Over a year after the brutal murder of her husband, Helen Turner is still waiting for justice.
Many will remember hearing about the devastating news of John Turner’s death; the Englishman murdered during a robbery at his villa in Sobradinho de Alfeição (Loulé) on April 27, 2005. One year later, some of the armed gang of Ukrainians, who were arrested following the attack, have still not been charged with his murder. Three are in preventative custody in Faro prison while two are still at large, presumably back in the Ukraine.
Helen spoke to The Resident’s Louise Pimm, before she flew back to the UK for a memorial service at John’s grave, which took place recently (April 27). “All I want is justice for John,” she said. “There are three Ukrainian men in prison, two are yet to be caught and there’s no sign of a trial. I can’t understand it. I’ve read the transcripts of their evidence, to me it seems cut and dried, I can’t understand the delay. I have contacted the British Consulate, but they have no authority to speed the process along.”
Helen now lives at the home she and John lived in before they moved to Sobradinho de Alfeição. “I’m back in a small Portuguese community, and I feel safe. I go back and forth to the UK, but I still live in Portugal. What happened won’t drive me away,” she said.
Helen was also brutally attacked by the gang, and still suffers from flash backs, nightmares and was diagnosed in the UK with post-traumatic shock. “I have had to deal with this on my own, nobody offered me help, treatment or counselling. The police were, and still are, understaffed and, at the time, did not have the resources to help. In the future, I would like to help others in the same position. The whole ordeal has only made me stronger – they didn’t win in the end,” she stated.
