A SUSPECTED murderer, who had been on the run, has killed again this week in Bairro de Santa Filomena in Amadora. Already wanted by the police in connection with a killing that took place in Porto in January of this year, Marcos José Fernandes shot dead two policemen on Sunday, after they asked to see his identification card, outside the Chopp bar at the entrance to Bairro de Santa Filomena.
Policemen António Abrantes, Paulo Alves and Francisco Pereira left the Mina PSP station in Amadora at around 1am, to make their regular patrol of the city’s streets, but it was a patrol that would end in tragedy.
The suspect, known only as “José”, had been drinking in the Chopp bar, situated next to the Avenida General Humberto Delgado, which he left at around 2am. He then entered the establishment’s car park as the police patrol car, that was being driven by Abrantes, passed by. Alves and Pereira were passengers in the patrol car and, after eye contact had been made with the individual, it was decided that the man appeared to be acting suspiciously and the vehicle, therefore, stopped.
Abrantes and Alves stepped out of the car to approach the suspect and request identification (in accordance with Portuguese law). The man took out his ID card, but affronted by the policemen’s questions, he threw the document to the ground and, within seconds, had drawn out a 7.65mm hand gun and proceeded to shoot Abrantes in the head. Then, after a hail of bullets were fired, Alves fell to the ground with wounds to his chest. José then fled the scene in a white Opel Corsa car.However, on realising he had left his ID document behind, he returned and was chased by Pereira who fired a series of shots, but was not able to intercept the man.
Both policemen suffered fatal injuries
António Abrantes, 30, was taken to Hospital de São Francisco Xavier where he later died. Paulo Alves, 23, was already dead when he arrived at the Hospital Amadora-Sintra.
Triple murderer caught in Alentejo
Suspect José, who is Brazilian by birth but Portuguese by nationality, was now wanted for three murders and had disappeared for the second time. Police feared he had fled to Brazil, where he apparently has contacts, but this proved not to be the case and Lisbon’s PJ, together with Grândola PSP, managed to arrest him last Monday in the Alentejo. Vital ground intelligence was received and the police had also managed to listen in to the suspect’s ‘phone calls – developments that allowed them to ascertain his whereabouts at an exact time. José was found and arrested in the small Alentejo village of Valinha da Estrada, in the company of three men who are linked to drug dealing in Bairro de Santa Filomena. Due to the seriousness of the charges, he was immediately put in prison to await trial.
Arsenal of weapons uncovered
However, it won’t be just the three murder charges that Marcos José Fernandes will face in court. Police found a huge arsenal of weapons at the property where he had been staying in the Melides area of Grândola – the largest confiscation of weapons ever to occur in Portugal. It is thought that José is a weapons fanatic and an arms dealer.
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