‘He was with me only out of interest’: The man who killed and dismembered his housemate in Kadawala appeared in court

Luis López, the man accused of killing and dismembering Waldene Mendez, his housemate and lover, last April in Cadaval, said this Monday in court that the victim was with him only out of interest and denied murder.

“I paid him everything, he had nothing. When he left home, [Valdene] asked me for money. He was with me only out of interest, nothing more. And I started watching,” the suspect said.

According to him, the cause of death was not the sledgehammer that was given to him. “When I hit him with the sledgehammer, he had been dead for several hours,” he said. He had been using drugs and began “vomiting and died in front of us” from a suspected “overdose” at home.

The defendant confirmed the remaining facts of the prosecution, including that he dismembered the victim in order to dispose of the body in order to avoid criminal liability.

He also admitted that he was unable to remove the body from the house, so he decided to divide it into several parts, which he placed in black plastic bags and placed in several isolated places with the help of another person whom he did not ask. I want to identify.

The denial of the crime of murder contradicts the statements he made in May 2023, after his arrest, when he confessed to the judicial police and the criminal investigation judge of authorship of the crimes, showing remorse and pointing out to the SP the places where he threw the bags, restoring the facts.

According to the Public Ministry (MP), the two men had been in a romantic relationship since early 2023 and had known each other since 2007, when Lopez helped Brazilian Mendes deal with legalization in Portugal.

Luis Lopez’s trial will take place this Monday in the Loures court.