Prosecution details case in woman’s killing

They added that the 38-year-old carpenter from Somerville told Sheila dos Santos’s sister that he was using drugs to cope with the rejection and that the victim “did not know who she was dealing with.’’

Ferreira pleaded not guilty yesterday in Malden District Court to killing dos Santos early on Oct. 2 as she returned from Club Alex, a Stoughton strip club where she worked as a dancer.

Prosecutors declined to comment yesterday, but in court they said a blood stain on a pair of Ferreira’s sneakers matches dos Santos’s DNA. They also said video surveillance cameras show Ferreira’s 2005 Nissan Murano in the vicinity of dos Santos’s apartment building about the time she was killed.

Other evidence suggests he had been stalking her for much of the past year, after she broke off the relationship, and that he had called her nearly a dozen times on his cellphone the day before she died, at times minutes apart, authorities said.

Dos Santos, 26, who was known as Kelly at Club Alex, was found face down about 4:30 a.m., her back and sides punctured by “large gapping (sic) slashes,’’ according to a police report, which added that a neighbor apparently heard her screaming, “Get off of me!’’ and “Get away from me!’’

Prosecutors added that when police arrested Ferreira on Oct. 8 in Charlestown, his car was filled with his possessions and his Brazilian passport was in his back pocket.

Judge Matthew J. Nestor ordered Ferreira held without bail and scheduled him to return to court on Nov. 19 for a status hearing. He also impounded the case file.

In an interview outside the courthouse after the arraignment, John Hayes, a Boston lawyer appointed by the court to represent Ferreira, said his client is innocent. “I think they have the wrong guy,’’ Hayes said. “He wasn’t at the scene; he didn’t stab her.’’

He dismissed the DNA evidence, pointing out that the two had an on-and-off relationship in the past year. “They knew each other a long time,’’ Hayes said. “DNA can get on you in many ways.’’

He also pointed out that dos Santos never sought a restraining order against Ferreira and that he was cooperating with police.

Hayes said the video surveillance only shows him driving around.

“He was out and about,’’ he said. “There isn’t any video putting him at the scene.’’

He described Ferreira as deeply affected by the killing. “I think he’s traumatized that she’s gone and that he’s being blamed,’’ Hayes said.

Prosecutors should not rule out other potential suspects, the lawyer said. “I don’t want to blame the victim, but her employment does lead to meeting a lot of dangerous people. . . . These things happen. Part of her job was to get people interested.’’

Friends and family have said dos Santos had been increasingly afraid for her safety. She lived alone, but planned to move in with a friend.

After the arraignment, Lidia Souza, a friend who works as a bartender at the same club, said Ferreira was very upset with dos Santos and that he sometimes came to the club twice a week to see her.

She said Hayes was wrong to suggest that dos Santos led a dangerous life as a stripper.

“He’s lying,’’ she said. “She didn’t have a dangerous life. She worked, and she went home. I never saw her make a date with a customer, and there was a lot of security at the club.’’

She described dos Santos as a good daughter who helped support her family in Rondonia, Brazil.

“She was always very happy; I’ll always remember her smile,’’ said Souza, who wore a T-shirt with dos Santos’s picture and a caption that read, “I love forever.’’

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.