Beja court ruled the septuagenarian was ‘unimputable’ given that at the time of the attack she was suffering from chronic psychosis – schizophrenia or a schizoaffective disorder – and sentenced her to a psychiatric hospital for between three and sixteen years instead.
The incident happened 11 months ago, on 8 May 2016, when the two elderly women, who shared a room at the home, became embroiled in an argument.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s accusation, the defendant started the argument after the 88-year-old victim offended her.
The defendant went over to the bed where the older woman was laying and punched her in the face before grabbing her walking stick and beating the victim with it, inflicting injuries that led to her roommate’s death.
The Public Prosecutor argued that the defendant acted in a “deliberate, free and conscious manner” and further recalled that she had previously been admitted to the Júlio de Matos psychiatric Hospital in Lisbon as well as the psychiatric unit at Beja Hospital “for showing signs of depression with homicidal and suicidal tendencies due to a long-term psychiatric disorder.”