The first known victim of a slayer that would later be known as the Lisbon Ripper was found in the Portuguese city in July of 1992. Like all the future victims, the victim was a prostitute, and when found she was disembowled and her throat was slashed. Soon a second victim was found within fifty yards of the dump site of victim #1 and in March of 1993 a third body was discovered.
Portugal's Ripper victims ended there, but the killer may have spread out into other countries in Europe. Between 1993 and 1997 four identical murders occurred in four different European countries: the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and Belgium. Authorities speculated that Lisbon's serial killer may have become a long-haul truck driver. It remains speculation as none of the seven killings has ever been solved.Investigators did travel to new Bedford, Massachusetts, in an attempt to link the Lisbon Ripper murders with a string of similar unsolved killings in the small United States city in 1988. The theory is that a member New Bedford's large Portuguese population had left the city and continued his twisted work back in his native Portugal but no link was ever established.