Police Search For Suspects After Referee Was Decapitated In Brazil Soccer Slaying

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Police in the northern Brazilian state of Maranhao are searching for two men suspected of taking part in the slaying and beheading of an amateur soccer referee who stabbed a player to death during a match.

Officer Valter Costa said Monday that one suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the June 30 slaying of 20-year-old referee Otavio Jordao da Silva in the town of Centro do Meio.

Silva expelled player Josenir Abreu from a game. That led to a confrontation in which Silva pulled a knife and fatally stabbed Abreu.

Police have said Abreu's friends and relatives then rushed onto the field, stoned the referee to death, quartered his body and beheaded him.