A Serbian man who was shot dead in front of his family has reportedly been identified as a hitman on Interpol’s wanted list.
Darko Geisler, 43, was killed when a gunman approached him, his wife and three-year-old son as they returned to their home in Brazil and went to stow their bikes away, according to Fox News. The gunman then shot and killed Geisler as his loved ones looked on.
During the investigation into his murder, police learned that Geisler was allegedly a hitman wanted by Interpol for multiple contract killings, the network reported.
Luiz Ricardo Lara Dias Jr, the lead officer in the investigation, told reporters on Friday that Geisler had been on Interpol’s wanted list for almost a decade and that his murder could be connected to his past dealings as a criminal.
Mr Dias Jr said that Geisler had been living in Brazil “clandestinely” under a false Slovenian name. Local police conferred with the Slovenian consulate in São Paulo over the victim’s passport, which turned out did not belong to him but to a citizen from Slovenia who had lost it in 2017.
Further research through reverse-searching Geisler’s online pictures revealed that he was a Serbian hitman wanted for multiple homicides and possession of weapons and explosives charges in Montenegro, authorities said.
It is thought that Geisler fled from Montenegro to Bosnia after a man at a prison gate was killed on Christmas Day in 2014, the outlet said.
Darko Geisler, 43, was allegedly a wanted hitman— (Fox News)
After this, Geisler disappeared, with police now believing he had been living in Brazil for the last nine years.
Around 2015 or 2016, Geisler met his future wife, who claimed she had no idea of her husband’s true identity.
Geisler’s apparent secret identity was also unknown to the family’s neighbours, who knew him as a man who would take his young son to school and chat with other neighbourhood parents despite his limited Portuguese, reported local outlet Folha de S Paulo.
The mysterious man had reportedly told everyone he worked as a carpenter and gained money from a business he owned back in his “home country” Slovenia.
The gunman who killed Geisler wore a mask and gloves and left the scene in a black car.
Police in Brazil and Montenegro are working together on the investigation into Geisler’s death.
The Independent has contacted Interpol for further information.
