The man accused of throwing acid over Eleanor Chessell last May, has appeared in court in Portimão.
Edmundo Fonseca, 45, heard the prosecutor’s case against him in court on Monday. He is accused of dousing Eleanor Chessel, 29, at the request of Cláudio Gouveia, who already has been sentenced to 12 years for masterminding the attack.
Fonseca’s defence to charges of attempted murder is that he thought the plastic bottle he had been given by Gouveia, contained urine, not acid.
Eleanor Chessell, a TUI travel rep, suffered burns on about 60% of her body and has been disfigured.
The alleged ‘hitman’ was found by Portuguese authorities in November 2017 in a prison in Uganda following his arrest with six kilos of heroin.
The defendant confessed to some of the accusations, acknowledging that he acted under Eleanor's ex-boyfriend’s instruction.
The two men, both from Funchal, are friends. Edmundo said in court that Gouveia traveled with him from Funchal to the Algarve and asked him to assaulted Eleanor.
“He told me his relationship with someone had finished and I said I had been betrayed by my girlfriend six months earlier and we realised the two cases were similar. It was then that he asked me if I could help him frighten someone.
"He confessed the person from Tinder was his ex and she didn’t know it was him she would be meeting. He asked me to meet her instead and give her a slap and steal her mobile because it was his phone.
“I refused and said I didn’t do that sort of thing but I ended up agreeing to take the phone,” and to throw liquid on her - liquid that Claudio Gouveia gave him, saying it was urine.
The accused said that he had apologised to the victim when he threw the liquid on her and realised that it was acid and not urine.
He revealed in court that he was splashed by acid on one arm.
Edmundo Fonseca said it was not his intention to kill the young woman and that he hesitated before throwing the liquid. His defence lawyer Filipe Cavaco highlighted his client’s apology and claimed his behaviour was the result of his drug addiction.
The State prosecutor insisted Rodrigues Fonseca should face up to 25 years in jail for an attempted murder conviction because Ellie was attacked “intentionally” and dark acid could never be confused for urine.
The case continues.
Edmundo Helder Rodrigues Fonseca
