Suspect in horror murder case hands himself in to police

The chief suspect in the investigation into the horrific murder of a family of four in Spain’s Guadalajara province arrived in Madrid on Wednesday after handing himself in to Brazilian police.

The suspect had told police investigators he fled to Brazil because he feared he would be next

Sources close to the investigation told Spanish news agency EFE that Patrick Nogueira Gouveira – the nephew of the slain parents – voluntarily gave himself up to police in his home country after conversations between his lawyer and Spanish investigators.

The 19-year-old was due to be taken into custody by Spain’s Civil Guard when he arrived at the Spanish capital’s Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas airport.

A video tweeted by the Spanish Civil Guard of the suspect’s arrival today at Madrid Barajas Airport.

Nogueira Gouveira, who has a criminal record after brutally assaulting a teacher when he was 16, is wanted in connection with the horrific murder of his aunt and uncle and their two small children. The dismembered bodies of the family of four were found in plastic garbage sacks on September 18 in their rented home in Pioz, Guadalajara after neighbors alerted police to a “terrible stench” coming from within the property.

Investigators originally suspected the four were victims of a drug deal gone wrong but evidence including DNA and fingerprints at the house pointed to Nogueira Gouveira.

In other key evidence, cellphone records obtained by police place Nogueira Gouveira at the scene of the crime on August 17, the day the murders are thought to have taken place. This was the last time his uncle Marcos Campos Nogueira was seen alive at his place of work.

CCTV footage also shows the young man entering the private housing estate where his relatives lived at 3am on that date, while data on his bus pass reveals he traveled to Guadalajara on August 17 and returned the following day.

Nogueira Gouveira brutally attacked a teacher when he was 16 years old

Nogueira Gouveira fled to Brazil two days after the hacked-up bodies of his relatives were found by Civil Guard officers. He initially told Brazilian police he had returned to the South American country over fears he “would be next.” Declaring that he was innocent, he said he had never been to house in Pioz, which he had helped his relatives locate on the internet.

However, as evidence against him mounted, the nephew changed his story. Via his lawyer, he stated the physical evidence found was a result of his having lived with his aunt and uncle, although he did not specify where he had done so.

English version by George Mills.