RedHanded - Episode 208 - Pedro Rodrigues Filho: Serial Killer Superstar

Episode Date: August 12, 2021

Pedro Rodrigues Filho, aka Pedhrino Matador, Killer Petey or The Brazilian Dexter, is a bit of an anomaly as far as serial killers go. He brutally killed at least 71 people, including his own father, but still many people in Brazil revere and applaud him for his "work"...So much so in fact that today, unbelievably, Filho is free and living his best life as a YouTube sensation with hundreds of thousands of followers, and millions of views. Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Contact us: ContactSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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She even increased taxes in this economy. Yeah, higher taxes, carbon taxes. She sounds expensive. Bonnie Crombie and the Ontario Liberals. They just don't get it. That'll cost you. A message from the Ontario PC Party. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made.

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I'm Saruti. I'm Hannah. And welcome to Red Handed. This one, I knew the name. I knew the face. But I did not know the story. I did not know the case. God damn it, that rhymed.

I knew the face. I knew the country. I knew the indented head. But I did not know the story either. The case. Anyway, so let's do it. Let's do it. Because guys, today we are, of course, talking about none other than Pedro Rodriguez Filho, the Brazilian Dexter. Sorry, I'm really into my like stings at the moment. I'm just gonna be... I like it be what's it called when you're a person making horse sounds with coconuts you know what I mean yes I know what you mean I'm a sound effect specialist no it's like folly people are screaming I don't there's a word for it I'm one of those I'll bring my coconuts next time and give you a soundscape can't wait and

watermelons to stab oh excellent look guys. Look, guys, Red Handed is progressing. We shall have sound effects soon. So I'm sure many, if not most of you, have, of course, watched the TV series Dexter. So when I say that this case is the Brazilian Dexter, I'm assuming most of you aren't confused by what I mean. Because, of course, the TV show follows the life and times of a psychopath who only kills bad guys slash criminals. Oh, and if you haven't seen it, he's also a police forensic technician or like a blood

spatter analyst. He's something like that, isn't he? Yes, I, yeah, blood spatter analyst. No spoilers, but the ending of Dexter was total and utter shit. I'm sorry. I don't even remember what it is. I mean, it's just trash. We won't talk about it here. Let's talk about it on Under the Dubay so we don't spoil it for everybody. Anyway, so the point is the entire show is, of course, extremely far-fetched. But as is often the case, it's not quite as far-fetched as the true story of one Pedro Rodriguez Filho, otherwise known as Pedrino Matador, Killer Petey, and of course the Brazilian Dexter. With a suspected kill count of anywhere between 70 to over 100 victims, this man ranks in the top five of all time serial killers ever globally. Not that,

of course, it's a competition and not that, of course, we should be glorifying people based on how many people they killed, but it is a fact. He did do it. And just like his television counterpart, Rodriguez only targeted other people who he felt fell short of his personal code of ethics. He even started his homicidal career when he was just 14 years old. And where is he now? other people who he felt fell short of his personal code of ethics. He even started his homicidal career when he was just 14 years old. And where is he now, I hear you ask? Surely he's dead or in jail. Well, no.

He's actually living his very best life as a YouTube sensation in Brazil, with hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views. Which is more than we've got on the Red Handed YouTube channel. Tell us your secrets, Pedrinho. We'll have to study him for more information, but we'll come back to his YouTube career. But now let's get started with the actual story. The first of seven children, Pedro Rodrigues Filho, my Portuguese is not very good, so you'll have to bear with me, was born on the 17th of June 1954 on a farm in Santa Rita do Sapucha in southeast Brazil. I understand that Portuguese sounds a lot like Russian. It's a very like shh language.

Yeah, it really does. It sounds very Russian or just of that ilk. Maybe even a little bit Arabic, you could say. But very not like any of the other romantic languages as far as my ear can tell. So Pedro's life was fraught with violence before he was even born. In fact, he was lucky he was born at all. His father, Pedro Rodriguez Sr., a night security guard at a local school, was by all accounts quite a calm and pleasant man, when he was sober that is. It was after a few drinks that his violent temper came into play and his wife Manuela was usually on the receiving end of it. Pedro Sr. regularly

beat Manuela in his drunken stupors. And it was during one of these violent outbursts, whilst Manuela was heavily pregnant with their first son, Pedro, that Pedro Sr. kicked Manuela in the stomach so hard that Pedro was born with a deformed skull and brain damage. Ugh, that bit. I just spent the weekend, or not weekend, I spent yesterday like holding a tiny baby. So that just makes me feel so unwell. I hate it so much. They're so small. I haven't held or seen a baby that small in maybe over a decade. Tiny. They are quite small.

