A man suspected of a homicide in Sintra almost 11 years ago has been arrested in France and extradited to Portugal, announced the Judiciary Police (PJ). The 30-year-old suspect was remanded in custody after being heard by a judge.
He was arrested in January of this year, “for strong indications of the commission of a crime of aggravated homicide”, said the PJ in a statement.
The crime took place on May 30, 2012, in the municipality of Sintra (Lisbon). After a party at a commercial establishment, the suspect got involved in discussions with the victim on the public road and stuck a knife in her chest. The victim ended up dying at the scene.
The assailant immediately left the crime scene and disposed of the weapon before the authorities arrived. The PJ later found out that the suspect left Portugal shortly afterwards, bound for France, where he remained unknown for several years.
Already in January of this year, the homicide section of the PJ located the suspect in France and, with the collaboration of the French Judicial Police, “his arrest was carried out, through the fulfillment of a European Arrest Warrant”.
According to the PJ, the suspect was extradited on February 16, with the collaboration of the International Cooperation Unit, and was present at the first judicial interrogation, having been applied the coercive measure of preventive detention.