A Massachusetts man has been arrested after allegedly bludgeoning his neighbor to death in his Bridgewater home.
The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office says 69-year-old Dinis Moreira attacked 58-year-old Valerie Oakhem in his house on Spring Street. Police responded around 12:30 a.m. Friday to find her suffering from severe trauma to her head and face.
Oakhem was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, where she was pronounced dead.
Moreira pleaded not guilty to a murder charge at his arraignment Friday at Brockton District Court. He was held without bail and will undergo a 20-day evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital.
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Family members grieving Oakhem said she knew Moreira for years and had helped him since his wife's death.
In court, prosecutors said Moreira had called his son to tell him he had an altercation with someone at his home. The son called police after finding Oakhem covered in blood on Moreira's kitchen floor.
The district attorney's office said the cause and manner of Oakhem's death would be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts.
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Moreira is due back in court on June 14.
