Sidney Martins, subject of a European arrest warrant on which there are suspicions of several homicides and armed robberies, from the pair of robbers detained in Spain, was extradited to Portugal yesterday. The Spanish authorities handed over the Portuguese citizen to the Judiciary Police.
Sidney Martins is one half of the Portuguese assailant couple, arrested in Spain, on August 13th, in the city of Zamora. SEE HERE.
Known as the Portuguese 'Bonnie & Clyde', the 42-year-old man and his partner Nélida Guerreiro, 40, are the subject of three investigations in Portugal, being suspected of a triple homicide in Bragança and armed robberies in Fundão and Algarve, in addition to the robberies that are suspected of committing in Spain. The murders in Bragança will have occurred on July 9th and July 20th.
According to Jornal de Notícias, Sidney Martins took advantage of the absence of Nélida Guerreiro and a mutual friend of the couple, Carlos Pires, to rob the house of the latter's parents, killing his mother and assaulting his father, who was transported to the hospital.
After 11 days, Sidney Martins and Nélida Guerreiro, allegedly drug addicts, defined a strategy to re-enter the house, this time to steal drugs from Carlos Pires and money from his father, with the robbery culminating in murder, both murdered with a Knife.
The bodies were discovered in the house, after an alert given by neighbours regarding a house fire, caused by the alleged murderers to cover up the crime.
Sidney Martins and Nélida Guerreiro are still indicted for the assault on a service station on the A23, in Fundão, Castelo Branco district.
The Portuguese duo is also suspected of several armed robberies at petrol stations in the Algarve, from where they went to Spain and committed several other robberies, namely in Seville, Toledo and Badajoz, using the same 'modus operandi' of intimidation with a firearm and a knife.
Following European arrest warrants, issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office “in the context of an investigation under way at the DIAP [Department of Investigation and Criminal Action] in Faro”, the two suspects were arrested on Saturday, August 13, in Zamora, Spain. .
The suspects were recognized by a popular person as they ate a hamburger inside the car they had stolen in Madrid and on which they had already placed a false Portuguese license plate.
After being present for questioning at the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid, the Portuguese duo was in preventive detention, by order of judge Joaquim Gadea, with the request for extradition to Portugal still pending.
According to the file, to which news agency Lusa had access, Nélida Alves Guerreiro, 40, declared her opposition to surrender to the Portuguese authorities, under the arrest and surrender warrant presented by Portugal through Interpol. On the other hand, Sidney Pereira Martins, 42, did not contest the extradition.
The arrest warrants issued by the Court of Faro do not cover the couple's suspicions of a triple homicide in Bragança - still under investigation by the Portuguese authorities, being limited only to crimes linked to robberies in Portugal and Spain.
The order referring to Nélida Alves Guerreiro cites more crimes in the European arrest and surrender warrant, such as “theft, aggravated duress, damages, forgery of documents, possession of a prohibited weapon and dangerous driving”. The document on Sidney Pereira Martins only makes reference to “theft with intimidation”.
A note published on the official PJ webpage reads, “A 42-year-old man was handed over to the Judiciary Police at the border, under arrest, by the Spanish authorities, as part of the fulfillment of a European arrest warrant issued by the Faro Prosecutor's Office, heavily indicted for the practice of several crimes including armed robberies, which took place in the month of July, in the Algarve region."
According to the same note, “the detainee will be presented to the national judicial authorities, in the district of Faro, within the legally established deadlines”.
Source https://postal.pt/
