Fábio Abenta was “trying to stop abuse of women” in bar in city
Five men are currently in police custody following the brutal stabbing of a young musician in a bar in Setúbal.
31-year-old Fábio Abenta was trying to stop the men ‘abusing women’ in the bar, in the early hours of Friday morning, explain reports.
The men – identities kept out of the press, due to the sensitivity of the situation – arrived around 1.30am and allegedly started causing ‘disorder’ in Bigodes bar, in the centre of town.
Abenta, the father of a two-year-old to whom he was apparently devoted, was working in the bar. When he saw women particularly being targeted and made to feel uncomfortable, he stepped in to send the men on their way.
The group left – but returned shortly afterwards “with Fábio Abenta as their target”, writes Correio da Manhã.
He was brutally beaten, and as four customers tried to intervene, he received the fatal stab wound to the heart.
The alleged attackers then fled. Their identities however had been registered on CCTV cameras. They made off at high speed in a Renault Clio, writes Correio da Manhã, by which time emergency authorities were arriving at the bar. Tragically, there was nothing that could be done for Fábio Abenta. He was dead before help could reach him. But within a very short time, PSP police on duty elsewhere were able to locate the gang, and round the men up.
The five are being held on suspicions of qualified homicide.
Says CM, “there are abundant witness statements” to sustain the allegations.
The men are due to be presented before magistrates (see below).
Meantime, another man is understood to have required hospital treatment following the incident. “He was hit on the head with a bottle” during skirmishes which left the bar in a state of disarray.
Family and friends have been leaving tributes to Fábio Abenta on social media. He was the singer of ‘death metal’ band Neuropsy.
UPDATE: One of the group has been remanded in preventive custody, the other four released on bail, on the understanding that they regularly report to police, remain within their area of residence and do not return to the bar where the murder took place “or any other similar establishments”.
According to the PJ, the men all belong to the same family. “Everything indicates they acted for completely futile motives, moved by a spirit of vengeance sustained by their numerical superiority and the family bonds that unite them”.
