JOÃO RELVAS/LUSA
Ana Patrícia Moniz (L), Odair Moniz’s wife, accompanied by her lawyer, Semedo Fernandes (R), upon arrival for the start of the trial of the PSP agent accused of Odair Moniz’s murder.
Bruno Pinto is in court this Tuesday to tell his version of the fateful events of the night of October 21, 2024.
The PSP agent responsible for the murder of Odair Moniz apologized this Wednesday, at the beginning of the trial, to the family and friends of the Cape Verdean citizen, on October 21, 2024 in Cova da Moura, Amadora.
“I would like to apologize to family and friendsI believe it is not easy for anyone”, said a moved Bruno Pinto, 28 years old, at the Central Criminal Court of Sintra.
The police officer added that he did not agree with the facts described in the Public Ministry’s indictment and intended, throughout today, to present his version of events.
Bruno Pinto incurs a penalty of eight to 16 years in prison.
The trial begins this morning and, in addition to any statements from the 28-year-old defendant, the testimony of five witnesses is scheduled for today.
“He punched me and neither of us controlled our strength”
The agent on trial was behind the wheel that night. Entering “the avenue that surrounds Cova da Moura, we observed a vehicle that intended to go to Rua 25 de Abril”, quotes him. “We wanted to approach the vehicle” in which Odair was following, due to “suspicious behavior”. “He continues and re-enters Cova da Moura, we went after him”, explains the police officer.
Odair’s vehicle touched “four or five” vehicles before colliding with a parked car. “At the speed he hit, I thought he was going to need assistance,” says Bruno Pinto, who said it was his colleague, Rui Machado, who was the first to get out of the car with a firearm to order Odair to get out of the vehicle.
“My colleague starts screaming, when it seemed like everything was fine, and said ‘high, on the floor’. He left with an attitude and saying ‘I’m sick’. He had a bandage on his hand. When he left, I noticed that he started to slowly take steps upwards. I assumed he was trying to leave. He says several times ‘I’m sick’ and ‘no gun’, ‘no bat’ and slowly goes up.”said the agent, who said he then tried to put handcuffs on Odair, without success.
“He turns around and punches me in the face. From then on it was an explosive moment and no one controlled their strength, we were very breathless”, according to Bruno Pinto.
“Knife in Odair’s hand? I can’t say 100%”
Pinto stated that he saw Moniz “raise his hand” in a way that he interpreted as an attempt to “hit him”, holding what he believed to be a knife — but “he cannot say 100%” whether he saw Odair with a knife. “I saw what I believed to be a knife lift,” he explains.
“At that point, when I see his movement, his aggressiveness, that cunning and passive-aggressive attitude, I realized that I wanted to get out of there at any cost. When I see him making the movement of going with his hand to the waist area, I see him with the knife in his hand and raising his hand. I immediately retreat and shoot towards the lower area, the leg area”, he says.
“I couldn’t identify and say 100% that it was a blade”says Bruno Pinto.
“I consider that the environment was dark, we were all under stress. I fired two shots in a row. When I looked at his face, I didn’t see any reaction to the first shot, he kept his eyes open. At the second shot I see my eyes closing and falling“, ends the agent.
Asked why he fired a second shot, he says: “It led me to believe it was a threat.” And he admits: afterwards, he didn’t look for the knife he thought he saw. “I should have done it. It wasn’t my concern. At that moment I had no doubt that he had a knife,” Pinto said.
Dagger appeared 27 minutes after the deadly shot
The accusation describes that Odair Moniz, 43 years old and resident in Bairro do Zambujal, was hit with two projectiles — a first shot in the chest area, fired from between 20 and 50 centimeters away; and a second in the groin area, fired from between 75 centimeters and one meter away.
According to the order, dated January 29, 2025, the incident occurred after the citizen tried to escape from the PSP and resisted arrest, without using a sharp weapon. Analysis of video surveillance images and photographs in the process show the said dagger appearing 27 minutes later of the deadly shot.
The MP recently accused two more police officers in the Odair Moniz case — the police officer who accompanied Bruno Pinto and another, from the same police, for false testimony.
