Accused in major Portuguese murder trial finally breaks silence

LISBON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Pedro Dias, accused of going on a killing spree that left three people dead and led to a one-month manhunt, spoke of the crimes he is accused of for the first time on Thursday.

Dias confessed to shooting at two National Republican Guard (GNR) police officers, one of whom was killed, but denied responsibility for the death of two civilians.

The accused instead blamed the surviving GNR police officer for the civilian deaths.

Dias is accused of three counts of actual murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of kidnapping, and the theft of an automobile, firearms and money.

The trial relates to events that took place in the early hours of Oct. 11, 2016, in Aguiar da Beira, a rural area 300 km north of Lisbon.

According to the GNR, two of their officers found Dias behaving suspiciously at a hotel construction site. While checking his identification, Dias opened fire, shooting one of them dead.

He is alleged to have then put the corpse in the trunk of the GNR vehicle and forced the other GNR officer to drive away at gun-point.

After travelling for several kilometers, Dias is said to have ordered the GNR officer to get out of the car where upon he shot him and left him for dead. However, the officer survived.

Dias then allegedly flagged down a car, fatally shooting the couple inside and making off with the vehicle.

After driving for 80 km, he is said to have come across a GNR roadblock, but managed to flee on foot. He then spent 28 days on the run in the countryside, evading a police manhunt that involved hundreds of officers.

He eventually gave himself up, albeit only after contacting a RTP television journalist for an interview.

But the accused had kept his silence since the trial began in November 2017.

On Thursday, he finally spoke. According to his own testimony, as reported by the local press, he pulled in at the construction site because he was tired and needed to sleep. He claims the GNR officers woke him and physically beat him; he opened fire in self-defense, accidentally killing one of them.

He said he carried a firearm for fear of wild dogs in the area.

He forced the officer to drive away with the intention of going to collect a motorbike. Dias said the GNR officer then suggested finding a gypsy to frame for the homicide. When they stopped and were approached by a couple from another car, the GNR officer, in Dias' version of events, started shooting and only stopped when Dias put a gun to his head.

The trail is ongoing at the Guarda law courts, the nearest to Aguiar da Beira. Enditem