Pedro Rodrigues Filho, also known as Pedrinho Matador or “Killer Pete,” was a notorious serial killer in his country and served as the inspiration for a complex anti-hero character on television.
Having claimed responsibility for more than 100 deaths over a span of five decades, he was officially convicted of 71 murders.
After spending over 40 years behind bars, he gained a reputation as a modern-day “Robin Hood,” targeting drug traffickers, gang members, and other criminals.
Born on October 29, 1954, in a rural Brazilian town, Pedro’s life was marred by violence from the very beginning – his mother was physically assaulted by his father while pregnant, resulting in his skull being fractured.
Pedro attributed his violent tendencies to his early exposure to brutality, shaping his future actions according to his own accounts.
At the age of nine, he ran away from home, eventually ending up in São Paulo, where he delved into a life of crime and vagrancy.
During his early teens, he allegedly committed his first murder by pushing a cousin into a sugarcane press and later attacking him with a machete, setting a pattern of violent behavior that continued to escalate.
In his teenage years, he shot and killed a local drug dealer in São Paulo, supposedly in retaliation for a family dispute, and subsequently hunted down and murdered the dealer’s brother and brother-in-law.
Pedro admitted to the media that these initial killings gave him a sense of power, targeting individuals he believed had committed wrongful acts.
Moving to the outskirts of São Paulo in his late teens, he became involved in the drug trade, taking control of operations after living with a widow named Botinha, the wife of a deceased dealer.
Following Botinha’s death at the hands of the police, Pedro sought revenge by targeting those he held accountable for her demise.
His killing spree continued until his arrest in 1973 at the age of 18, leaving behind a trail of victims that included drug dealers, gang affiliates, and alleged rapists.
Initially sentenced to 128 years in prison, Pedro’s total term increased significantly as he continued to murder fellow inmates while incarcerated.
Within the prison walls, Pedrinho Matador became infamous for boasting about killing numerous prisoners, many of whom had convictions related to assault or sexual offenses.
Claiming to only target individuals he deemed unworthy of life, he proudly displayed the words “I kill for pleasure” tattooed on his arm.
In his twenties, Pedro asserted that he had killed his own father, who had previously murdered his mother with 21 stab wounds. Pedro claimed to have avenged his mother by stabbing his father 22 times, including removing his heart, biting it, and spitting it out, all as an act of retribution.
Despite being handed a cumulative sentence of over 400 years, Pedro was released in 2007 due to legal restrictions on imprisonment terms in Brazil, having served 34 years by then.
Although he professed to have reformed and embraced Christianity, establishing a YouTube channel titled “Pedrinho, Former Killer with Jesus,” where he emphasized the dangers of criminal activities and the significance of seeking redemption.
In interviews, he cautioned against the allure of crime, highlighting its destructive outcomes rather than any perceived glory.
On March 5, 2023, Pedro was fatally shot outside a relative’s residence in Mogi das Cruzes by two unidentified gunmen, who subsequently slit his throat with a kitchen knife.
At 68 years old, Pedro’s life story, which garnered global attention, drew comparisons to fictional characters, notably influencing the creation of the character Dexter in Jeff Lindsay’s novel and subsequent television series.