A gruesome case of millionaire murder-suicide has rocked the jet-set Cascais community of Quinta Patiño, after a husband and wife were found dead at separate locations last Sunday.
The body of 58-year-old Anders Christer Larsson was found at the foot of Cabo da Roca – the westernmost point of Europe and 140 metres above sea level.
Sightseers who flock to the promontory every weekend were shocked to see Larsson, a Swedish national, throw himself off the cliff in a way that could only suggest suicide.
As firemen scrambled to recover the body, no-one appeared aware of the full extent of the tragedy.
Hours later, a security guard at Quinta Patiño realised that the body of Larsson’s 60-year-old wife lay “fallen” inside the house.
National tabloid Correio da Manhã writes that he “actioned” authorities and broke into the property, but Maria Estela Lacombe Larsson appeared to have been dead for some time.
It is now up to an autopsy to determine how and when she died.
According to CM, police are working on the theory that the woman’s husband killed her and then drove to Cabo da Roca to jump off the cliff. This he did at 12.30pm.
CM describes Larsson’s wife as a Brazilian property magnate, who owned a São Paulo company called Tranesco Empreendimentos.
Quinta Patiño is “one of the most expensive and exclusive condominiums in the country”, adds the paper, and was named after Antenor Patiño – a Bolivian copper baron who fell in love with Portugal in the 50s, buying up land throughout the area.
But for now, little has been revealed about the Larssons, or whether they have children.
Brazilian website CenárioMT claims to have been in touch with a cousin of the dead woman, who has said that family members are on their way over to Portugal “to obtain information”.
