UPDATE: Prime suspect has been found dead – click here for updated story
The town of Carvoeiro has been shaken by the horrific death of a 49-year-old woman, believed to have been murdered by her 64-year-old partner, who is still at large.
The victim’s body was found inside her home in Carvoeiro on Wednesday afternoon by a relative who became worried after trying unsuccessfully to contact the couple.
According to reports in the national press, authorities believe Ivone Silveira, who held both Portuguese and Brazilian nationality, was bludgeoned in the head with a metal pipe and stabbed multiple times in the chest and neck.
The prime suspect is her partner, a 64-year-old Portuguese man with a reported history of erratic behaviour and psychotic episodes.
Neighbours have reported cases in which the man ran through the streets of Carvoeiro naked and threw objects out of the window of the couple’s first-floor apartment. He was also admitted to Portimão Hospital’s psychatric ward but released a day later.
Jornal de Notícias says that the victim had called GNR police at least once to report a case of domestic violence. The newspaper adds that authorities found some packed objects at the scene of the crime, which “may indicate that the victim was preparing to leave her partner.”
Several handheld weapons were also found at the apartment, including a dagger, but no vestiges of blood were found on any of them, indicating that the weapon or weapons used in the crime may have been taken by the attacker.
Authorities suspect Ivone Silveira may have been dead since Monday, although an autopsy is due to provide a clearer picture of the circumstances of her death.
