Pedro Rodrigues Filho, famously 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 on television.
He claimed to have taken the lives of more than 100 individuals over a span of five decades, with official convictions for 71 murders.
Spending over 40 years in prison, he gained a reputation akin to a “Robin Hood” figure, targeting drug dealers, gang members, and other criminals.
Born on October 29, 1954, in a rural Brazilian town, his life was marred by violence from the beginning when his father fractured his skull before birth by kicking his pregnant mother during an argument.
Pedro attributed his future actions to this early exposure to violence, stating that it influenced his behavior significantly.
Leaving home at the age of nine, Pedro ventured to São Paulo after staying with relatives, where he embarked on a life of theft and vagrancy.
Allegedly committing his first murder in his early teens by pushing a cousin into a sugarcane press and later attacking him with a machete, Pedro’s pattern of violent behavior began to unfold.
In his teenage years, he shot and killed a local drug dealer in São Paulo, purportedly in retaliation for a family dispute, and subsequently hunted down and murdered the dealer’s brother and brother-in-law.
Revealing to journalists that these early killings gave him a sense of power, Pedro targeted individuals he believed had committed wrongdoing.
Moving to the outskirts of São Paulo in his late teens, he became involved in the narcotics trade of a neighboring town, taking over operations from a deceased dealer’s widow named Botinha.
After Botinha was killed by the police, Pedro sought revenge by pursuing those he held accountable for her death.
His killing spree came to an end in 1973 when he was apprehended at the age of 18, having left behind a trail of corpses ranging from drug pushers and gang affiliates to alleged rapists.
Initially sentenced to 128 years in prison, Pedro escalated the body count by slaying fellow inmates during his incarceration.
Within the prison walls, Pedrinho Matador developed a notorious reputation, boasting about killing numerous prisoners convicted of assault or sexual offenses.
In his twenties, Pedro claimed he killed his own father, who had been imprisoned for murdering his mother with multiple knife wounds. Seeking retribution, Pedro stated that he stabbed his father 22 times, removed his heart, bit into it, and spat it out in an act of vengeance.
Released in 2007 due to Brazil’s legal limit on jail time, Pedro had served 34 years in prison by then.
Returning to prison briefly for involvement in a riot, he was freed once more in 2018, at the age of 64, asserting his reformed character and newfound faith in Christianity.
Establishing a YouTube channel titled “Pedrinho, Former Killer with Jesus,” he used the platform to caution viewers about the dangers of crime and the significance of redemption.
Despite attracting a large number of subscribers to his channel, Pedro consistently warned against the allure of criminal activities, emphasizing the destructive nature of such behavior.
Tragically, on March 5, 2023, Pedro was fatally shot outside a family member’s residence in Mogi das Cruzes, his hometown where he once reigned over the criminal underworld.
Gunned down by two hooded assailants who also slit his throat with a kitchen blade, Pedro’s violent demise at the age of 68 drew international attention, drawing parallels to fictional characters inspired by his unique moral code of only targeting those he deemed deserving.
His story, which captivated audiences worldwide, served as an inspiration for the creation of characters like Dexter in Jeff Lindsay’s novel and subsequent TV adaptation, highlighting the complex nature of morality and justice.
