Autopsy of Beja multiple killer held this morning
- Created on Monday, 20 February 2012 20:38
An autopsy of the alleged triple murderer from Beja was carried out today at the National Institute of Legal Medicine (INML), in Lisbon.
INML said that the final report of the autopsy performed on Francisco Esperança, found suspended by sheets in his cell, will take some time to complete especially as complementary examinations were requested, including a toxicology report which may take several weeks .
INML will not provide any interim information about the autopsy, and the findings will be sent directly to prosecutors investigating the man’s death.
The spokesman at INML declined to confirm whether death has been caused by suicide, although this looks likely.
INML may keep the body for a month, after which it will be delivered to the Santa Casa da Misericordia in Lisboa, responsible for funeral arrangements.
Esperança’s body was found on Friday hanging in his prison cell in Lisbon where he had been transferred to last Thursday afternoon, as the cells in Beja were thought to lack the necessary degree of security.
The Directorate General of Prison Services (GPSD) has opened an investigation into exactly what happened in the cell of the alleged murderer, and the prosecution announced it also would examine the conditions under which the death occurred.
Esperança, a former banker, handed himself and was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife, his granddaughter and daughter, and of keeping the bodies in their house for a week.
