The critically acclaimed TV series Dexter put audiences in a tricky situation. He was the awkward, bumbling, sociopathic protagonist that you rooted for, despite the fact that he was going around murdering people.
'Yeah but he was killing bad guys, remember?' I hear you say. That's what was so difficult and unnerving about the programme, because you wanted him to succeed, which meant more dead bodies.
Well, if you were thinking Dexter was the work of fiction, you'd be wrong, oh so wrong.
Pedro Rodrigues Filho is a Brazilian serial killer, also known as Pedrinho Matador or Killer Petey, who butchered a confirmed 71 people, while he claims his victim list is around 100. The 63-year-old was born with an injured skull because his dad savagely beat his mum while he was still in the womb.
He nearly killed his cousin when he was just 13 when he first felt the urge to murder. It wasn't until a year later that he fully acted on his impulses.
Pedro murdered Minas Gerais, the vice-Mayor of Alfenas, because he fired his dad on unsubstantiated claims he was stealing food from the school kitchen. He then went on to kill the person who he thought was actually taking food supplies.
This was when he was only 14-years-old.
He moved towns, murdered a drug dealer and fell in love with a woman named Maria Aparecida Olympia. It was here, in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, where he racked up a huge body count in the name of revenge.
When Olympia was killed by gang members, Killer Petey went on a rampage, torturing and killing people to find out who specifically killed his lover.
But his most savage murder arguably happened when he came face to face with his dad. He reportedly executed his dad in a prison as he was serving time for killing his mum with a machete. Filho cut out his dad's heart, ate a piece of it and then threw it away.
After his massive killing spree, he was eventually arrested in 1973 and sent to prison - but the killings kept happening. Pedrinho Matador butchered four people while he was locked up, meaning his sentence was eventually extended.
In 2003, a court sentenced him to 128 years, however Brazilian law prevents any criminal from serving more than 30 years and he was eventually released in 2007.
There's no telling what was going on in the mind of Filho as he murdered all those people. He might have thought he was only killing bad people and that it would be justified, but we all know that that argument doesn't stack up.
Featured Image Credit: Showtime NetworksTopics: TV and Film, Dexter, Interesting, Community, Brazil, Serial Killer