But also, you are quite small. Take yourself over to Saruti Bala's Instagram, and you can see a picture of her holding said baby. And, like, yes, I appreciate the baby is small, but because you're small, I feel like the baby looked quite big it just looks regular size it's a fucking newborn baby the day that picture was taken that baby was a month old and it probably looks like a toddler in my arms anyway let's get back to baby Pedro so like Hannah said born with a deformed skull and possibly brain damage as a result of

having been kicked in the head by his father. Now, quick sidebar on this. Back in 2014, the University of Glasgow published a study in the Journal of Violent and Aggressive Behaviour looking into neurodevelopmental and psychosocial risk factors in serial killers and mass murderers. And this was actually the first ever analysis of all of the literature available about serial killers and mass murderers. And in this study, the researchers found that among many things, that of the 239 killers that they used in their study, 21%, so one-fifth of them, had suffered a definite or suspected head injury. The study also went on to claim that many of history's most notorious serial killers have suffered from head injuries.

This won't be news to many of you. We know that the likes of Fred West, who fractured his skull at the age of 17 in a motorcycle accident, and Richard Ramirez, who almost died when he fell off a dresser and was knocked unconscious at the age of just two, as well as, of course, John Wayne Gacy, who, when he was 11, was hit in the head with a swing that formed a blood clot in his brain. And also, and I didn't know this because we haven't covered him yet, but we will, the grey man himself mr albert fish fell out of a tree at a young age and suffered a concussion which gave him headaches and dizzy

spells for the rest of his life we do a big old deep dive in the red-handed book into head injuries and how they can change a person's personality, how they can change the structure of the brain, and actually induce psychopathy. And it is fascinating in a terrifying way. The most famous one being Phineas Gage, who took an iron rod to the brain, and then his personality changed completely. Really fascinating case study. Absolutely. And it's also like with, of course, the repetitive head injuries suffered by the likes of sports people in the NFL. So there was obviously the very infamous case very recently of Aaron Hernandez and CTE.

So that kind of repetitive concussion, that head trauma. And if you don't know the case of Aaron Hernandez, I think he played for the New England Patriots. I'm really speaking off the hoof here. I believe it was for the New England Patriots when he was, I think he was just 21 or 22, something ridiculously young. He actually ended up killing another man that he was friends with. And then he went to jail and he killed himself in jail

because then when they did an autopsy on Aaron, they said that he had the worst case of CTE that had ever been seen in someone his age. And it is terrifying. And the real kicker for CTE, can't diagnose it while you're alive. Yeah, nightmare. So let's have another look at Pedro's brain. In a recent podcast interview on YouTube, Pedro shows the hosts the dent in his forehead. The location of this is exactly where the part of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex is. The prefrontal cortex is

responsible for our decision making, emotional regulation and moderating social behavior. It's kind of like an emergency break. It's the feeling of like when you want to punch someone in the face and you don't. That's your prefrontal cortex telling you it's a bad idea. And the prefrontal cortex works hand in hand with your amygdala, which has a lot of roles, but one of its main ones is regulating our fight or flight response. The amygdala detects emotional stresses and communicates with the prefrontal cortex which in turn essentially validates or invalidates the information. So the amygdala is saying I want to punch this guy in the face and then the prefrontal cortex is saying no it's not worth it you'll go

to prison. So people who have impaired connection between their prefrontal cortex and the amygdala are more likely to just punch the guy in the face, essentially. So when the connection between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex is weakened or maybe not even there at all, then an individual can begin to display irregular patterns of emotional regulation and social behavior, like a lack of empathy, acting callously. So basically, like a psychopath. And this is why the very physical structure of a psychopath's brain can often be incredibly different to that of a quote unquote normal person, because that connection is weakened or doesn't exist. It's fascinating. But now let's get back to Pedro's childhood. Although the Filo family were poor, they didn't live in abject poverty like many of the other people around them.

They at least always had enough money to put food on the table. But growing up, Pedro witnessed violent crimes all around him. The area in which the family lived was rife with it. There was even a saying there, God must exist, because the devil certainly does. And despite his violent and unhappy home life, because remember, his dad is a big old drunk who beats his mum, Pedro found solace in spending time with his grandparents. His grandfather Joachim took Pedro under his wing. He taught

Pedro how to swim, plant, harvest, hunt and fight. Everything he believed a young man needed to know in order to survive. At a young age, Pedro would accompany his grandfather to his work at the butchers, and it was here that Pedro learned how to carve up an ox carcass. And his grandmother taught Pedro that drinking the blood of the ox would give him strength, something which Pedro would later take to a whole nother level. Joaquim did what he could to mould Pedro into a, quote, worthy, correct and just man. And by the time Pedro was a teenager,

he was the most fearless and determined of all of his classmates, despite his relatively small stature. For Pedro, family was the most important thing. Because it's all he had. As the eldest sibling, he had a strong sense of responsibility to help provide for his six younger brothers and sisters. From an early age, he'd often go hunting in the jungle for pelts or fish to put food on the table. And by the time he was a teenager,

he started working at a chicken slaughterhouse. And you wouldn't have had to speak to young Pedro for long to learn that his most defining characteristic was his sense of fairness, black and white thinking in terms of right and wrong. And this brings us to the first time that Pedro experienced an overwhelming urge to kill due to what he perceived as an unforgivable injustice. That is so common with serial killers. It's this call they can't not answer is injustice in their terms. It's very, very interesting. It's again, it's like that part of the brain that tells you, oh, well, you know, get over it just doesn't exist. And they're like, no, there needs to be retribution for how I have

been wronged. And we'll go on to talk about that kind of mentality a bit later in this episode. But let's get back to this first unbelievable injustice that Pedro felt he had to act upon. At the age of 13, Pedro borrowed his cousin's horse without asking. This is when we need the little coconut horse hooves. Insert coconut horse hooves. I've really let us down. We haven't had a horse story in fucking years. And the one day, the one day I could have shone. And you've been turning up to the office every day with your coconuts. And the one day we do, you haven't got them.

