A man was in preventive detention on suspicion of a felony of qualified homicide and a crime of offense to qualified physical integrity, in Viana do Castelo, after seven years on the run, the Judiciary Police (PJ) said today.
Contacted by the Lusa agency, in connection with a statement issued today by the PJ on the case, a Braga director’s source explained that the 36-year-old man was present at about 12:00 to a judge at the Viana do Castelo court.
In the statement sent today to the newsrooms, that police force explained that “the facts date back to January 15, 2013, in Viana do Castelo, and they killed two brothers”.
“The first was hit by bladed blows and the second was shot to death with a shotgun when, accompanied by other family members, they were looking for the suspect, near their residence. Following the facts, and even that night, the suspect put himself on the run, absent to the foreigner where he had emigrated relatives ”, specifies the note.
The alleged murderer, Valdemar Silva, known as ‘Nonó’, was arrested on 16 July in Longlaville, Nancy, France and, the following day, present to a judge at the Nancy Court of Appeal, who ordered extradition to Portugal.
According to the PJ, “the Braga Criminal Investigation Department and the International Cooperation Unit, in compliance with a European arrest warrant issued by the Viana do Castelo Judicial Court, extradited the man from France to Portugal, under arrest, for the man 36 years ”.
The PJ said that, “over the seven years that mediated the facts and the detention now underway, there was an intense exchange of information between the Judiciary Police and European counterparts, aiming at the location of the suspect, who ended up being located in France, by the French police ”.
The defendant “identified himself with the name of a family member, trying to evade police control”, but “through the sharing of international information, the true identity was quickly confirmed”.
Accused of murder in Viana do Castelo detained in France after 7 years on the run
At the time of the arrest, in statements to the Lusa agency, the lawyer of the victim’s family, Francisco Morais da Fonte, said that “although he was never located, the man was formally accused of the crimes of qualified homicide and offense to physical integrity qualified.
“He came to have a scheduled trial, but ended up being considered contumable and the process has so far been suspended pending police authorities to locate him,” he said.
“The victim’s family never gave up on the case. He fought in every way so that the man could be found and taken to the bar of the courts so that justice could be done ”, stressed Morais da Fonte.
The deadly victim, Jorge Matos, known by the nickname ‘Cuba’, 35 years old, was shot dead, while his brother was seriously injured after being stabbed.
At the time, according to a PSP source, the two cases took place in different parts of the city center, between 11:10 pm and 11:25 pm, suspecting that they involved the same attacker.
Both were transported to the Viana do Castelo hospital, but the oldest died.
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