Pedro Rodrigues Filho
The Matador
Background
He was born on a farm in Santa Rita do Sapucai. Due to his father’s abuse of his mother, he had a skull injury from birth, a factor that may have contributed in more than one way to his eventual crimes. His first attempted murder was one of impulse, pushing a boy into a sugar cane press when he was 13-years old. While the boy survived, Filho did not change his ways. His next victim, and one that did not survive, was the vice-Mayor of Alfenas. Filho’s reasoning behind this killing was that his father had been falsely accused of theft and fired by the vice-Mayor. Filho then went on to kill another man who he suspected to be the real thief and cause of his father’s termination.
Filho was finally arrested in 1973, though this would prove to increase the number of his killings. While in jail he managed to claim another 47 victims, all of them criminals that Filho felt deserved retribution. He also gained a reputation for promising openly to kill other criminals, among them other prominent serial killers. He was convicted of 71 murders, though he claimed to have killed more than 100. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum allowable in Brazil. His sentence was extended slightly due to his killings in the prison, but in 2007 he would be released. Since then, there have been no more known killings from Filho, though he is threatened with imprisonment again for other, lesser crimes.
info
- Full Name – Pedro Rodrigues Filho
- Nickname – Pedrinho Matador
- Born – 1954
- Location of Activity – Brazil
- Years of Activity – 1968 - 2003
- Number of Kills – 70 - 100+
- Date of Death – n/a
- Cause of Death – n/a