There you go. And Pedro took his horse without asking. And when he returned, his older and much larger cousin punched Pedro in the face. Shocked and furious, Pedro looked his cousin dead in the eyes and told him, I'm going to kill you. And to add further insult to injury, his cousin simply laughed and punched Pedro again. It also didn't help that word of the incident spread around the family quickly, leading to Pedro getting mocked for being weak. Time went on, but Pedro's rage and sense of injustice only grew. Until one day, when he and his cousin were assisting their grandfather at a sugar cane factory.

Together, they were loading sugar cane into a pressing machine, which used two huge steel rollers to crush the cane stems and squeeze the juice out. I fucking love sugar cane juice and any opportunity I get to drink it, I will. Those presses are fucking terrifying and I'm visualizing in my mind like a gnarled piece of like just terrifying heavy duty machinery you need to squeeze sugar cane juice. So Pedro waited for the perfect moment when they were left alone and suddenly grabbed his cousin and violently pressed him against the rollers. No eating, put the sugarcane juice down. His cousin's arm was immediately sucked up by the metal jaws of

the machine and mangled right up to the shoulder. But it quickly became clear that the rest of his body just wasn't going to fit. Unsatisfied, Pedro grabbed his screaming cousin's head and attempted to force it in between the rollers. When he realized that that wasn't going to work, he grabbed a nearby machete and began hacking at him, hoping he could break him down into smaller pieces and then force those through the machine. The other workers raised the alarm, as you would, and Pedro spent the next few days in jail. But his family depended on the income he brought home, so they told the police they would not be filing charges.

And since he was a minor, Pedro was released and left to go about his murdery life. As a punishment, Pedro was told that he would have to clean his cousin's flesh and blood from the sugarcane press, which, although it took four weeks seems light. Seems like oh well like you've smashed the jar of almonds you have to pick all of them up with tweezers kind of it's the same. It's like cleaning the bathroom floor with a toothbrush. It's not a murder charge. I mean his cousin actually did survive though although his arm was now of course permanently deformed after had been pushed through

a fucking sugar cane juicer pedro never expressed any remorse for it whatsoever instead he'd actually regularly tell the story i assume at like family gatherings while his cousin is sat there with his arm fucking mangled up to the shoulder telling the story as if it were one of the funniest anecdotes he had. I mean, yeah, it's grim. And the family, you know, they are stuck because they can't do anything because they do need the money that he brings in. And now he's kind of disabled another young working man within the family. Yes, true, yeah, yeah.

And I think it's clear to see after this point that this incident changed something inside young Pedro. The satisfaction of getting his revenge stuck in his mind. Not only this, but he was now all the more curious as to how it would feel to actually kill somebody. And this is the first incident of many where we see Pedro's psychopathology as an injustice collector develop. As we alluded to before, injustice collectors are very, very common in the world of serial killers and just generally killers at all. And what they are are criminals who tend to perceive any wrongs, no matter how slight, done against them and escalate them into serious events where they attempt to right the wrong, almost always through means of violence or murder.

And it wouldn't be long before we saw yet more injustices rear their head for Pedro to avenge. Because a year after he attempted to kill his cousin, Pedro's father was accused of having stolen food from the school kitchen where he worked as a night guard. And despite denying the accusation and correctly pointing the finger at the day guard, Pedro's father was fired by the deputy mayor and branded a thief within the community. This obviously made it near impossible for him to find other work. And what was already a difficult life for Pedro's family became a whole lot worse. Pedro helped out as much as he could, but it wasn't enough.

And he'd often walk in on his mother crying her eyes out about the family situation. Once again, that familiar sense of injustice and thirst for revenge began to simmer inside Pedro. His father had worked at the school for 12 years without a single incident. How could they just fire him like that? Needing to get away and form a plan, Pedro took his father's rifle, a machete, a tent and took off to the mountains. He spent 30 days there alone in the wilderness, hunting and living off the land. When he returned, Pedro knew what he had to do. It was a full moon that night and the breeze was cold

as Pedro hid in the shadows with his hands tightly gripping his grandfather's.36-caliber rifle. He was crouched in the darkness outside of the deputy mayor's house, patiently waiting, listening for the sound of his victim's jeep to approach. The second he spotted him, without hesitation, Pedro jumped out from his hiding place and shot at the jeep. The deputy mayor slammed on the brakes, jumped out the vehicle and began running in the opposite direction. Pedro calmly took a deep breath,

aimed down the sights and squeezed the trigger a final time. At the age of 14, Pedro Rodriguez took his first life. He had avenged his father. And it was a righteous feeling, like nothing he'd ever experienced before. Very important, just to reiterate, he is 14 years old. And he just took off with a tent and a gun and went and lived in the wilderness on his own for 30 days. It's like, and we will make this comparison later, like, it's like he's the fucking scariest superhero, right? And it's like his origin story. Yeah, or literally Jesus.

