The murder case of Murtosa’s pregnant woman goes to trial without going through the pre-trial phase. Authorities have been trying unsuccessfully to locate this woman’s body for more than a year.
The opening of the investigation is an optional phase and the suspect’s defense renounced this step after learning of the Public Prosecutor’s accusation. The deadline for requesting the instructional debate, has already ended, that is, the process goes directly to trial.
The businessman is accused of killing Mônica Valente, allegedly to hide the paternity of the victim’s son. The 33-year-old woman was pregnant and disappeared without a trace on the night of October 3, 2023, after leaving home to meet the suspect.
By dispensing with the opening of an investigation, the accused’s defense can understand that the evidence is mostly circumstantial. The Public Prosecutor’s Office also decided to request a jury trial to judge the case, an option sometimes interpreted as a sign of the fragility of the evidence.
To this day, the body of Murtosa’s wife has not been found and, therefore, it is not known how she was murdered. Fernando Valente is accused of the crimes of qualified homicide, abortion and desecration of a corpse.
The Public Ministry believes that the victim was murdered in the businessman’s apartment in Praia da Torreira. The investigation found that this apartment was deep cleaned supposedly to eliminate traces of the crime.
