The "Brazilian Dexter": A Look at the Violent Life and Death of Serial Killer Pedro Rodrigues Filho
Described by some as a "Real Life Dexter," Pedro Rodrigues Filho became Brazil's most infamous serial killer. His penchant for murdering other criminals drew comparisons to the famous TV antihero
Background
One of the world's most prolific serial killers of the modern era and Brazil's most notorious killer of all time, mainly — if not exclusively — killed other criminals. Pedro Rodrigues Filho, once described as "the perfect psychopath," was responsible for at least 71 murders, though he claimed responsibility for more than 100.
More than half of those 71 murders were committed while he was in prison, where he regularly killed other inmates he deemed deserving of death. His habit of killing fellow criminals earned him the nickname the "Brazilian Dexter," and some sources claim his case served as part of the real-life inspiration for the books and TV show about the fictional Miami forensics expert and vigilante.
However, unlike Dexter, Pedro Rodrigues Filho was very real — yet his story reads far more like fiction.
A Dark Beginning
Pedro Rodrigues Filho was born on October 29, 1954, in Santa Rita do Sapucaí, Brazil. Though the town is now known as "Vale da Eletrônica" (Electronic Valley), this municipality in southernmost Minas Gerais was a far less technological agricultural town in the early 1950s.
Rodrigues was born on a farm, but his early years were anything but idyllic. The first of seven children, his entrance into the world was marked by the violence that would follow him for the rest of his life.
Rodrigues was reportedly born with a skull injury, a horrific result, by his own account, of his father drunkenly kicking his heavily pregnant mother in the stomach. Pedro Rodrigues Sr., a night security guard at a local school, had a habit of drinking himself into an angry and violent state, and his wife Manuela was usually the target of his violent outbursts.
That dynamic did not make for a safe or loving home. The warning signs in young Pedro began early. At just 13, during a fight with his cousin, he was punched in the face. It was the first time he reportedly felt an urge to kill, and were it not for relatives intervening, he might have succeeded.
Pedro had pulled a knife and pushed his cousin toward a sugar-cane press, and the cousin very nearly lost an arm. From that day on, Pedro would begin to follow his darkest impulses.
"Pedrinho Matador"
At age 14, Rodrigues took his grandfather's shotgun and made his way to city hall. He had come for the deputy mayor, whom he blamed for firing his father over false allegations of stealing food from the school kitchen. He shot the deputy mayor in front of city hall, then killed the security guard whom he believed was the actual thief.
After these first two murders, Rodrigues fled to Mogi das Cruzes in São Paulo. Rather than lay low, he wasted no time robbing local drug dens and killing the traffickers he came across. He quickly earned a fearsome reputation, with local media dubbing him "Pedrinho Matador," or "Little Pedro the Killer."
Rodrigues later met Maria Aparecida Olympia, known locally as Botinha, the widow of a drug lord. The two moved in together, and Rodrigues took over her late husband's operation. Now running a local gang, he killed three rivals from other crews. Not long after, Botinha learned she was pregnant with his child.
Tragically, a rival gang leader had her killed shortly afterward. They tried to kill Rodrigues too, but he escaped and swore revenge on every member of the rival gang.
Revenge came mercilessly, and with a skill beyond his years. He methodically tracked down each member of the rival crew, killing them one by one; anyone who may have had a hand in Botinha's death was marked. By some accounts, he even crashed a wedding to take out three targets he knew would be attending. Still underage, Rodrigues was already a force few could reckon with.
Imprisonment and Parole
On May 24, 1973, 18-year-old Rodrigues was arrested. He is officially recognized as responsible for 71 murders, though he later claimed more than 100. His sentence would eventually climb past 400 years. However, under Brazilian law at the time, the maximum anyone could serve consecutively was 30 years.
Being locked up did not stop him: during one transport of handcuffed inmates, guards opened the doors to find another prisoner dead. Rodrigues offered a simple explanation: the man was a rapist, and he deserved to die.
Behind bars, Rodrigues is said to have killed roughly 47 fellow inmates, each of whom, in his telling, deserved it. He insisted he never killed an innocent person and that revenge and a rough moral code drove him to commit his crimes. This supposed code is why many called him the "Brazilian Dexter," after the vigilante antihero of the hit TV show.
His prison killings pushed his nominal sentence toward 400 years, but the 30-year cap held: he was released in 2007 after roughly three decades inside.
There is debate about whether or not Rodrigues killed his own father. By his own account, he did, stabbing him 22 times in prison. In a later interview, he said, "He stabbed my mother twenty-one times, so I stabbed him twenty-two."
A more sensational rumor — that he ate his father's heart — Rodrigues denied, saying only that he bit a piece and threw it away. Other accounts hold that his father died years later of a respiratory illness. The details remain contested.
"Ex Matador"
After his 2007 release, Rodrigues moved to Fortaleza and took work as a night watchman. He was arrested again in September 2011 on charges of rioting and deprivation of liberty tied to his earlier detention in São Paulo. Sentenced to eight years, he was released after seven for good behavior. It was his final arrest, and afterward, his life took a surprising turn.
In 2018, immediately after his release, Rodrigues publicly announced a change of heart. He declared himself retired from vigilantism and vowed to leave crime behind entirely. He started a YouTube channel, "Pedrinho Ex Matador" — "Ex-Killer Little Pedro" — where he told his story, weighed in on high-profile cases, and, above all, urged others not to follow his path. Violence and crime, he insisted, were never the answer.
Through 2023, Rodrigues appeared to be keeping his word. Then, on March 5, 2023, his life came to a sudden end. Outside a family member's home in Mogi das Cruzes, three assailants in a black car opened fire; one got out and slashed his throat, nearly decapitating him.
The attackers fled, and though there were eyewitnesses, no suspects were ever identified or charged. At 68, Pedro Rodrigues Filho was dead, having perhaps left the world a different man than the one he'd been for most of his life.
Closing Thoughts
Pedro Rodrigues Filho remains, and likely always will be, Brazil's most prolific serial killer. Many see nothing more than a violent criminal who dressed up revenge as justice. Others cast him as a kind of antihero, a vigilante who killed only those who had it coming. Whatever your view, Rodrigues seemingly underwent a change of heart after a lifetime behind bars, becoming a passionate anti-crime advocate until his own violent death in 2023.
Brazil’s "Real-life Dexter" leaves behind decidedly mixed feelings, but one thing is certain: Pedro Rodrigues Filho will not soon be forgotten.
Sources:
"Brazil's Biggest Serial Killer Dies in Shootout." Le Monde, March 6, 2023. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/03/06/brazil-s-biggest-serial-killer-dies-in-shootout_6018404_4.html
Locke, Katherine. "Pedro Rodrigues Filho, The Real-Life 'Dexter' Serial Killer Who Targeted Murderers and Rapists." All That's Interesting, 30 March 2026, https://allthatsinteresting.com/pedro-rodrigues-filho
“Pedrinho Matador: The serial killer who killed ‘more than a hundred’ and spent 42 years in prison.” O Globo, 17 June 2021, https://blogs.oglobo.globo.com/blog-do-acervo/post/pedrinho-matador-o-serial-killer-que-matou-mais-de-cem-e-passou-40-anos-na-cadeia.html
Webber, Mary. “Brazil’s Most Notorious Serial Killer Dead: How Did Pedro Rodrigues Filho Die?” Latin Post, 6 May 2023, https://www.latinpost.com/articles/159764/20230506/brazil-notorious-serial-killer-dead-pedro-rodrigues-filho.htm
Adorable belly tiger tattoo.