Fernando Belmonte, of 54 year old, and Monica Lourenço, the wife of 38 year old, They were sentenced to 22 years in prison for the death and robbery of the German couple, Jan Otto, of 79 years and Ilse Ediltraud, of 71 year old, occurred on 16 April 2023, at Quinta do Paraíso Janedi, in Baleizão, county Beja.
In closing arguments, which took place on the afternoon of last day 19 March, the public prosecutor (MP) had asked for the conviction of the Portuguese couple, defending the application of 25 years in prison for each of the defendants.
The maximum penalty results from the legal combination of two crimes of simple homicide, who fell from qualified, and a crime of qualified theft. Fernando and Mónica were sentenced to a total of 22 years of imprisonment in legal accumulation, and 14 years for each of the crimes of homicide and 2 years and 6 months for the crime of qualified theft.
The crimes occurred at the beginning of the second half of April 2023, with the bodies of the septuagenarian couple being discovered only 10 May, in an advanced state of decomposition, after an alert from the victims' son who was unable to contact his parents. Two days later the defendants were arrested, in Aljustrel, by PJ, having been placed in preventive detention
In reading the judgment, the president of the Collective of Judges, expressed the behavior of Fernando and Mónica “who acted with a single intention, take the victim from the couple. You had complete insensitivity and contempt for the victims and lacked any act of apology or repentance.”, concluded.
The judge explained that “the criminal framework for homicide crimes has become a simple, Given the fact that the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, it was not possible to determine the causes of death., leaving no doubt about the attacks they suffered.”, finished.
André Caetano, Monica's lawyer, justified that “the penalty is excessive given the little evidence provided during the trial. I will file an appeal”, opinion shared by Fernando's lawyer, Margarida Alves.
Ilse's daughter listened to the judge read the ruling while holding onto a frame with her mother's photograph, that he always had close to his heart.
The defendants will wait in pre-trial detention for the ruling to become final., Fernando at the Prison Establishment (EP) Beja, and Mónica on Odemira's EP.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