Okay. Yeah. Literal Jesus going off into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights and fasting. And then he comes back with his purpose. It's the same thing. He went onto the wilderness to be tempted. Yes, there you go. And it's like the Batman story. You know, he goes off, does that weird like ninja training.

Yes, yeah, yeah. All of these stories are just Jesus stories. Yeah. Every single superhero film ever made is just a retelling of Jesus of Nazareth. I'm convinced of it. There you go. And we're doing exactly the same thing here. So there you go. film ever made is just a retelling of Jesus of Nazareth. I'm convinced of it. There you go. And we're doing exactly the same thing here. So there you go. He comes back and in his mind now he's like, you know, he's like Pedro the Avenger.

You know, he's a superhero in his mind, I think. Again, just to reiterate, he's 14 years old. And as you'll see, as the story goes on, Pedro Filho is almost a textbook example of what is known as a mission-oriented killer. These killers are motivated by revenge, hatred of specific groups of people. In this case, Pedro says it's criminals, but really it's anybody who wrongs him. And the overwhelming need to cleanse the world. They often view themselves as some kind of avenging angel. So a really typical example of this type of killer would also be someone like Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer.

He killed over 90 women who were predominantly sex workers, and he claimed when he was caught that he had done it because prostitutes, as he called them, were a scourge on the earth, and that he needed to kill them, he needed to cleanse them, because by themutes, as he called them, were a scourge on the earth and that he needed to kill them. He needed to cleanse them because by them existing, they were tempting men to commit sin. But the spiel doesn't usually hold up because people like Gary Ridgway, well, he raped those women before he killed them. So you're actually probably more of a lust or anger related killer, but you like to call yourself a mission orientated killer because it makes you feel better about yourself.

If lesbians can control themselves around sex workers, it might not be the sex workers that are the problem. Hot takes. Hot takes. Although he had killed the man who had fired his father, the job wasn't finished in Pedro's eyes. There was still one more man who could have prevented the entire ordeal. The day guard. The one that was actually responsible for the theft.

And so Pedro snuck into the school and hid himself in the storeroom, waiting for the day guard to enter. When he did, Pedro held him at gunpoint and made the man sit in a chair. Killing the deputy mayor had been too quick, so he decided from then on that he would explain to his victims the reason why they had been punished before doing so quite dexter-esque he's monologuing he's monologuing like every supervillain that's how they get you in the incredibles oh my god it's terrifying the fact that he is so like glued to this idea of himself as an avenger

he feels so righteous in these killings that he feels confident and like narcissistic enough to feel like, no, they need to understand. There's no like opportunity for repenting. I'm not going to let them go if they say they're sorry, but they need to understand why I'm doing this. And it's that justification, isn't it? No one's a monster in their own story. So I'm going to tell them why I'm doing this before I blow their brains out. He's 14. He's 14, by the way, in case I hadn't mentioned. According to interviews Pedro's given since, he looked the man in the eyes and said, Do you see what you did?

It destroyed my family. My brothers are starving because of you. Is it fair that you did this? The day guard burst into tears and began pleading for his life, but his cries fell on deaf ears and Pedro shot him dead there on the spot. Then he covered his body with boxes and chairs before setting fire to the storeroom and making his getaway. The police were by this point hot on Pedro's tail. I mean, he's going around killing people that he has a vendetta against,

so it's not the smartest move if you want to be a serial killer. And so Pedro had no choice but to flee the city. And eventually he made his way to Sao Paulo, where he stayed with his godmother. And it was here in the bustling metropolitan city that Pedro joined a local drug trafficking gang led by a formidable woman known as Botina, or Booty. Booty as in little boots, not bum. No, yes, as in little boots, as in not Caligula, but kind of like Caligula. I love that story. I love Mary Beard. I love anything she does. And I just love the little fact that we all call Caligula, Caligula, but that wasn't

his name at all. Caligula actually means little boots. And it's what all the soldiers used to call him because his mum used to dress him up in little soldier's boots, which I think is adorable and he obviously would have hated it. But yeah, anyway, back to this. So despite his young age and size, Pedro's lean muscular body made him one of booty's favourites. She's a child sex offender, is what you're about to find out about this woman. Oh, good. Yes, yes, yes, yes. She even brought 14-year-old Pedro into her own home where she took his virginity, otherwise known as statutory rape. And because of his personal relationship with Bouti,

