US federal authorities have arrested a Brazilian national living in the country illegally in connection with the strangling of a woman inside her Massachusetts home. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Flavio Alcantara Dias, 43, had a criminal history including prior DUI and aggravated assault arrests but was nonetheless released into the country under the Biden administration, prompting the Department of Homeland Security to renew calls for local police cooperation on immigration detainers.

Dias entered the US illegally in April 2019, and his immigration case was terminated in October 2024 on a legal technicality despite his record, after which he was released. Prosecutors say he called 911 last week to report killing 33-year-old Brianna Connolly at her home in Framingham, telling a dispatcher in Portuguese that he had strangled her following an argument that began when she refused to have sex with him while the pair were using drugs together. He claimed to have fallen asleep and woken to find her not breathing; police reportedly found blood marks on her head and a cord around her neck. DHS is now urging Framingham Police to hand Dias over for deportation once his criminal case concludes.