A man who went on trial today at the Judicial Court of Beja, accused of killing one of his sons nearly a year ago in the rural Alentejo municipality of Moura, has confessed to the shooting, whilst, attempting to clear the co-defendant, another of his sons, of any involvement.
During the opening session of the trial, the 68-year-old defendant, charged with aggravated qualified homicide and possession of a prohibited weapon, claimed the fatal shotgun blast was accidental and expressed remorse.
“A father who kills his son does not deserve prison, he deserves to be hanged,” he told the panel of judges, arguing that at the time of the incident he “did not realise what he was doing” because he was heavily intoxicated.
Addressing the court, the accused said that on the morning of 10th June 2025 he arrived drunk at the family encampment where he lived with relatives in Baldio das Ferrarias da Amareleja, in the Moura area, and pointed a shotgun at several family members.
According to his account, his eldest son stepped in front of him, “grabbed the barrels of the gun” in an attempt to take it away and gave him “a shove”, causing the weapon to discharge.
The defendant initially maintained that no argument had taken place before the shot was fired. Later in the hearing, however, he acknowledged that his two other sons had been quarrelling “over a horse”.
Regarding the second defendant in the case, also his son and the victim’s brother, who faces charges of aggravated homicide, possession of a prohibited weapon, aggravated assault, and aggravated threats, the father insisted the man was in the “horse enclosure” with another relative at the time of the shooting.
He further claimed that this son neither fetched nor loaded the shotgun and had not threatened anyone.
Responding to questions from the judges and the parties involved, the 35-year-old co-defendant denied arguing with his deceased brother and said he had never handed the weapon to his father or encouraged him to fire.
“I wasn’t even there,” he stressed, adding that after hearing the shot he ran to where his brother lay wounded in an attempt to help him.
The younger defendant also rejected suggestions that he fled after the incident, stating firmly: “I am innocent, I have never harmed anyone.”
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, on 10th June last year, during a family dispute linked to the sale of a mare carried out by the victim, the younger brother allegedly retrieved a shotgun, loaded it and handed it to his father, urging him: “Shoot him, father.”
An investigative ruling issued on 16th February this year, which upheld the prosecution’s indictment in full, states that the father then fired the weapon, striking his 45-year-old son in the abdomen and causing fatal injuries.
Although he did not pull the trigger, prosecutors argue that the younger defendant played “a necessary and decisive role” in executing the alleged plan by loading the shotgun and passing it to his father.
The father has been held in pre-trial detention since 13th June 2025, following his arrest the previous day. The younger defendant has also remained in custody under the same measure since 7th August last year.
Source: Sul Informação
