He asked for a transfer to the Coimbra jail. António Manuel Fidalgo, the man who was sentenced to 19 years in prison for qualified homicide a few days ago, for having asphyxiated his wife in Slamonde, Vieira do Minho asked to go to Coimbra prison, which welcomes people sentenced to long-term sentences.
Urged to comment on the request, his lawyer João Magalhães said that the convict cannot stay in the jail in Braga, since it does not accommodate people with this type of conviction: “my constituent has always been a man of work and, therefore, he will serve time in a prison where he can work or even go back to school, ”he explained.
The lawyer stressed that he is working to appeal the condemnatory judgment to the Court of Appeal of Guimarães, which should only happen in September, after the judicial holidays: “I appealed to the Constitutional Court for considering that the accusation was illegal, for not include the autopsy report ”, he stressed.
As MINHO reported, the Braga Court proved that in March 2019, in the residential / restaurant that they held in Salamonde, Vieira do Minho, António Manuel Fidalgo, a professional driver, “squeezed the neck” of his wife, Ana, “Causing death by asphyxiation”.
He concluded that he acted by not accepting the divorce, scheduled for the next day. And that he was motivated by jealousy, and also by feeling that he was going to be alone, while she would be with the children, the house, the business, and also with the alleged lover.
As evidence, and although the accused did not speak and there were no eyewitnesses, the Court recalled that, in the interrogation that was made to him by the criminal investigating judge, he confessed: “I did the crime, I think I should pay for it ! ”. He also said that he “went blind” after an argument between the two in the guesthouse’s laundry, where she would have scratched him in the face.
The judges concluded that the marriage was in crisis, due to economic difficulties and the fact that the victim had been lovingly involved with another man, a restaurant employee. Therefore, the discussions were constant, with no cohabitation.
In addition to the confession, the Court took into account the testimony of two two children of the couple and the victim’s parents.
He therefore condemned him to inheritance indignity, that is, not to participate in the inheritance of the couple’s assets and to pay 250 thousand euros, including compensation to children and in-laws and alimony.
In the prosecution, the Public Ministry specifies that, on the day of the crime, in the late afternoon, the defendant arrived at the restaurant and found, behind the counter, a man named Jorge, who thought he was the woman’s lover. At 8 pm, in a discussion, displeased, and jealous, “he put his hands on her neck, preventing her from breathing”.
At the end of the “sentence”, the lawyer for the Arminda Melo family considered the sentence “fair” and said that she would analyze the compensation since she had asked for 500 thousand euros.
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