A “blood-covered” suspect has been arrested after two men, one with a pitchfork lodged in the back of his head, were found dead in a coastal Massachusetts city, according to officials.
Vitor Francisco Gomes, a 28-year-old from Fall River, has been accused of murdering two young men after they were found dead near Cook Pond on the city’s South End Wednesday night.
The victims, 19-year-old Eduardo Cardosa DaSilva and 20-year-old Pablo Henrique Rocha-Dasilva, were found in a bloody crime scene.
DaSilva was found shot and impaled with a pitchfork, The Herald News reported, citing prosecutors. Rocha-Dasilva was shot, dragged out of a car and bludgeoned with a cobblestone, according to prosecutors.
Gomes’ defense attorney, Kenneth Van Cole, has claimed it might’ve been “a self-defense situation,” per The Herald News. The Independent has reached out to Van Cole for comment.
DaSilva was a local, and Rocha-Dasilva was from Whitman, about a 50-minute drive northeast of Fall River. It’s unclear whether the victims were related.
The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release that after DaSilva and Rocha-Dasilva were found by local police bloodied on the ground outside, Massachusetts State Police located Gomes one block away “covered in blood.”
After a short foot chase, troopers caught Gomes, who had a bag with a gun and ammunition on him, according to the DA’s office.
He was taken into custody and charged with two counts of murder, unlawful carrying of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.
During his arraignment Thursday, prosecutor Dennis Collins claimed that Gomes was at his house on the night of the murders when he got into an argument with DaSilva that escalated, The Herald News reported.
Gomes allegedly left and returned with a gun. When he found DaSilva and Rocha-Dasilva in a car trying to drive away, Gomes went up to the driver’s side window where Rocha-Dasilva was sitting and fired about three shots, Collins claimed.
When DaSilva tried to flee, Gomes allegedly followed him, and more shots were heard.
Gomes’ attorney said at the arraignment that his clients and his friends had been “doing this informal sparring” before DaSilva and Rocha-Dasilva became involved.
“These people were threatening my client. They threatened to kill my client and threatened to kill my client’s family – all at his house,” Van Cole said.
Van Cole insisted, “This is something where two strangers came from outside the area…with ill intent of their own.”
Gomes is being held without bail. He will be back in court on July 14.
