TEAM HERALD
PANJIM/OLD GOA: Old Goa police has recorded the statements of over 20 persons and has been questioning the three guests of Mathias Vaz who were present in the house, when the double murders took place on Monday night.
As efforts to locate the third accused in the St Cruz double murder are in progress, Old Goa Police has now turned its attention to Edgar Vaz, who survived the attack, and is also verifying the relations between the prime accused, Norman Fernandes, and his brother-in-law, Noel Monteiro, the lone person arrested so far.
It may be recalled that a family dispute over property matters came to a gruesome end when Norman Fernandes of Bambolim had allegedly stabbed his sister, Noreen Fernandes e Vaz, and her mother-in-law, Aurita Vaz, to death, besides seriously wounding his brother-in-law, Edgar, at their residence in Santa Cruz on Monday night. Norman is also reported to have inflicted wounds on himself, before fleeing from the site.
Police officials have recorded the statements of over 20 persons since Monday night, but much of the focus remains on the three guests from Kolhapur, who were present in the house when Aurita and Noreen were murdered.
“We have enough evidence that Norman has committed the crime as those three persons, two of whom are business associates of Matias Vaz, have confirmed that Norman had committed the heinous act as they were present at the time of the murders and had later fled from the premises fearing for their lives,” said a police source.
Meanwhile, police investigations have also uncovered inconsistencies in Norman’s association his brother-in-law, Noel.
While Norman, Noel and another person are reported to have visited the house on Monday night, police sources have stated that Norman and Noel were not in good terms with each other.
“They were in fact not talking to each other,” said a police source. “We need to find out how the two brothers-in-law could come together to allegedly execute the double murder on Monday night if their relations had been strained.”
Police has sought for call details of Edgar and Norman, as it is learnt both of them had had an argument over the phone shortly before the incident. The weapon used in the double murder is yet to be recovered.
The focus of investigation has also moved to Edgar who apparently had a huge personal debt and was allegedly planning to sell off his wife’s property to clear the loan.
“His alleged criminal history and visits to offshore casinos are also being investigated,” said a police official.
