Brazilian murdered his aunt, uncle and young cousins and took a selfie with their bodies, Spanish court hears
- Patrick Nogueira is accused of stabbing his four relatives to death, then dismembering their bodies and hiding them in bags
A witness in the trial of a Brazilian man accused of killing of his aunt, uncle and two young cousins in Spain told a court Thursday that the suspect took a selfie with their dismembered bodies, which he had chopped up and put into plastic garbage bags.
The witness testified that he saw the photos on Patrick Nogueira’s mobile phone, the Spanish private news agency Europa Press reported from Nogueira’s trial in Guadalajara, near Madrid. Europa Press did not report the name of the witness and it was not clear where the mobile phone was.
Nogueira, who was 19 at the time of the 2016 slayings, has acknowledged killing his relatives, but argues he is mentally disturbed and suffers from alcoholism. Experts are to testify Friday about Nogueira’s mental health.
Nogueira is accused of stabbing his four relatives to death at their home near Madrid and faces decades in prison if convicted. His aunt and uncle were in their early forties and his cousins were one and four years old. The gruesome case has captured wide attention in Spain and Brazil.
Prosecutors allege that Nogueira is a psychopath who planned the slayings, taking garbage bags with him when he went to the house. They say Nogueira, who arrived in Spain in early 2016, sent a different friend in Brazil a series of WhatsApp messages about the murders and photos of the bodies during and after the killings, according to Europa Press.
Prosecutors say to conceal the crime, Nogueira chopped up his aunt and uncle with tree-pruning shears. About a month after the slayings, neighbours complained of a bad smell coming from the house, where authorities then found the bags with the bodies.
Nogueira was arrested in October 2016.
