Only last month he was condemned to 25 years in jail for the brutal killing of his former stepdaughter in Aljezur, but reports over social media last night suggest that Romanian Mihai Oprea – who spent almost two years on the run – is appealing against his sentence, the maximum anyone can receive in Portugal for murder.
Disgusted by the apparent development, the mother of 17-year-old budding athlete Bruna Nunes has vented her frustrations over Facebook.
“How is this possible?” She rails in capital letters. “I cannot find the words to give a name to this misery.
“I was informed today that this murderer has appeal against the sentence he was given. He killed my daughter without a shred of pity. After killing her he continued to torture her body. He is disgusting.
“I am writing this so that everyone can read it. Whatever it takes, I will be on the side of justice to defend my daughter to my last breath. I will go to the limits…”
Lília Silva’s post has been picked up by friends offering support and hoping, like her, that ‘justice will prevail’ – one even saying “who knows whether he may end up receiving a few more years”.
Bruna’s horrific murder shocked her close-knit west Algarve community, and devastated family, schoolfriends at Lagos’ Júlio Dantas where she studied and roller-blade sporting colleagues at the Aljezur Speed Skating Club.
Oprea’s guilt was apparent within days of the discovery of Bruna’s half naked body on scrubland – particularly as he then left the country, hiding out in his native Romania.
He was run to ground earlier this year (click here), and finally condemned by Portimão judges to the country’s maximum jail term for murder. He was also ordered to pay Bruna’s family a €110,000 indemnity (click here).
