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The Viana do Castelo Court today sentenced a 36-year-old man to 12 years in prison for shooting another man in the city in 2013.
The man was charged with first-degree murder, but was ultimately found guilty of simple murder, as the murder weapon had not been found.
During the reading of the sentence, the presiding judge of the group said that the accused, who is in preventive detention after seven years of escape and who was not present in the courtroom, was acquitted of two other crimes of which he was charged. , namely a crime of violation of qualified physical integrity and the other of possession of a prohibited weapon.
The magistrate explained that the “documentary and testimonial evidence” produced during the trial, which began in October, was not enough to convict these two crimes.
The group that tried the case also decided to order the man to pay compensation to the mother of the mortal victim for a total amount of 141,000 euros.
At the end of the session, speaking to reporters, the lawyer for the mortal victim’s family said that he was not satisfied with the sentence.
“I expected to have more years in prison. It is a very violent homicide, but I understand how the court analyzes the sentence. I don’t know if I’m going to appeal. We have a good compensation in favor of the mother. However, I will analyze calmly to see if in a higher court I can increase the sentence in more years, ”said Francisco Morais da Fonte.
The crime took place on January 15, 2013. The alleged murderer, Valdemar Silva, known by the nickname Nonó, escaped and, despite never having been located, was formally accused of committing a crime of qualified murder. .
The man came to have a scheduled trial, but ended up being considered stubborn and the process was waiting for the police authorities to locate the man for whom a European arrest warrant was pending.
The mortal victim, 35-year-old Jorge Matos, known by the nickname of Cuba, was shot and killed, while his brother was seriously injured after a stabbing in the city of Viana do Castelo.
At that time, according to a PSP source, the two cases took place in different parts of the city center, between 11:10 p.m. and 11:25 p.m., suspecting that it was the same attacker, who escaped.
Both were transferred to the Viana do Castelo hospital, but the oldest died.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, “the first was struck by blows with a knife and the second was fatally shot with a shotgun when, together with other relatives, they were looking for the accused at his home.
As a result of the events, and even that night, the man today sentenced to 12 years in a chair, “went on the run, absent abroad where relatives had emigrated.”
Today, the court rejected the thesis of legitimate defense invoked by the defendant’s lawyer, considering that it was proven that the defendant, “anticipating possible assaults”, after stabbing one of the brothers, “prepared himself with a firearm” for the arrival of the brother who was going to die and other relatives to his residence.
“He was already armed with a firearm when he went to the shopping center where the events occurred,” he stressed.
The magistrate pointed out that during the trial the defendant referred to the silence about where he would have found the weapon, which was never found.
The man, arrested on July 16 in Longlaville, Nancy, France, and extradited to Portugal, after seven years on the run “has no weapon registered in his name, nor a license to use and carry a weapon.
“The shot was fired from a very short distance. It has not been shown that it targeted any part of the body. It has not been shown that he wanted to shoot in the feet, “said the judge.
According to the court, the autopsy report indicates that a loofah was found on the victim’s body that should have been investigated to determine the year of manufacture and the type of weapon used.
For the family lawyer it was a “ruling” of the Public Ministry that “conditioned the classification of the crime and a much greater penalty”
“The Public Ministry, from time to time, ignores some details that would later be of great importance for the court to convict or acquit,” he said.
News updated at 17:30 with more information.
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