Pregnant mother-of-two Mónica Silva ‘vanished’ in October 2023
The trial for the murder of Mónica Silva, a 33-year-old mother of two from Murtosa, has been scheduled to start on May 23, and will be one of the most unique in recent times.
It is not just that the man being held for Mónica’s murder is understood to insist on his innocence, but that no trace of his alleged victim has ever been found.
Police have investigated countless ‘leads’, involving the use of digging machinery and similar, but none have brought the necessary closure.
Her family’s contention is that the man was Fernando Valente, and that he had no intention of giving his name to the unborn child.
This has always been a story throwing up more questions than it answers. But the fact that prosecutors have moved this far in the process suggests that they believe there is ‘evidence’ enough to secure a condemnation.
Valente, 37, has been held under house arrest for over a year. He is accused of qualified murder, the profaning of a corpse and aggravated abortion.
This will be a trial by jury, explain reports – with the members of the jury being chosen on February 20.
Correio da Manhã adds that it “knows that requests for civil indemnities for the two children left without their mother, and the children’s father have been accepted”.
