Pregnant woman from Murtosa. Mother of suspect under investigation

The Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) will investigate the mother of the suspect in the death of Mónica Silva for allegedly giving false statements during the 9th session of the trial that took place this Friday at the Aveiro Court, a source close to the process reported.

During the lunch break, lawyer António Falé de Carvalho told journalists that the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) requested the extraction of a certificate due to alleged false statements against this witness, as had already happened with the defendant's father, in the session on Thursday.

At issue, according to the lawyer, are “omissions and inconsistencies with what the witness said during the first interrogation” related to the cleaning operation that took place at the Torreira house, where the prosecution says the crime took place.

This is the third time that a certificate has been requested for the purposes of investigating a possible crime of false testimony in this trial . In addition to the defendant's parents, the lawyer for the assistants had also previously requested the extraction of a certificate for false statements against the man who was hired to clean the apartment in Torreira.

In addition to Fernando Valente's mother, who was called as a defense witness, the jury court heard a prosecution witness during the morning, who had not yet been heard, and the statements were reproduced for the defendant's future memory in the first interrogation that will continue in the afternoon.

The trial, held by a jury (composed of three career judges and eight jurors), is taking place behind closed doors, without the presence of the public or journalists, because the judge in charge of the case has ordered the exclusion of publicity from the trial hearing and other procedural acts, in order to protect the personal dignity of the victim in relation to the other parties involved, namely her children.

Fernando Valente, who had a romantic relationship with the victim that resulted in a pregnancy, is accused of the crimes of qualified homicide, abortion, desecration of a corpse, illegitimate access and acquisition of counterfeit currency to be put into circulation.

The defendant, who is under house arrest, was arrested by the Judicial Police (PJ) in November 2023, more than a month after the disappearance of his 33-year-old wife, who was seven months pregnant.

The Public Prosecutor's Office accuses the defendant of having killed the victim and the fetus she was carrying, on the night of October 3, 2023, in his apartment in Torreira, to prevent paternity from being attributed to him and benefiting from his assets.

The prosecution also states that during the early hours of October 4 and in the following days, the defendant disposed of the victim's body, taking it to an unknown location, hiding it and preventing it from being found until this Friday.