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Brazil police: Artist’s death a possible suicide
RIO DE JANEIRO — Artist Jorge Selaron may have taken his own life by setting himself on fire on the very steps of his masterpiece, a brilliantly colored public staircase that became a symbol of Rio de Janeiro, the homicide police chief said Friday.
The body of Selaron, a Chilean who had adopted Rio as his home, was found early Thursday morning lying charred on the steps he had covered in a rainbow of bright tiles from all over the world as a tribute to the Brazilian people. The stairs, his life’s work, were declared city patrimony in 2005, when Selaron was made an honorary carioca, as Rio residents are called.
Next to the burned body was a can of paint thinner, the liquid used to fuel the flames, said homicide police chief Renata Araujo. Inside Selaron’s home, a humble pastel-colored colonial that opens onto the staircase, was the paint thinner’s lid.
All eight people interviewed so far said the artist was deeply depressed over threats by former friend and collaborator and had asked for help in ending his life.
“He even asked to be taken to the subway so he could throw himself under the train,” Araujo said.
The autopsy showed the highly flammable liquid was poured on his head, which reinforced the theory he did it himself. Also, since Selaron first reported the threats to police in November 2012, he always had friends stay at his house to keep him company, Araujo said.
The night before he died he chose to sleep alone.
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