The trial concerning the murder of Mónica Silva, a pregnant woman who had been missing from Murtosa for a year and a half, is set to commence on Monday at the Aveiro Court. The accused, Fernando Valente, 37, has been charged with her murder and is currently under house arrest with electronic monitoring in Vila Nova de Gaia.
In November 2023, upon being detained by the Judiciary Police (PJ), Valente assured the criminal instruction judge that he couldn’t be the father of Silva’s unborn child. He claimed that they had only engaged in sexual relations once, in January 2023, and at the time of her disappearance in October, Silva was seven months pregnant.
Valente further stated that after January, he only engaged in “virtual sex” with Silva, expressing that he did not have any sentimental feelings for her.
Per the Public Prosecutor’s request, the suspect’s trial will be conducted by a jury tribunal, comprising three professional judges and eight jurors.
The defendant faces charges of qualified homicide, abortion, desecration of a corpse, unauthorized access, and acquiring counterfeit currency for circulation.
The prosecution alleges that Valente maintained an intimate relationship with Silva for about a year, which he always attempted to keep secret, resulting in her pregnancy. To avoid being identified as the father and to benefit from Silva’s assets, Valente allegedly decided to kill both Silva and her fetus on the night of October 3, in an apartment in Torreira.
Investigators claim that in the early hours of October 4 and the days following, Valente allegedly disposed of Silva’s body, taking it to an unknown location, along with all her belongings and a rug from the living room, and went on to conduct thorough cleaning operations within the apartment and common areas.
The indictment further accuses Valente of accessing Silva’s mobile phone and impersonating her to send two social media messages to a third person, suggesting she was being threatened by that individual. He also communicated with Silva’s family, denying any recent meetings with her.
Closed-Door Trial? Family Appeals; Journalist Union Calls It “Unacceptable”
The family of the pregnant woman from Murtosa wanted the trial concerning her disappearance to be public, with media presence, leading them to appeal the closed-door decision made by the court, which was not accepted.
The judge overseeing the case decided to exclude the public and media from the trial and other procedural activities, allowing only those who “need to intervene, as well as others whom the judge may admit for legitimate reasons” to attend.
The decision was contentious, with the Journalists’ Union (SJ) also deeming the decision “unacceptable.”
The union argued that “this approach tends to control information,” which could foster “public mistrust” regarding the resulting “verdict” and even “the courts themselves.”
Presiding Judges Knew Mónica
The closed-door trial is not the only controversy surrounding the case. The three judges organizing the trial of Mónica’s alleged murderer had previously judged and sentenced the victim’s father for a drug-related crime, and one of them even presided over her divorce proceedings.
Brought to light by Jornal de Notícias, Alfredo Silva, 58, was sentenced to two years and two months of suspended prison time on February 28, 2024, months following his daughter’s disappearance, for possessing various types of drugs.
Diana Nunes, set to lead the judicial panel for the murder case, who ordered the closed-door trial, served previously as the Family and Minors magistrate and managed Mónica’s divorce proceedings, which were not decreed due to her disappearance on October 3, 2023.
Natacha Nunes Costa | 14:59 – 16/04/2025
Moreover, many voices are accusing Fernando’s father of being complicit with his son, although he has not been charged and has denied any involvement.
Suspect “Researched How to Delete Conversations”
In the following days, the accused reportedly researched how to delete social media conversations with the victim and acquired a prepaid SIM card for an old mobile phone with no internet connection.
The Public Prosecutor further recounts that Fernando scheduled a meeting with Mónica for October 3, 2023, using this mobile phone.
“On that day, shortly after 9 p.m., the victim met the accused near his residence. Carrying her pregnancy ultrasound images, she accompanied him to the Torreira apartment, where she was killed, along with the fetus she was carrying,” according to the indictment.
The trial sessions are scheduled to begin on Monday, May 19, with the defendant’s interrogation and previous statement reproductions.
If guilty of murdering Mónica, the accused businessman faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
