The National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) of Mozambique announced on Tuesday that Portuguese citizen Pedro Ferraz Correia dos Reis took his own life at a hotel in Maputo, contradicting the police’s initial version of homicide.
“Based on the work carried out by the SERNIC technical team, in coordination with the forensic department of Maputo Central Hospital, where magistrates from the Public Prosecutor’s Office were also present, there is no doubt at this time that this is a case of suicide, not homicide, as has been previously suggested,” said Hilário Lole, SERNIC spokesperson.
According to Mozambican investigative police, the Portuguese citizen and executive board member of BCI, a Mozambican subsidiary of the Portuguese groups Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) and BPI, took his own life using cutting instruments, namely knives, and by ingesting rat poison.
Earlier in the day, Marta Pereira, spokesperson for the Mozambican Republic Police (PRM) in Maputo, had told Lusa that the death of the Portuguese citizen was the result of homicide, stating that investigations were underway based on the hotel’s CCTV footage. “As for the motives, these are matters that can only be clarified after the ongoing investigation by the joint command. But I confirm the case,” said Marta Pereira, who added that the crime occurred on Monday at 23:46 and was a “voluntary homicide.”
According to SERNIC, on Monday, Pedro Ferraz Correia dos Reis left his workplace at 2 p.m., heading home, where he took a knife from his kitchen and then went to a shop on Maputo’s seafront to buy, among other items, two more knives, which were later found inside his vehicle.
He then went to another shop where he purchased rat poison. Parts of this substance were found in his body following a forensic medical examination, the SERNIC spokesperson stated.
Mozambican investigative police say they are in possession of footage that proves the Portuguese citizen’s movements from leaving work to arriving at the hotel where he died, as well as evidence that, upon reaching the hotel, Pedro Ferraz Correia dos Reis inflicted “several wounds” on various parts of his body.
Source: Lusa