Pedro was given higher ranking positions within the gang. And this, of course, did not go down well at all with the other older members of the gang, to say the gang. And this, of course, did not go down well at all with the other older members of the gang, to say the least. And one day, under the guise of going for a swim and a smoke, Pedro was invited to a nearby lagoon with three other members. But on the way there, he became increasingly paranoid at their nervous behavior and the way they were holding their weapons. Thinking on his feet, Pedro suddenly drew his gun and forced them to drop theirs. They all turned around and ran, but Pedro managed to

shoot two of them dead and wound the last one. These are grown men in a fucking drug gang and this 14 year old has just killed two of them because they were going to kill him. It's scary. It is kind of Batman though. Yeah. Except Batman doesn't kill, right? Good point. But it's like a cooler Batman because he'll kill. Okay. Insert any other superhero that kills people. It really reminds me actually, and a lot of this story will, of the cannibal warlord case where this guy just from a young age is like, I know how to handle myself I'm gonna fucking kill adult men don't care believe I'm special so we left Pedro having just killed two

fully grown men and from that day he was known as Pedrino Cartuchera or Cartridge Petey it sounds so much better than in English when you're like, little Pete, Johnny. Yeah, exactly. It's not as cool. English is not as cool. And he was called Cartridge Petey, as we have to say in English because our language is rubbish, because his favourite weapon was a 12-gauge sawn-off shotgun. This guy's got no chill. Maybe I have not played enough GTA, and by enough, I mean none. Why do people saw off shotguns?

Is it so you can put it in your pocket? Like what is the point? Yeah I think it's maybe also if the cartridges have less distance to travel maybe they're more ferocious because maybe the barrel slows them. I don't know. I'm just guessing. Maybe we should have listened to that guy who said that we would you know if we gave guns the time we would definitely really like them. And again, also, I possibly think that you are right, Hannah, in that maybe just a bit more mobile, you know? Cut that off. You don't need that bit. Like a little gun circumcision. Because let's face it, they are just phallic symbols. Limp dicks. Bang bang sticks. During one of Pedro's many dealings as a drug trafficker,

he ripped off a drug dealer known as China, which was quite the dangerous move. But Pedro had disliked China from the very moment they met because he felt like he was a liar and a cheat. And we know Pedro does not like injustice. He doesn't like anything that feels unfair. Pedro stole China's drugs and guns and sold them off to another dealer. And as we already know, Pedro never really thought about the consequences of his actions,

another classic psychopathic trait. And little did he know that this particular decision would backfire on him in the worst possible way. But we'll come back to that. Pin it for now. So get this. The Ontario Liberals elected Bonnie Crombie as their new leader. Bonnie who?

I just sent you her profile. Her first act as leader, asking donors for a million bucks for her salary. That's excessive. She's a big carbon tax supporter. Oh yeah. Check out her record as mayor. Oh, get out of here. She even increased taxes in this economy. Yeah. Higher taxes. Carbon taxes. She sounds expensive. Bonnie Crombie and the Ontario Liberals. They just don't get it. That'll cost you. A message from the Ontario PC Party. Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America.

But when a social media-fueled fight over Harvard and its new president broke out last fall, that was no protection. Claudia and Gay is now gone. We've exposed the DEI regime and there's much more to come. This is The Harvard Plan, a special series from the Boston Globe and WNYC's On The Media. To listen, subscribe to On The Media wherever you get your podcasts. We've got to set the scene before we can get to it of what's happening in Brazil at the time. The life of a drug trafficker or any criminal,

or street kid for that matter, was fraught with dangers and death was around every corner, be it at the hands of a rival gang member or the police themselves. In the early 1960s, the Brazilian military dictatorship set up what was known as the Esquadra da Morte, literally the death squad. And kind of like Pedro himself, they considered their organization to be based on vigilantism. Their MO was to capture, torture and execute those they deemed to be a danger to society. This form of government-sanctioned murder continued well into the 70s and 80s and still exists in some parts of Brazil today.

Yeah, we've all heard of the stories of like when they got the, was it the Olympics or the World Cup? Yeah, both. These death squads were just like, okay, we'll just kill the street kids that hang out in the favelas because we don't need them shitting everything up when international eyes are on Brazil. So they just rounded these kids up and fucking killed them.

And I love the idea that this government-sanctioned group thought of themselves as carrying out vigilantism. It's not vigilantism if the government does it. It's just extrajudicial killings. Yeah, Priti Patel's wet dream is what it is. I know, right? Calm down, Priti. We can hear you. So in Sao Paulo, where Pedro was at this time, these death squads and individual gunmen known as Cabo Bruno, these names are excellent, was convicted for having murdered over 50 people in Sao Paulo for quote-unquote self-perceived justice. By this point, things were spiraling for Pedro. He found himself sleeping rough, spending nights in churches, cemeteries and cars, literally anywhere he could hide from his rivals and the police. Pedro is a classic example of someone who is

super paranoid, but right to be super paranoid, because they are trying to kill him. And it's kind of what keeps him alive, because he's so paranoid. Just like Dexter. Exactly. The connections. And at this point, Pedro's career as a drug trafficker also came to an abrupt end when the police murdered his drug-dealing rapist, Booty, after ambushing her during a drug deal. Pedro took a bullet during the shootout and just about managed to escape with his life, but the incident left him shaken. To lay low, Pedro went to stay with some extended family members. This part of Pedro's family practiced a syncretic religion known as Candomblé Macumba. Syncretic means it's a combination of various beliefs, like Santeria, for example, is a cross between Afro-Caribbean religions and Catholicism, etc, etc. Palo Mambay, same deal. This religion,

