Renato Seabra, the alleged killer of
Portuguese gay journalist Carlos Castro, asked a judge on Friday to
toss out his murder confession.
Defense lawyer David Touger argued that
Seabra did not mean to admit to brutally attacking Castro for more
than an hour and castrating him with a corkscrew, the New York
Daily News reported.
Touger suggested that his client
unintentionally waived his right to remain silent. “Maybe [it was]
not his dialect of Portuguese,” Touger said of the interpreter
provided by authorities. “I don't think he knowingly waived his
constitutional rights.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles
Solomon granted Touger's request to hold hearings on whether Seabra's
confession will be permitted as evidence, but denied a motion to
dismiss murder charges.
Touger had previously argued that
Seabra's confession should be thrown out on the grounds that nobody
witnessed Castro's January 7 murder in the Inter-Continental New York
Times Square Hotel room that Castro and Seabra shared.
Seabra reportedly confessed to
officials that he killed Castro in a fit of rage. The 21-year-old
fashion model has been accused of bludgeoning to death and castrating
with a wine corkscrew the 65-year-old Castro as the men vacationed
over the New Year holiday.
Seabra has not discussed whether he was
romantically involved with Castro, as
friends have said and Facebook postings suggest. His mother,
however, insists her son is not gay.
Seabra earned fame last year on the
Portuguese reality talent contest A Procura Do Sonho, or
Pursuit of a Dream. He didn't win the contest but was signed
to a modeling contract.
Castro had written articles and books
about fashion and was a vocal gay rights advocate.