Tomislav Jozic to serve 25 years; wife 3 years 10 months
The court of São Roque on the island of Pico, in the Azores, delivered the maximum jail terms (of 25 years) yesterday to German/ Bosnian resident Tomislav Jozic who shot two locals dead, and then incinerated their bodies, simply because they wanted to buy land next to where he lived.
The crime that sent shockwaves through the generally quiet community also involved Jozic’s wife Ruth Hager – even though in the early stages of this investigation her involvement was not made clear. Hager has been handed a jail term of three years and 10 months for ‘co-authoring the crimes of desecrating a body/ bodies and possession of a prohibited weapon – and once this time has been served, she is to be banished from Portuguese territory for a period of seven years.
The verdicts followed two postponements – and a great deal of obfuscation. Jozic, for example, was reported to be declaring himself innocent before the trail began, despite the welter of evidence to the contrary.
The trial went ahead without permission for recordings of sound/ images.
According to reports, Jozic was sentenced to 17 years for each crime of murder, one year and six months for the crime of desecration of a corpse and two years for possession of a prohibited weapon. By law, no sentence in this country can run for longer than 25 years.
After serving his time behind bars, Jozic “will have to stay away from national territory for another 25 years”, reports RTP Azores. This is largely academic, as Jozic is already over 60 – meaning he is unlikely to be released before he is over 80, even with the deduction from his sentence of ‘time already served’.
The horrific crimes took place in September 2022, in the parish of Candelária.
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com
