The two women spoke of aggressions, threats and vulgar messages from the accused towards Ana Lopes, but also themselves. One of the witnesses reported that he had once indirectly threatened to burn her in a car, in the forest.
Which was exactly what happened to Ana Lopes in the end, the woman added, explaining she had not challenged the threat at the time because she wanted to avoid all contact with the man.
The witness, who had been in a relationship with Ana Lopes herself for a while, said the man had grabbed the victim by the throat, though she had not personally seen him beat her. She did state having been grabbed and hit by him herself once, while Ana was threatened and sent vulgar messages, insulted, stalked and beaten even while she was pregnant. Ana never went out alone while she was with him, said the witness.
The victim had told her she wasn't allowed to see girlfriends. She said Ana had a big heart and had quit drugs while she was pregnant, because she so desperately wanted a child.
The second witness couldn't hold back tears when she said that you could always rely on Ana and she was a great mother. She, too, stressed that the pregnancy had completely changed the victim's life, who had quit drugs and focused entirely on her son. But she had also changed after getting together with the defendant, who wouldn't let her go go out with her friends.
The witness said she never quite understood why Ana kept going back to the man, but that she said she had wanted her son to have a father. She also testified to seeing vulgar messages the man had sent to Ana, who told her once, "either I go to Argentina with my son or you'll end up finding me dead in a ditch."
The trial continues on Friday morning.
