Condemned for double homicide in Baleizão appeal for third time and claim death pact
Fernando Belmonte and Mónica Lourenço, sentenced to 22 years for killing a German couple, deny the crime and suggest that the victims entered into a death pact.
Caretakers condemned for homicide return to Évora Court of Appeal with new defence argument
Fernando Belmonte and Mónica Lourenço have filed an appeal for the third time with the Évora Court of Appeal after being sentenced to 22 years in prison by Beja court for the beating death of a German couple in Baleizão in April 2023. The case, according to Correio da Manhã, has already forced the superior court to return the proceedings twice.
The two defendants, who worked as caretakers, remain at liberty. The magistrates who analysed the case concluded that there was "coordinated action by the defendants" and identified money as the primary motive for the crimes. Belmonte and Lourenço deny any involvement in the homicides and, in this third appeal, advance a new line of defence: they suggest that the German victims may have entered into a death pact with each other.
Source: Correio da Manhã