Carlos Castro, Portuguese journalist, died he was bludgeoned. to death he was , 65

Carlos Castro  was a Portuguese television personality and journalist, who had worked in the media for over 35 years, mainly covering gossip items about musicians, actors and celebrities died he was bludgeoned. to death he was , 65. He became well known after he had come out on television and participated in the Big Show SIC in the 1990s. On January 7, 2011, he was "found castrated and bludgeoned to death in a New York City hotel". The main suspect in his death was his boyfriend, a 21-years old male model, Renato Seabra, who had been a contestant on the Portuguese television modeling-themed reality show À Procura do Sonho (SIC).^[1][2] On January 10, 2011, Seabra was charged with second-degree murder by the NYPD after confessing to the killing of Castro.^[3]

Personal life

Born in Moçâmedes, Angola during the time period that it was a Portuguese colony, Castro had, during his childhood, a great interest in works of poetry. He moved to Luanda to become a reporter when he was 15.^[4] During his life, he became a "high-profile public figure as a TV personality" in Portugal, who had worked in the media for 35 years, having gained further popularity because of his public coming out as homosexual to the country and "revealing the feminine side of his personality".^[1][5] A LGBT rights activist, he was known for the coverage of gossip items about musicians, actors and celebrities, which both garnered him admiration and negative attention.

Murder

Both Castro and Seabra had traveled to the United States in order to "see some Broadway shows and spend New Year's Eve in Times Square". A friend who had accompanied them on the trip, newspaper editor Luis Pires, stated in a later interview that, "There had been some friction between the two men toward the end of the trip, but nothing to suggest that anything horrible was about to happen". The two went to see a musical on Broadway and also a movie during their stay, but, on Friday night, when they were meant to be meeting up with Pires ex-wife and his daughter in the InterContinental hotel lobby, they did not show. Instead, Seabra appeared and allegedly said, "Carlos will never leave the hotel again."^[1][6]
Pires ex-wife and his daughter immediately notified hotel staff and security, who found Castro's body in the room around 7 PM that night.^[1] Castro had been beaten with a nearby laptop and a broken wine bottle had originally been believed to be the weapon used to castrate him. It was later discovered that the corkscrew for opening the wine bottle had been the castration implement. It had also been used to gouge out one of Castro's eyes. The cause of death found by the medical examiner was "blunt impact injuries on the head and neck compression."^[7][8] The examiner also noted that there were marks of strangulation on the body.^[9] When police looked for Seabra to interrogate him about the crime, he had already left the scene and later admitted himself to the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center because he had tried to slit his own wrists. He was tracked down after his taxi driver called the police when he saw Seabra's picture in a police bulletin.^[10][11] Taken into custody, he was given a psychiatric evaluation at Bellevue Hospital Center a few hours later and was considered a person of interest.^[1]
After interrogation by the NYPD at the hospital, Seabra admitted to the murder, stating that he had killed Castro in order to "get rid of [his] 'homosexual demons'". Detectives for the police believe that Seabra had killed Castro after the latter had "refused to take him on an expensive shopping trip." In light of this confession, he was charged with second-degree murder.^[8] Odília Pereirinha, Seabra's mother and a nurse with residency in Cantanhede, arrived in New York not long after his confession. She planned on accompanying her son through the trial process in the US.^[12]
Renato Seabra was transferred on January 10, 2011 to the prison section of the Bellevue Hospital Center, while his case was handed over to the New York County District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, Jr. No date has been set for the court hearing, though it is known that Seabra will be appearing before a grand jury.^[13]
Carlos Castro's ashes were spread in the New York Subway near Broadway by his sisters, as was his desire.^[14]

Depois da Vida show

After his murder in New York, Carlos Castro was shown on the Portuguese television TVI's program Depois da Vida (After Life), a paranormal-related show where a British female medium,Anne Germain, claims she can have a conversation with dead people, that had been filmed in October 2010. During the show broadcast on January 21, 2011, Castro was allegedly "visited" by old drag queen friend José Centúrio de Almeida (stage name: Ruth Bryden), among other people he had known.^[15][16] The episode was originally delayed in airing due to complaints, but the producers decided to air the episode anyways. Afterwards, four further complaints were made to the Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (ERC), which were then sent to the board's legal department.^[17]

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