Aveiro: Man denies mixing sulfuric acid with wine to kill his partner

A man accused of killing his partner by inducing her to drink sulphuric acid mixed with white wine, denied the accusation today, at the start of the trial, at the Court of Aveiro.

“That’s all a lie,” said the defendant, denying having mixed “battery water” into a bottle of white wine that was open in the fridge, as stated in the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) accusation.

The man, who began his trial this morning before a jury court made up of three professional judges and four jurors, is accused of one crime of qualified homicide and another of failure to provide assistance.

Before the panel of judges, the defendant explained that, when he arrived home, he found his wife in a fetal position, on the bed, in the bedroom, asking her what was wrong and she replied that her stomach hurt because she had drunk cold water.

He also said that his partner asked him for two 'ben-u-ron', but, as there was only one, he left the house again to buy more.

When he returned home, the woman was “lying on the bedroom floor, covered in blood”, and it was at that time that she told him that she had drunk the “battery water” of her own free will, referring to the sulphuric acid that was in a bottle that the defendant had kept in the warehouse, to revive the vehicle batteries.

“She confessed that she had drunk water from the batteries while crying,” he said, adding that he tried to take the woman to the hospital but she ended up losing consciousness and called the National Institute of Medical Emergencies to ask for an ambulance.

The defendant also said that his wife had problems with excessive alcohol consumption, denying the existence of domestic violence. “She called the GNR several times, but it was because of the wine. She was out of control and didn't know what she was doing,” he said.

According to the MP's accusation, the events took place on May 27, 2022, at the residence where the couple lived, in Águeda.

The MP says that throughout the relationship there were “frequent discussions and complaints” from the victim against the defendant for domestic violence.

After an argument related to the change of the company's headquarters to a property that the victim had inherited, which was not to her liking, the defendant took some sulfuric acid that he had purchased to "revive" truck batteries and poured some of it into a bottle that was already open and contained some white wine that had already been consumed.

The defendant then placed the bottle in the fridge, telling an employee: “she hasn’t had a drink since yesterday, when she drinks this one, it will crack.”

At the end of the afternoon, the woman went to the refrigerator and took out the bottle containing the wine with sulfuric acid and drank the liquid inside, which caused serious burns to her tongue, pharynx, esophagus, trachea, diaphragm, stomach and intestines.

When he returned home, the defendant found his wife “unwell” and vomiting blood, but it was only after about three hours that he decided to call 112.

The woman was taken to Águeda Hospital where she ended up dying.

The MP says that, by placing the sulphuric acid in a bottle of wine, the defendant knew that he would induce the victim, who was dependent on alcohol, to drink it, thus placing “the murder weapon” in her hands.