The Loures Court has set for this Monday the announcement of the verdict in the case of Luis Lopes, the man accused of aggravated murder and desecration of his boyfriend’s body in Cadaval in April 2023.
In the court’s closing arguments, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) requested a prison sentence of at least 23 years, as Luis Lopez allegedly committed crimes with “great violence” and “a cruel and heartless indifference to human life.”
Defense lawyer Fatima Henriques asked for the murder to be acquitted because there was no evidence that “the three blows were inflicted by the accused” and reminded the court that he had cooperated with the judicial police in the investigation.
According to prosecutor Valdene Mendes, the victim often asked the defendant for money because he was in a difficult economic situation, threatening to end the relationship if he did not help, while the defendant became convinced that he was maintaining the relationship for economic convenience and began to think about killing his companion.
On April 26, 2023, he armed himself with a sledgehammer and, while his boyfriend was sleeping, struck him at least three times with force, causing multiple injuries and a brain hemorrhage, leading to his death.
He then dismembered the body and placed it in plastic bags, which he transported in his car early in the morning of the 28th, scattering them in various isolated places.
One of the bags was found by members of the public on the night of May 2, so the judicial police began an investigation into the case and found the remaining bags.
Three days later, the SP arrested the suspect, who, after being brought to court, awaited trial in preventive detention in Lisbon Prison.
During the trial, the defendant denied the fact of murder, which contradicts the statements he made in May 2023 to the judge and the criminal investigation judge, expressing remorse and pointing out to the judge the places where he threw the bags, reconstructing the facts.
The defendant confirmed the remaining facts of the indictment, including that he dismembered the victim in order to dispose of the body to avoid criminal liability, with the help of another person, whose identity he did not wish to name, since he could not transport it alone.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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