Two defendants, aged 34 and 41, are standing trial before a panel of judges at the Vila Real Judicial Court. They are charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, and one count of qualified theft.
The verdict reading for this case was initially scheduled for June 11 but was postponed for further witness testimony and victim interviews.
In court, the defendants admitted to the robbery and kidnapping but claimed they stole less than what the elderly couple reported, denying the theft of jewelry valued at 100,000 euros.
The trial commenced without the presence of the 41-year-old defendant, who had escaped but was subsequently recaptured by authorities. He appeared in court on May 27 and confessed to his involvement in the incident, which took place in April 2024, affecting a couple now aged 77 and 82.
According to the charges, in April 2024, at around 4 a.m., the defendants allegedly broke into the couple’s home in a village in Vila Real while they were asleep, tied them with neckties, and stole jewelry from the residence and subsequently from a jewelry store located in the city center.
Before the judges, both defendants confessed to the crime and apologized to the victims.
