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Jilted boyfriend arrested in exotic dancer’s slaying

E-mail|Link October 9, 2009 08:08 PM

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent, and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A 38-year-old man has been arrested on a murder charge for allegedly stabbing a 26-year-old exotic dancer to death in Everett last week because she was rejecting his attempts to rekindle their relationship, the Middlesex district attorney said this afternoon.

Sheila Santos (hi5.com)

Antonio "Marcos" Ferreira, formerly of Somerville, was arrested this afternoon in the slaying of Sheila Dos Santos, District Attorney Gerry Leone said at a news conference.

"At this time, all of the evidence we've obtained and developed points to this defendant as the murderer," Leone said.

Dos Santos was slain outside her Main Street apartment building shortly after she finished work at a club in Stoughton at around 1:15 a.m. last Friday.

Her body was found stabbed 33 times on the stairs leading to the rear door of her apartment building, just steps away from her car, according to neighbors and police.

Leone said Dos Santos and Ferreira had met each other in the Brazilian community through mutual friends and had dated for about a year, but they had stopped dating about nine months ago.

He said Dos Santos had been rejecting Ferreira's advances for several months.

Leone said that, when arrested, Ferreira had all of his belongings and his Brazilian passport inside his car and he had left the Somerville address.

He commended police for their quick action, saying, "If the arrest was not made today, he may have fled the area."

Ferreira is to be arraigned Tuesday in Malden District Court.