Serial killer Dinamita Montilla sentenced to 24 years in prison for Los Montes de Málaga murder

José Jurado Montilla, better known as Dinamita Montilla, will serve 24 and-a-half years in prison for the murder of 21-year-old David in Los Montes de Málaga in August 2022.

After convicting him, the provincial court of Malaga has now established the sentence: 20 years as the perpetrator of a murder with the aggravating circumstance of repeat offence (he was convicted of four other murders in the 1980s) three years and six months for robbery with violence and one more year for illegal possession of weapons.

The two-year investigation, which focused on the testimonies of police officers, witnesses who crossed paths with Dinamita Montilla that day and the WhatsApp messages David sent to his family and friends moments before his death have proven essential in setting the sentence.

Also fundamental has been the biological evidence carried out by the DNA laboratory of the National Police in Granada.

According to the judge, the defendant's aim was to end David's life by taking advantage of the fact that the young man was "alone and helpless".

The ruling states that, on the day of the murder, the two had had a brief conversation, after which Dinamita Montilla followed David to a farm and shot him with the shotgun he was carrying.

The first bullet struck David in the neck, knocking him to the ground. The assailant shot him again, this time in the head. He then opened the backpack the young man was carrying and stole a cell phone, a wallet and some keys.

Dinamita Montilla fled the scene and was not arrested until 16 May 2024, after two years of arduous police investigations. Since then, he has remained in pretrial detention.

He is currently in Archidona prison, where he had to be placed in isolation following an attack by other inmates in the days leading up to the start of the trial.

The judge has also ordered José Jurado to pay David's parents 102,228 euros each in compensation for emotional damages. In addition, he must return the 206-euro value of the items he stole from the victim.

This case marks the fifth crime of which Dinamita Montilla has been convicted. He was previously sentenced to over 120 years for four homicides in the province of Malaga between 1985 and 1987.

He was released in December 2013, after the maximum sentence (due to the accumulation of convictions) was set at 30 years.

The defendant is under investigation for the murder of Ester Estepa, who disappeared in August 2023 and whose body was found in Gandía (Valencia). The last time she was seen, Ester was in the defendant's company.