A 59-year-old man has been charged with murder following the death of a 75-year-old man in Maiorga, according to an indictment reviewed today. The accused, who is currently detained, allegedly knew the victim’s vulnerable circumstances and state of isolation.
On November 23, 2020, the suspect, wearing gloves to avoid leaving traces, reportedly went to the elderly man’s residence and awaited his return.
Subsequently, near a yard annex, the accused allegedly attacked the victim without provocation using an unidentified sharp object, striking multiple areas of the body.
The indictment from the Public Prosecutor’s Office states that the accused also bound the victim’s wrists and ankles and gagged him with plastic bags and insulating tape, obstructing his breathing.
The victim was then reported to have been moved to the house’s yard, where the accused allegedly inflicted further blows.
Evidence shows the suspect left his gloves near the annex and concealed the victim’s wallet in a bucket of milky liquid, also hiding the tape roll in another bucket.
The accused reportedly left the premises with the victim bound and gagged, leaving him “in suffering and agony,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office reported.
Due to the assault and restraint, alongside the victim’s age and health issues, he was unable to defend himself or summon help.
The accused faces a 12 to 25-year prison sentence for what the prosecution describes as an act driven “solely by the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering and to deprive the victim of life”.
In February, the Judicial Police reported the arrest of the suspect in Lisbon, implicating him in a homicide characterized by “extreme violence and torture”.
A Judicial Police statement suggested the crime’s motive was the suspect’s knowledge that the victim kept all his money at home.
Immediately following the murder, an investigative effort began, persisting over four years, which resulted in significant evidence collection, including forensic analysis and identification of the aggressor, a neighbor of the victim.
The police identified the perpetrator through forensic expertise and cooperation with the Laboratory of Scientific Police. International coordination under the Prüm Treaty, involving French authorities and the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, played a role.
The suspect was previously wanted in France for an aggravated robbery committed in 2016. The Judicial Police recommended issuing an arrest warrant to the Leiria Public Prosecutor, which was executed in Lisbon, where the suspect resided post-homicide.
The trial is scheduled to commence on October 16 in a collective court.
