A20 EZ RE the washington post.saturday, february 22 , 2020
BY TERRENCE MCCOYRIO DE JANEIRO — An American
accused of killing his wife and
hiding her body in Louisiana has
been found dead in the Brazilian
jail w here he was awaiting extradi-
tion to the United S tates.
Police in Brazil said they believe
Sean Karl Grebinger, 48, killed
himself T hursday n ight.
Grebinger was arrested by Bra-
zilian federal police in the south-
eastern state of M inas G erais earli-
er this week, which seemed to
answer some o f the questions that
had long surrounded the disap-
pearance of his wife, Crystal Du-
puis Grebinger, who vanished in
February 2013 in L afayette, L a.
Calling him an “international
fugitive,” federal police accused
Grebinger of killing his wife and
hiding her body. Two weeks after
her d isappearance, p olice said in a
statement, he took a flight to the
Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo.
In Brazil, he obtained residency,
married a Brazilian woman and
falsely claimed to authorities thathe had been a member of the U.S.
counterterrorism f orces.
Officials found several notes in
the c ell.
“He left farewell letters to his
family and friends,” regional de-
tective Renato Gavião told the
Brazilian news outlet O Globo.
“He left a note for his mother,
spoke a lot about his children and
asked his friend to take care of his
children.”
Police did not immediately re-
spond t o requests for comment.
His arrest and death appear tobring c losure to a mystery that had
long puzzled southern Louisiana:
What happened to Crystal Dupuis
Grebinger? She was last seen at
age 32, wearing a g ray jogging suit
as she left a shelter for battered
women, the culmination of a long
and a llegedly abusive relationship
with her husband.
According to the Advocate, a
paper trail in the Louisiana court
system t ells t he s tory of t heir years
together. Beginning their wed-
ding night, Sean Grebinger alleg-
edly beat his wife, who was 16 atthe time. She also alleged that he
had sexually assaulted her, beat
her in front of friends when she
was pregnant, and stabbed her in
the n ose with a knife.
“I am afraid desperately for my
life and my 4 b abies,” t he Advocate
reported her writing in one peti-
tion for a protective order in 2012.
In m id-January t he following year,
she filed for divorce — disappear-
ing less than a month later.
Sean Grebinger, who was p ut on
Interpol’s wanted list, had mean-
while constructed a new life inBrazil, reportedly bouncing from
the coastal city of Santos to the
interior of Minas Gerais. He lived
in a small, beige house there with
two of his children, according to O
Globo.
He came to the attention of
authorities when he was accused
of domestic violence against his
Brazilian wife in January and ar-
rested. Within weeks, he was ar-
rested again — but this time, it
related to the disappearance of
Crystal Grebinger.
[email protected]American accused of killing wife, hiding her body f ound dead in Brazilian jail
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