though, is commonly practiced in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, and it's categorized by many as witchcraft or black magic. Many practitioners use mucumba to cause their enemies physical harm, financial failure, or even death. But as we learned with Leonardo Chinchuli, many black magic practices also involve protection spells, and candomblé mucumba is no different. And so, Pedro asked his family to carry out a ritual on him that would protect his body from those who wished him harm. Before agreeing, his aunt and uncle made sure Pedro was fully aware of what he was getting into. They told him that the core belief of their religion regarded good and evil

as irrelevant. Instead, Pedro would simply have a duty to fulfill his life's purpose at any cost, whilst being fully aware that causing harm to anybody else would come back to harm him. Very like, what goes around comes around is what comes up in every kind of every tradition where magic is even close by is you get what you pay for essentially. Absolutely and it's also really interesting this idea of what we're doing is at some sort of cost and so if you're going to use this to extend your life or to protect yourself then the payback needs to be that you fulfill your life's purpose. You live your life to the fucking max and I wonder if this phraseology of fulfilling your life's purpose when his aunt and

uncle told him this presumably unaware that he's a fucking injustice killer again fuels the flames of this feeling of there is something that only he can do being a mission orientated type of killer that he has some higher purpose he has some higher calling to fulfill so it's just compounding his beliefs at every turn. And this eye for an eye philosophy that his aunt and uncle also warned him about also fit perfectly with Pedro's own worldview of justice and vengeance. And so, of course, he readily accepted their terms.

In preparation for the ritual, Pedro's uncle had him bring him a coconut with the hair removed, filled with gunpowder, and fitted with a wick. He also asked for a black cat and seven string beans. At twilight in a deserted quarry, the ritual began. Pedro was instructed to kill the cat, drink its blood and smother himself in its organs.

Oh, no eating, please, still. The cat's body was then filled with seeds and buried, whilst a group of people danced around Pedro, drumming and singing into the early hours of the morning. The following week, Pedro dug up the cat and removed the seeds. His uncle then threaded them into a necklace and gave it to Pedro, telling him, never, ever remove it. As far as he was concerned, 16-year-old Pedro was now invincible. In his autobiography, Pedro stated, quote, from then on, the cops opened fire, but the bullets didn't hit me. The enemies attacked, and I defended myself with ease. Nothing would stop me. Before, I was afraid. But after the ceremony, it was as if nothing could affect me.

Again, very Joshua Milton Blahy. Exactly. I was just going to say that. It's exactly the same. And he has an autobiography, just like Joshua Milton Blahy. And if you don't know who we mean, it's because you haven't yet listened to our episode on the cannibal warlord of Liberia. So Pedro's got an autobiography and he's's a ton of other shit written about him too, including the book Psycho.com. And according to this book, Pedro went on to say that he viewed himself as a defender of the weak, sort of Robin Hood character, stealing food and feeding the hungry,

exacting his own brand of vigilante justice upon all those who harmed women, the poor and animals. After he just killed a cat and rubbed its organs all over himself. Yeah, but that cat deserved it. No animals were harmed in the making of this episode. Yeah, that's not a real horse. It's just coconuts, guys. Once again, feeling like it was time to move on. Pedro left Sao Paulo. It was getting a little bit too hot for him. And he made his way to Campo Grande in Rio de Janeiro.

It was here that Pedro Filho met the love of his life, a woman named Maria Aparecida Olimpia. Not long after the pair met, Maria got pregnant and they moved into a small shanty together. All the while, Pedro continued his Robin Hood acts of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, and he'd made quite a name for himself in the favelas of Rio. Many of the locals would help Pedro by warning him when his enemies were nearby, and they'd even lie to the police for him. I can't imagine that the favelas of Rio have an enormous amount of trust in the police. But even though he's got all of his mates informing for him, they couldn't protect him from everyone, which is something Pedro came to figure out all too late.

He returned home one day to find Maria, and the man he had paid to protect her viciously slaughtered. And Maria was seven months pregnant at the time. With his dreams of being a husband and a father now savagely stolen from him, Pedro swore on his dead wife and unborn child that he would find their killer and make them pay. And so the next year of his life was devoted to doing just this. The only problem was that Pedro had by now accumulated so many enemies

that he didn't know where to start. His list of suspects for who murdered Maria is so long he hasn't got a clue. And so he just went about kidnapping and torturing anyone he believed could possibly have any information. So much more of a scattergun approach, he would say. So after months with no luck, finally, one day when Pedro was drowning his sorrows at a local bar, he got word that a woman from out of town was looking for him. This woman turned out to be the scorned ex-wife of none other than China. Yes, you're right to gasp. China was, of course, the drug dealer from who Pedro had stolen. And this ex-wife told Pedro that it was China who

had ordered the murder on his wife. Pedro was of course dubious at first, but she gained his trust by showing Pedro the various scars, bruises and cuts that she had sustained at the hands of China during their first violent marriage. And I don't know if China actually did this. We never really find out if he's responsible for Maria's killings and you do have to wonder if this woman's like,

