Brazilian father, stepmother accused of daughter's murder go on trial

The trial of a father and stepmother accused of murdering their five-year-old daughter started Monday afternoon in Sao Paulo.

The couple, Alexandre Nardoni and Anna Carolina Jatoba, were accused of murdering Nardoni's daughter Isabella in 2008. The murder remains one of the most notorious cases in the past few years in Brazil. On March 29, 2008, the girl was found dead on the ground in front of her father's apartment building, after being thrown out of the sixth-floor window.

Criminalists found several bruises unrelated to the fall on Isabella's body, suggesting that she suffered aggression before falling out of the window. An accident has been ruled out.

Isabella, who lived with her mother, was spending the weekend with her father, stepmother and two younger half-brothers.

Nardoni and Jatoba have always denied that they had anything to do with the crime, claiming that a burglar entered the apartment while they were away and killed the child.

The couple are being accused of aggravated murder.

They are also accused of fraud and of trying to alter a crime scene. If found guilty, they can be sentenced to up to 30 years of prison.

Source:Xinhua