Eduardo Marcelino, the man who fatally stabbed market vendor Francisco Artur in the early hours of 4 February last year, after the Campanário festival ended, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the crime of aggravated homicide. He was also ordered to pay compensation of 177 thousand euros to the parents of the deceased victim. The decision, made by a jury made up of three judges and four citizens, was announced this afternoon at the Central Criminal Court of Funchal (Building 2000).
The defendant, aged 41, is a drug addict and made his living selling food and drinks at the festivals. The fatal attack took place shortly after 2:00 am on 4 February 2024, after the festival in Campanário had closed. It was around this time that the victim, Francisco Artur, a 36-year-old ex-military man who was helping his father at a stall, went to another street vendor set up on site, the so-called ‘sergeant’s stall’, where the defendant Eduardo Marcelino worked. According to the description given to the police by the victim’s girlfriend, Francisco Artur, who had consumed some alcoholic beverages, intended to demand an explanation from the alleged perpetrator of the theft of agricultural equipment and other goods stored in a hayloft he owned in the mountains. A fight ensued between the owner of the ‘sergeant’s stall’. Eduardo Marcelino, who had hidden inside the tent at the beginning of the fight, came out to support his boss but armed with a “machete” (term used by judge Teresa de Sousa) with a 30-centimeter blade, with which he inflicted several deep blows on the victim’s neck and abdomen, causing his death.
The trial began on May 13. In this first session, the defendant, who has been in preventive detention since the crime occurred, said that he acted in defense of his boss, who was being attacked by the victim, and assured that he had no intention of killing the victim.