that piece of shit beat the shit out of me for however long and I hear there's a fucking maniac on the loose killing people I'll go tell him it was him so we don't know maybe I'm giving her too much credit who knows now you have a homicidal maniac who believes that he's protected by black magic and is looking to avenge the murder of his wife and baby, being handed a key suspect. Wasting no time at all, Pedro found out that China and his gang would be attending a wedding. Pedro called on two of his most trusted friends, and the three men made their way to the nuptials. Before going inside, Pedro warned his two men that if any women or children were harmed, then they'd have him to deal with. Even the mob never hit the families. Otherwise, every man at the ceremony was to receive a bullet. The wedding

was a total bloodbath, bodies piled up on the floor and the piercing screams of the wedding guests were only barely drowned out by the sounds of gunfire. And when all was done, Pedro and his men casually and calmly strode to the bar and helped themselves to a stiff drink. Pedro killed seven men that night and wounded 16 others. The massacre earned Pedro legendary status in the criminal world of Sao Paulo, and from that day forth he became known as Pedrinho Matador. Google Translate told us that this means the little stone killer, but apparently it actually means Killer Petey

or Little Pete the Killer. You can get the gist, even if English is a rubbish language. Yes, you do get the gist. Just to put it into context, China is like a feared drug dealer and he just turns up at this wedding and fucking kills them all.

Like, of course, this is transformational. So it was now common knowledge that Pedro Filho was a man not to be fucked with. He was a murderous psychopath who knew no fear and would go to any lengths to exact his vengeance on any man who wronged him. Pedro reveled in this newfound notoriety. He loved how others would quiver in his presence. And he also loved how he was almost as feared by his criminal companions as the death squads were he also went as far as to tattoo i kill for pleasure on his forearm even for me a bit far awkward it also kind of contradicts his whole righteous avenger spiel, doesn't it?

Yes, yeah, true. Because he's like, I kill for pleasure. Shouldn't it be I kill for vengeance? I don't know. Who knows? I only kill the bad guys. Exactly. And he didn't stop there because on his other arm,

he had tattooed the name of his dead lover, Maria, next to the words, I can kill for love, which is quite horrifyingly romantic, maybe. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, it's poetic. It's poetic. So apparently during this period, at least according to an interview Pedro later gave, he was killing someone every single day. And when a day did go by where he didn't kill somebody, he said he was unable to sleep. Which I can totally buy because you would feel like if you are that black and white thinking, you would see injustice in every corner of the world. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. And therefore that

is your life's mission. You go one day without having cleansed the world of someone who is unjust, then of course you can't sleep. It makes perfect sense. Pedro also claimed that he drank the blood of every one of his victims, believing that it would give him strength, just as his grandmother had taught him. Perhaps it was the status he'd gained from the massacre that made him become complacent, or perhaps it was the black magic spell he believed was protecting him. But either way, the authorities began closing in on Pedro after the wedding massacre. And on the 24th of May 1973, he was ambushed by the police. And after a long and tense shootout, Pedro woke up handcuffed to a hospital bed, having suffered multiple bullet wounds. And he wasn't alone. Nurses, police officers, news cameras and members of the press were all around him.

Exactly what you need when you're recovering from being shot. And with that, the deadly reign of 18-year-old Pedrino Matador had seemingly come to an end. But in reality, it was far from over. Following the shootout with police, Pedro spent close to a month in hospital recovering from his injuries with cameras in his face, under the constant watchful eye of a police officer. His face was plastered all over every newspaper and every news channel. Everybody was captivated by the story of Pedrino Matador, the people's avenger. Once Pedro had recovered from his injuries and was ready to be taken to prison,

he was actually given the choice of whether he wanted to be put in the general population or be placed in protective custody. And of course, fearless as ever, Pedro chose general population, where his countless enemies waited for him. Apparently, when he faced his day in court, he was actually angry that he was only being charged with 18 murders because he felt as if his legacy wasn't being done justice. This guy, man, just give it a fucking rest, Pedro. And he told the court that he had in fact killed well over a hundred men. So he really feels like it's being downplayed here and he's not happy. Oh yeah, he feels like he's been shortchanged.

You know, his whole spiel of like telling people why he's killing them. He wants the world to know that he's done this. He has no qualms about that. So by the end of the trial, it was decided that there was only enough evidence to prosecute Pedro for 14 of his murders. So not even the original 18. And he was sentenced to 126 years in prison.

Police records state that Pedro was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police van along with another criminal to be transferred to prison. When they arrived, police opened the back of the van and found Pedro calmly sitting next to the dead body of the other prisoner. I shouldn't laugh, it's not funny, but kind of what did they expect? I know, they're literally like, he's pissed now that he's only been charged with 14 murders, convicted of 14 murders. Take him off. They put him in the back of this van with a man who had been convicted of rape, a crime which Pedro detested

above all else. I mean, fucking hell, this guy, man. I don't know. We've not come across anyone quite like him, as brazen as he is. Pedro was admitted to Araquara Prison, one of the most brutal prisons in Brazil today. I kind of want to do like a world's toughest prisons something rundown. It was even worse back in the 70s. Prisons in Brazil are some of the worst in the world. They're overcrowded, understaffed, under-equipped, unsanitary, and full of violent gangs. I'm amazed that protective custody is something they even offer, to be honest. I know. I wonder who it was for, though. Is it for him or for everyone he was going to fucking murder?

