National newspapers have dubbed him the “serial killer” of the Algarve. José Mascarenhas was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the murder of a woman in 2018. He appealed to the Court of Appeal and was released. Now, he’s back under the authorities’ scrutiny, this time accused of two more killings: two women, one a sex worker, and the other a taxi driver.
Tatiana Mestre lived in Loulé and worked as a waitress at the same restaurant as her mother. She disappeared on 26 August 2018, aged 29, leaving behind two young children, aged six and nine. After dinner that evening, Tatiana went out alone to meet a friend.
The next morning, her partner told Tatiana’s mother, Antónia, that she hadn’t come home. Her car was later found in a desolate area known as Sítio da Arrochela, a spot associated with prostitution and drug use, on the outskirts of Quarteira.
The vehicle had been partially set on fire. In the back seat lay Tatiana’s body, also burned, her hands tied behind her back, and a jumper covering her head. She had been asphyxiated.
Seven years on, the Faro court is now trying another case, the murder of a second woman. Josielly Rodrigues was found dead, her body burned and dumped in a ravine near Santana da Serra. The main suspect is once again José Mascarenhas, the man who, in 2019, had been convicted of Tatiana Mestre’s murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison, only to be freed months later by order of the Évora Court of Appeal.
On 8 October this year, as Mascarenhas returned to court in Faro to stand trial for Josielly’s death, prosecutors filed fresh charges against him in a third homicide case. He now stands accused of murdering Sandra Andrade, a taxi driver killed in 2023.
Once nicknamed “Kenny”, Mascarenhas is now widely referred to in both the press and common parlance as the “Algarve Serial Killer” and faces charges over the deaths of Josielly and Sandra. Evidence points to him knowing all three murdered women.
He was part of Tatiana’s circle of friends and occasionally met her for sex. He was a client of Josielly, a young Brazilian sex worker, and frequently used the driving services of Sandra Andrade, who vanished around six months after Josielly’s murder.
On the morning of 24 June 2023, Sandra received a call from Mascarenhas. It wasn’t unusual, Kenny often rang the 32-year-old when he needed a lift. She accepted the job but never made it to her next scheduled client an hour later.
Weeks later, her body was discovered stuffed inside a suitcase and hidden under stones in a remote area, near a former address linked to Mascarenhas.
According to prosecutors, Sandra was already dead when her body was taken there. The murder allegedly took place at the home of Mascarenhas’s parents, who were travelling in Cape Verde at the time. He reportedly lured her inside, restrained her, covered her mouth with heavy-duty tape, and asphyxiated her after forcing her to reveal her bank card PINs. Later that night, he allegedly moved her body in a suitcase to a rural track known as Caminho da Rascova, near Almancil.
The case of Sandra Andrade has yet to go to trial. Prosecutors say Mascarenhas withdrew over €2,000 using her bank cards, and her car was found just 500 metres from the home of his then-girlfriend in Olhão.
In the judgment over Tatiana Mestre’s killing, the court noted that there was no history of violence in Mascarenhas’s family, a household of nine, originally from Cape Verde, describing it as stable and close-knit.
In court, Mascarenhas admitted having sexual encounters with Tatiana, including in the area where her body was found. A local resident confirmed that her car was often seen there.
Investigators believe Tatiana was killed in the early hours of 27 August 2018. Kenny claims the last time he saw her was the day before, while her former partner was away in Spain.
DNA traces belonging to Mascarenhas found at the scene and on the victim led to his initial conviction, but the Évora Court of Appeal expressed doubts. For instance, a joint found outside the car contained DNA from both Tatiana and Kenny, yet the autopsy revealed no cannabinoids in her blood, suggesting it hadn’t been smoked the night she was killed.
There were also traces of other individuals that were neither analysed nor identified, including two hairs clutched in the victim’s hands, belonging to neither her nor the accused. Given this accumulation of doubts, the appellate court ruled in favour of the defendant.
In the ongoing trial for Josielly’s murder, another woman has testified against Kenny. She told the court that years earlier, he had attacked her at her home without warning, attempting to strangle her. Her son woke up and intervened, preventing the assault from turning deadly.
Mascarenhas’s father and sister were summoned to testify in the case of the Brazilian victim but declined to make statements.
Josielly, who had arrived in Portugal only nine months before her death, was found weeks after she disappeared. Her body had been thrown down a 15-metre ravine near Santana da Serra. She was in an advanced state of decomposition and partially eaten by animals. The autopsy confirmed she had died of asphyxiation.
Alongside the two new homicide cases now hanging over him, José Mascarenhas, a former gardener, is currently being held at Linhó Prison on separate drug trafficking charges.
The trial over the killing of Josielly Rodrigues is being heard before a jury at Faro District Court. The next hearing is scheduled for 24 October.
