A suicide pact appears to be the scenario police are dealing with following the discovery of two badly-decomposed bodies beside a stream in the rural borough of Castro Marim yesterday. Near the bodies was what has been described as an “artisanal firearm”.
The bodies are thought to be those of a German couple, both in their 50s, who lived for some years in Moncarapacho, in the borough of Olhão.
According to news reports this morning, the woman wrote a “farewell letter” to her mother in Germany at the beginning of April. The older woman was subsequently in touch with authorities in Portugal, asking them to find out what had happened to her daughter and partner.
Police visited the couple’s home, where they found a second farewell letter, and no signs of robbery or any kind of violence having taken place, writes national tabloid Correio da Manhã.
Further evidence to support this theory will come on the results of the autopsy.
Revealed so far is only that one of the bodies showed clear signs of a head injury, while the man’s body is described as having been without a foot. This could be as a result of the bodies having lain undiscovered for the best part of a month.
For now, there are no disclosures that would explain the cuddly toy found under the woman’s coat/ jacket, but the scenario does appear to discount fears that a child may have been involved (click here).
The couple’s bodies were found yesterday, shortly after 10.30 am in the Vale Frio area by a man grazing his mares. One of the animals refused to move, which is when the man is understood to have noticed the bodies.
