Tenant running coffee bar reportedly “kept body for two days”
Joaquim Baía Braz, 77, the owner of various shops and businessés – among them Pastelaria Natas e Natinhas, in Avenida da Liberdade – was stabbed to death last week and his body hidden in a room at the back of the café, for two days.
Everything points to the killing having been related to the rental arrears of the young man running the café.
For now, PJ police have arrested the young man – 26-year-old Diogo Zorrinho – who remains in preventive custody ahead of being questioned tomorrow by a magistrate.
According to a statement by the PJ, “the disappearance of (Joaquim Baía Braz) was reported at the end of Friday evening”. Correio da Manhã reports that Braz’s son actually contacted GNR police the day before, but it took 24 hours for the complaint to reach the PJ.
The body was found yesterday (Saturday) in a kind of pantry area of the café, which had been left locked. Firefighters had to break down the door to gain entry.
CM writes that the floor had “already been meticulously cleaned. Everything indicated that the young (tenant) was going to dispose of the body yesterday”.
Instead, Zorrinho was located and arrested.
The body was described as “already in an advanced stage of decomposition. Even so, it was possible to see stab wounds in the back”.
CM adds that the café had been closed since last Tuesday. “Apart from having serious financial problems, Diogo apparently took drugs, which would explain the pastelaria’s lack of solvency,” added the paper. ND
