The 25 crime scene photos of the Portuguese fashion writer murdered at the InterContinental hotel in January — allegedly by his young, underwear model lover — are too gruesome to be given to defense lawyers, a Manhattan prosecutor argued today.
“He is unclothed, and has obviously been beaten, and he has been castrated,” assistant district attorney Maxine Rosenthal said, in asking a judge to bar defense lawyers for accused slaughterer Renato Seabra, 21, from getting copies.
“He is naked, there is mutilation,” she said of the victim, Carlos Castro, 65, who was still alive but unconscious when his testicles were severed by a corkscrew allegedly wielded by Seabra.
“There is a sensitivity I have for the deceased, and for his loved ones,” the prosecutor added, saying her concern was that they somehow wind up on the Internet.
But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon said he would issue a protective order mandating the photos not be copied or published, and ordered that the photos be turned over to the defense.
“He’s entitled, in my opinion, to those photographs,” the judge said of defense lawyer David Touger.
The lawer had argued that a psychiatrist needs to compare the photos against Seabra’s own account of the slaying in order to gauge Seabra’s truthfulness.
Seabra is hoping to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Law enforcement sources have told the Post the slaying was spurred by an argument between the vacationing lovers, in which Seabra admitted he was only after the older man’s money, and screamed at his sugar-daddy “I’m not gay anymore!”