Jorge Ferreira, witness at the trial of a man accused of asphyxiating his wife, until death, in March 2019, at the restaurant belonging to both, in Salamonde, Vieira do Minho, denied, at the last hearing, in the Braga Court, the allegations that he would be the victim’s lover. “We were just friends! Nothing ever happened between us, ”he said, confessing, however, that he“ liked her very much ”.
The witness continues to be heard this Friday at the Braga Court.
The prosecution – and as MINHO has reported – says that the defendant, António Manuel Fidalgo, 45, – in preventive detention – will have “tightened the neck” of his wife, Ana Paula, 41, “with what caused him death by asphyxiation ”. The alleged crime took place on March 7, 2019, at 9 pm, in the laundry room of the pension / restaurant that both exploited on the spot.
The woman’s death occurred the day before the couple signed deeds on assets they owned together, a preparatory act for divorce.
In the second session of the trial, and before the panel of judges, the witness assured them that they were very close friends, and that he “liked her”, but assured them that they did not have a romantic relationship.
Her testimony coincided with those of the victim’s parents, Maria de Jesus and Alfredo, who said that between her and Jorge there was only friendship.
Worked for free
Jorge Ferreira worked gracefully at the restaurant since 2018, and “to help the family”, given the financial difficulties they faced: “they promised me that when they had money available they would pay me”, he explained.
The witness, who is a school transport driver in the region, spent most of the day at the restaurant. In his testimony, he stated that the defendant distrusted the woman without reason, and that he had aggressive attitudes towards his family. This statement caused some laughter in the room, which led the judge to reprimand the public, people from Salamonde, remembering that it was a tragedy, with a dead person, a prisoner, and orphaned children.
In the same session, Ana Paula’s parents, assistants in the process, always said with some commotion, that the defendant had already threatened her with a knife and that, a few months before her death, she appeared with a scarf around her neck, allegedly to hide marks of aggression from him.
Parents’ testimony
The mother, Maria de Jesus said that, on the day of the crime, the son-in-law did not go to work as a driver in Braga, implying that he was premeditating the act. At this time, the defense lawyer, João Magalhães, denied the fact, remembering that in the file there is a statement from the company, guaranteeing that he worked that day. Then, the lawyer asked the Court to declare his testimony null and void, as it was “false” and aimed only at “getting revenge on his son-in-law”.
The causidico also contested, by defamatory, the father’s assertions, according to which Fidalgo would have embezzled the bank account that they had, together, taking 100 thousand euros from it: “You are defaming my client! ”, He replied, recalling that the couple, who had returned from England, had taken out loans to pay the pension and owed 150,000 euros to a sister of Ana Paula. In other words, the eventual withdrawal of money from the bank would be to pay these debts …
Love messages
João Magalhães intervened, too, after Jorge Ferreira said that there was nothing between him and Ana Paula, despite the loving messages they exchanged. In the process there are more than two hundred telephone messages exchanged between him and the victim, with successive vows of love and promises of future happiness.
For this reason, the defense lawyer, João Magalhães, asked the Court that, in the next session, scheduled for the 27th, all the documents be read and projected on the screen of the room. sms’s loving, in which she says, several times, “I love you”.
At the trial, the prosecution tries to demonstrate that the accused killed the woman out of “jealousy” and that they had no reason to be.
Defenders, who include lawyers Mariana Agostinho and Luís Correia, do not admit the crime, try to prove that the two were lovers, despite the woman being still married to the accused.
Jorge finds her on the floor
Minutes after leaving, Ana Paula’s mother asked Jorge to call the couple, because dinner was ready. He found her on the floor, lifeless, with blood and bruises on her face. Screaming, he asked to call INEM. GNR also came. In the file are photos of the defendant himself, too, with signs of scratches and blood on his face, which suggests that they would have fought. The defense says that when he left she was not yet dead, a theory that he maintains with the fact that INEM still tried to revive her.
The couple had emigrated two decades in England, but returned to Portugal in 2017, opening a local accommodation unit in Vieira do Minho.
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