The trial of the former deputy of PSD Duarte Lima, accused of the murder of Rosalina Ribeiro, in Brazil, in 2009, begins on Thursday, at 14:00, in the court of Sintra. The case, which had a long judicial trajectory, included the arrest of Duarte Lima for another crime and the lack of evidence in the process.
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04/11/2026
by
Lusa
O trial of former deputy of PSD Duarte Lima, accused of the murder of Rosalina Ribeiro, in Brazil, in 2009, begins on Thursday, at 2pm, in the court of Sintra.
Between the day the widow of businessman Tomé Feteira was murdered and the beginning of the trial, it was almost 17 years and Duarte Lima has already served a prison sentence related to another crime.
Here is the chronology of the main moments that marked the case of Rosalina Ribeiro's death:
december 7, 2009
Rosalina Ribeiro, widow of businessman and millionaire Tomé Feteira, was killed with two shots in Maricá, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The night he died, he was with his lawyer Duarte Lima, who confirmed the meeting, but denied being involved in the crime, saying he left his client and was unaware of his fate.
8 december 2009
The 74-year-old body of Rosalina Ribeiro was found on a road in Saquarema, about 100 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro.
27 october 2011
The Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor accused Duarte Lima of the crime of murder of Rosalina Ribeiro, arguing that, in question, there were 5.2 million euros transferred by Rosalina Ribeiro to an account of the former parliamentary leader of the PSD.
According to the charge, the lawyer wanted the widow of Tomé Feteira to sign a document proving that the money transferred was, after all, Duarte Lima, but Rosalina Ribeiro refused such a request.
17 november 2011
Involved in more than one case, Duarte Lima was arrested and was in custody under the ‘Homeland’ process, suspected of circumventing BPN by buying and selling land in Oeiras.
Judged in 2014, Duarte Lima was sentenced to six years in prison for qualified fraud, a sentence he served in the prison of Carreira between 2019 and 2022.
05 may 2015
The Court of Saquarema validated the prosecution of the Public Prosecutor and the investigating judge decided to bring Duarte Lima to trial in a jury court.
22 november 2016
Brazilian justice decided that the trial would take place in Portugal and not in Brazil, since Duarte Lima was in Portugal, has Portuguese nationality and Portuguese law does not allow extradition of nationals.
08 january 2019
Duarte Lima was acquitted of the crime of abuse of trust that he was accused following a complaint made by Thomas Feteira's daughter. The court failed to prove, despite the doubts, that Duarte Lima appropriated the EUR 5.2 million withdrawn from the businessman's account.
14 october 2019
The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled on the trial of the 2016 decision, rejecting the defense resources of the former parliamentary leader of the PSD for the case to be tried in Brazil.
27 april 2021
The Lisbon Central Criminal Court accepted that the trial of Duarte Lima would take place in Portugal, despite the resistance by the defense, and determined that the same should be done in the Sintra court, since Duarte Lima was imprisoned in the prison of Carreira at that time.
29 september 2022
Duarte Lima was released after serving the sentence in the case of ‘Homeland’, but on the way out of jail the former Social-Deputy Democrat was again arrested to be present to judge – this time, on the death of Rosalina Ribeiro.
The D.A. wanted the coercion measure to escalate to avoid possible escape, but the request was not accepted.
10 november 2025
Although the case was sent to Portugal, not all procedural documents arrived. For five years, the missing records were requested from Brazil, but the answer was always the same: they could not find the evidence.
On this date, Judge Carlos Camacho admitted to starting the trial, even without the documents.
02 november 2026
Duarte Lima's defense asked the Sintra court to consider the prescription of the crime of murder, since, according to Brazilian law, the crime of murder prescribes after 20 years and this period is reduced to half if the defendant is over 70 years old – Duarte Lima is precisely 70 years old.
5 november 2026
The trial begins, with the first session reserved for the hearing of Duarte Lima, who has already warned the court that he will remain silent, and a witness: Rosemary Espinola, Rosalina Ribeiro's friend.