Published Mar 11, 2026, 7:31 PM EDT
Memory Ngulube joined Screen Rant in April 2024 as part of the Movies and TV team. Since then, she has written for the Perennials and Streaming team, covering a wide range of topics from new releases to old movies and TV shows. Memory is currently a Classic TV writer.
Before joining Screen Rant, Memory was a freelance copywriter who specialized in email marketing and social media management. While she enjoyed her job, her true passion was always movies and TV.
When she isn’t writing for Screen Rant, Memory can be found reading, baking (which is one of her passions), or watching her favorite K-drama.
The new addition to Netflix’s true crime documentary library, The TikTok Killer, had some truly shocking reveals about the murder of Esther Estepa. The harrowing two-part docuseries unearths information about the Spanish woman’s life, from the time she went missing to when her body was found, and the arrest of the alleged perpetrator.
Through TikTok videos, interviews, and archival footage, The TikTok Killer peels back the layers and lets viewers witness the grief Estepa’s family has endured during the police investigation. While the documentary reveals some interesting information about Estepa’s disappearance and subsequent murder, which the public may not be privy to, important details are held back because the investigation is still ongoing.
José Jurado Montilla Had Already Been Convicted Of Murder
José Jurado Montilla, who is known as the "TikTok Killer", is also one of Spain’s most notorious convicted serial killers. In the late 1980s, Montilla was linked to four murders and sentenced to 123 years in prison (via People). Despite a clear link to the killings, Montilla defended himself and proclaimed that he was innocent.
His first known murder was that of his neighbor, whom he had killed with his shotgun, with Montilla claiming that it wasn’t murder, but self-defense. Montilla was supposed to spend the rest of his life in prison, but he was released in 2013 after serving 28 years. His movements between 2013 and 2023 remain unaccounted for by law enforcement officers, which further led them to suspect him of several murders that were committed across Spain.
José Jurado Montilla’s TikTok Account Became His Downfall
A decade after he was released from prison, Montilla created a TikTok account and gained a small following. On the social media platform, where he went by the name El Titi, he posted various videos that depicted him traveling across Spain and meeting different people. He created a whole different persona, with most of his followers having no clue about his disturbing past.
Although Montilla tried to present himself on the social media platform as a laid-back elderly man enjoying life's adventures, there were times when the facade faded, revealing his true self. It is in those little moments where he lost control, it was clear there was something disturbing about him.
Even after his past was revealed for all his TikTok followers to pick apart, he still had some people in his corner who truly believed that he was innocent despite the evidence showing otherwise.
Esther Estepa’s Family And Friends Played A Huge Role In Her Murder Investigation
When Estepa went missing, her family and friends were understandably distraught. Unfortunately, they had no way of finding her because she usually didn’t stay in one place for too long. Even when Estepa's mother reported to the police that her daughter was missing, her case wasn’t taken too seriously on account of Estepa being an adult.
The lack of help from local law enforcement is what propelled Estepa’s family and friends to take matters into their own hands and look into what happened to her. One of Estepa’s friends religiously watched Montilla’s TikTok videos and concluded that his stories were often inconsistent.
Montilla was also in contact with Estepa’s mother, whom he had reached out to when she went missing. He offered his help in finding her, but didn’t realize that she was one step ahead of him because she was feeding whatever information he disclosed to her to the police.
José Jurado Montilla Pretended To Look For Esther
Estepa was a nomadic soul, and because of Montilla’s fame on TikTok, she sought to travel with him and see different parts of Spain. When Estepa went missing, Montilla created videos where he was apparently visiting all the places they went together, looking for information that could point him to her whereabouts.
In time, it was revealed that his efforts were dishonest because he allegedly already knew where she was since he was the last person to see her alive.
José Jurado Montilla’s Phone Is What Led The Police To Arrest Him In Relation To Esther Estepa’s Murder
Although law enforcement officers were aware of Montilla’s past and that he might have been the last person to see Estepa, it was difficult for them to find evidence that linked him to her murder. When Estepa’s body was discovered, the police still had no idea who could have killed her, as they hadn’t had a breakthrough for months after she went missing.
Montilla and Estepa being together in the place where her body was found gave the law enforcement officers the much-needed push to look closely into him as the possible perpetrator. But there was no evidence that he had hurt her. It was only after his arrest that the police had probable cause to look into Montilla’s phone.
As a TikToker, Montillo constantly took videos and photos of himself. His phone, then, was the best place to find whatever secrets he wanted to hide. The investigators discovered some chilling information on the device: Jose had taken pictures of Esepa after he had allegedly killed her. This provided proof that his story about when he had last seen her wasn’t true.
Suspicious Messages Were Sent From Esther Estepa's Phone
After not hearing from her daughter for a few days, Estepa's mother was sure that something terrible had happened to her. But when she received messages from her daughter, her suspicions waned, but they weren’t gone. As much as Estepa loved to travel, she always eventually returned home to her friends and family. But as time passed, her absence could no longer be ignored.
During the text exchange, Estepa's mom wasn’t aware that it was an impostor pretending to be Esther. It was Estepa’s older sister who figured out that the messages did not match her younger sister’s tone or style, which led her to believe that there was someone who wanted them to fall for the false trail.
The documentary eventually reveals that it was, in fact, Montilla who was texting Estepa’s family and pretending to be her. But because he hadn’t really known her for long enough, he couldn't properly imitate how she corresponded with her family.
José Jurado Montilla Was Arrested For Another Crime After He Left Prison
While The TikTok Killer mostly focuses on what happened to Esther Estepa, the Netflix docuseries also shines a light on the other murders that Montilla was accused of committing. In August 2022, a 21-year-old college student called David was brutally murdered in Málaga, a town which Montilla was known to have visited.
The way David was killed was eerily similar to what happened to Montilla’s other victims. David had allegedly gotten into an altercation with Montilla and was shot as a result. For a while, the police could not find concrete evidence regarding Montilla’s involvement in what had happened to David.
But when they discovered that there was foreign DNA on the backpack David was carrying the day he was killed, the police finally knew that that would be what led them to Montilla or not. The TikTok Killer reveals that Montilla’s DNA was indeed the one found on David’s backpack.
The law enforcement officers who had been involved in investigating Montilla's alleged crimes say that he might have more victims that they are aware of. But even with his TikTok account showing the various places he might have been in, the police haven’t found it easy to point to Montilla as the perpetrator.
Source: People
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