The Spanish authorities have resumed questioning António da Silva, the main suspect in the 1987 murder of his wife, María Trinidad Suardíaz, then 25, and their 13-month-old daughter, Beatriz, in Asturias.
Throughout the decades-long investigation into the double homicide, Silva, known in Spain as “El Portugués,” has consistently refused to cooperate with the authorities.
Despite his advanced age of 81 years and his health condition, António remains resolute in his stance. “I neither confirm nor deny,” he told the National Police, reportedly in French, a language he learned while living in France for many years, according to La Sexta.
The interrogation, which left investigators frustrated due to the lack of answers, took place in the nursing home where the Portuguese national currently resides in Zamora.
Although the crimes have now surpassed the statute of limitations, preventing António from being arrested, authorities had hoped he might confess. However, this was not the case.
The latest leads suggest that the man killed his wife, who had filed a domestic violence complaint against him a year earlier, along with their infant daughter. The bodies were allegedly placed in a car and drowned in a lake at an old mine located in Berbes, Asturias.
Life of Crime
As reported by El Sexta, António Silva’s history is far from that of a benign 81-year-old man residing in a Zamora nursing home. He has been described as “extremely violent” and has been convicted of several “crimes,” including “sexual assault and kidnapping.”
Silva has served prison sentences in both France and Switzerland. Throughout his life, he has used two identities—Maurício Ramos and António da Silva—and earned two nicknames: “El Portugués” and “Meio-Homem.”
António had two wives. The first left him and is still alive. The second, María Trinidad Suardíaz, known as Maritrini, filed a domestic violence complaint against him before giving birth and was subsequently killed.
At the time, Silva was detained but released before trial, shortly after Maritrini gave birth in a convent in La Guía, Gijón. He convinced her to reconcile, and she agreed.
On July 15, 1987, she went to the León Provincial Court with her baby and “El Portugués.” They were informed that the trial against him was scheduled for September 15, 1987, after summer.
After leaving the court, the woman, whom he married in 1985 and frequently abused, and the baby were never seen again. To authorities, Silva claimed they went to the Algarve together and parted ways.
Two years later, in 1989, he was convicted and imprisoned for other crimes. After his release, he returned to Portugal. But María’s family and the authorities have never forgotten her.
In 2016, nearly 20 years after the disappearance of the wife and daughter, police searched one of the two homes where the family had lived, in Matadeón de los Oteros, León, and in 2018, at Berbes, Asturias.
In the same period, “El Portugués” was detained again, spending three days in jail while his then-residence was searched. He remained silent and was released due to lack of evidence.
He later returned to Portugal, living discreetly until last year, when he was located in Zamora as a homeless man.
Several residents regularly assisted the elderly man with white hair living on the street under a makeshift tent, providing him with food and clothes, unaware of his cold criminal history.
Compassionate individuals informed the Social Services of the City Hall, and “El Portugués” was taken off the streets and admitted to the nursing home where he resides today… still silent.
He does not make life easy for the nursing staff. According to Levante, António “demands to be examined first, for instance.”
The lake where the Special Operations Group (GEO) located two vehicles awaits drainage to determine whether the bodies of Maritrini and Beatriz are there.
