile? Is this behavior that she displayed in other relationships prior to this one?

is something I would want to look into talking to other people that knew her before, or what we call borderline traits, again, emotional instability, fear of abandonment, the so-called black and white thinking, acting impulsively, going from idealization to devaluation, these are all what we call borderline traits, and they tend to be very intense, unstable, labile-type relationships. Is there any way to reason with somebody like this? Again, assuming all this is true, So if you're in a position where your counterpart is this woman, how do you reason with somebody like that? I mean, I think it's someone who needs professional help, but there are types of therapy, for example, if it's borderline personality disorder called dialectical behavioral therapy or DBT,

that can help with someone like this, obviously medication. But it's probably something that she came into the relationship with, and her partner may not have known how to deal with it. She could have gotten professional help, but unfortunately it didn't happen. Now, I will say, in a shocking twist, okay? This apparently is not the first time that this woman, Andrea Caravajo Aita, has been accused of a very serious crime. Local reporting says she was actually convicted of attempted robbery with violence and was

given an 18-year prison sentence. She apparently appealed that conviction. It was upheld in 23. The prison length was reduced, though, to 15 years. But by the time, the appeals process wrapped up, authorities couldn't find. She had an active arrest warrant when she was taken into custody for Volter's murder. And according to N.D. Maes, if she is convicted, she now faces 12 to 30 years in prison and, it seems, on top of the 15, that she was supposed to be serving for the robbery conviction.

That adds a whole other layer there, Dr. Bober, doesn't it? It does, you know, that now we're talking about someone who slipped through the cracks of law enforcement, and that brings, as you said, a whole other element to it. Is this someone with antisocial traits, someone who routinely violates the rights of others, who manipulates people, who acts without remorse, who's cold, who's cunning, who's methodical? So it does add a new element into it. Now, Volter's mother spoke with Endymais, saying that this woman, Carvahalo Aita, had said she had to marry her son. She had to marry Walter and threatened to kill him.

She remembered her son as a caring man saying, quote, we set up a gym at home so he could work, and devote himself to bodybuilding. He was a simple, kind-hearted boy. Doctor, it's never lost on us the family and the friends that are left behind after an alleged murder, right? What does that family? What does this mother? What does loss look like for them?

And what's their journey going to be? Well, I think it's not only loss, but it's loss in this horrific way. And it's something that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. And I've said it before, you know, grief is a processed loss. is a process. It's not something that you ever forget. It's something that you learn to live with and it, you know, it becomes a new normal for the family. And hopefully there are other things in their lives where they can find joy in because this is obviously horrific. This legal process that unfolds, does it only complicated for them? Does it only make it worse? Does it amplify

these feelings? You know, you hear this from the families of victims all the time, right? leading up to a trial, which sometimes can take years, they never find peace until there's justice, until everything is resolved. They have a lot of trouble moving on with their lives. And as I said before, it never really goes back to the way it was. But it's certainly easier when this process is no longer playing out. By the way, I'm not entirely familiar with the law in Brazil regarding a mental health defense. But assuming this happened in the states, based on this limited set of facts that we have laid out, the allegations that we have laid out. Is there a potential mental health defense that you would be looking out for here? You know, I guess, you know, a defense

attorney might turn to an expert like me and try to say that she had some kind of extreme emotional reaction, but the problem for them is going to be all the lead up that occurred to this, the text messages, the threats, the surveillance. It all makes it seem pretty pre-planned, pretty premeditated, One of the things they could say is that she was suffering from some form of psychosis and she was delusional and she had false beliefs. But it's going to be a very uphill climb for a defense strategy using an insanity defense. I agree. Dr. Daniel Bober, thanks so much for taking the town. Thanks, Jesse. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody.

Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app,

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