João Carvalho now has been sentenced to the maximum term for a triple murder, but will continue to enjoy freedom, for the present at least.
The court may next week decide to lock him up but in the meantime he is free, as he has been since 2005 when he killed his girlfriend and her parents in acts of violence that shocked Portugal.
The Court in Almada sentenced Carvalho to 25 years in prison today for the 2005 killing in Charneca de Caparica, to the south west of Lisbon, of Maria do Rosario, 41, with whom he had a relationship and her parents, both 71 years old, when they tried to help their daughter.
Carvalho can still appeal today’s ruling.
"The prosecution has to act in accordance with the law," said the victims’ lawyer, Diogo Martins.
"Although no direct evidence existed of Carvalho's guilt, the truth is that the circumstances surrounding the offenses were clear and specific and therefore no other verdict could have been decided."
The court heard from the families whose members did not understand how the defendant was still free after having been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
"We had hoped that he would be arrested and jailed today. A man who killed three people eight years ago and it is still free even now has the right to appeal. We are shocked by all of this," said a family member.