Yeah, right. The understaffed prison guards either cooperate with the prison gangs through bribery or risk being murdered inside the prisons themselves or even in their own homes. Because of this, prisoners are pretty much left to govern themselves and allowed to do whatever they want. Pedro was only 18 years old when he entered this chaotic world. In his autobiography, he wrote, by the time I went through processing, I began to understand what I would go through. The cell was small. There was no mattress. There was nothing, just the frozen concrete floor. There was no shower, it was just a water nozzle.

There was no toilet, there was only a hole in the floor. To make things worse, despite there being countless fellow gang members of people he had killed in prison, his celebrity status automatically put a target on his back. In the prison yard one day, Pedro was jumped by five other inmates who tried to kill him. But somehow, in the chaos, Pedro managed to kill three of them and severely wounded the other two. I mean, again, five fucking inmates attack this 18-year-old kid. He kills three of them. What the fuck? After this, because everyone in the prison had witnessed this now they'd seen firsthand how deadly and fearless pedrino matador was after this few ever stepped in his way again he really does become very mythical doesn't he and as awful as all this is and obviously we

completely disagree with vigilantism you can't help kind of get swept up in it a little bit yeah kind of backing him a little bit i know it's like i don't feel great about no me too i feel very conflicted about it but it's hard and maybe it's because we've been force-fed superhero stories for so long i think it must be you know like robin's hood is a children's story exactly and we just go pay 20 quid to like sit in cineworld and watch these people who are superheroes just kick the shit out of other people. And we're meant to cheer them. So, yeah, it's hard not to. Yeah, exactly.

And I think it's an interesting thing. Obviously, we hear all the time that true crime is having a moment. No, it's not. Like literally every form of entertainment is about people killing other people. Exactly. Name one that isn't. Cartoons, superhero films, Harry Potter. It's all about killing people.

So, you know, you can get off true crime's dick, everyone. Exactly. So after this, Pedro had a very, again, it's a very like a self-fulfilling prophecy, isn't it? Because now he's like, yes, I am right. I am the chosen one. So he continued his killings in prison and went on to get ready. He went on to murder 48 fellow inmates. 48. And regardless of his crimes, though, his mother and his grandmother made sure to visit Pedro every week. But that was about to change. Because one day when Pedro was exercising

in the prison yard, a guard approached him and told him that the prison director wished to speak with him. Pedro was told that his mother Manuela had been stabbed to death in her sleep and that it had been his father who had done it. In a three-hour long interview on the Brazilian podcast Cometa Podcast, which streamed just about a month ago in June 2021. Pedro explains, among many other things, what exactly happened after he found out about his father murdering his mother.

He explains that his father's family had never liked his mother and had lied to Pedro Sr. saying that Manuela had been cheating on him. Pedro goes on to say that in his culture, a wife cheating on her husband is an unforgivable crime and has on many occasions led to murder. But he insists that his mother was, quote, the holiest woman in Brazil, and that the lie was all a part of his father's side of the family's plan

to get rid of Manuela altogether. Apparently, after butchering his wife by stabbing her 21 times with a machete, Pedro's father attempted to murder Pedro's brothers as well, but they managed to escape with the help of their neighbours. A judge allowed Pedro to attend his mother's funeral as it was close to the jail, and he swore in front of her coffin that he would avenge her murder. And eat his father's heart, just for good measure. I was going to say, until you said eat his father's heart just for good measure. I was going to say until you said

eat his father's heart I was like it's another cinematic scene in the brand new Marvel movie Pedro Matador Pedrino. The following week Pedro's aunt, so his father's sister not his mother's sister, came to the prison and gave him a cake. But Pedro was suspicious of this supposed peace offering, as you well would be. And so instead of eating it himself, he decided to share it amongst his cellmates. And then he gave the leftovers to some stray dogs that the prisoners kept.

And within minutes, everybody who ate the cake, including the dogs, began vomiting violently. It is a film. It's a film. It's another fucking scene. Can we just turn this into a movie, please? I'm sure we will not be the first. I'm sure someone else has already tried. Yeah, fucking Marvel. Anyway, so the cake was analysed in a lab and found to, of course, contain poison. So Pedro was moved to a different prison and it just so happened to be the same prison that Pedro Sr. was locked up in. Coincidence? I think probably not.

Now, there are a number of variations of the next part of the story as to how Pedro made his way to his father. And apparently this one is the closest to the truth. Allegedly, Pedro lured a guard to his cell by pretending to be unwell. He then threatened the guard with a knife and took away his gun and keys. He then forced the remaining prison guards into his cell, which he then locked. Pedro then found his way to his father's cell and immediately pounced on Pedro Sr. without uttering a word.

With the knife firmly gripped in his hand, Pedro stabbed his father repeatedly and counted each plunge of the blade out loud as he went. When he got to 22, he stopped. Pedro wanted to ensure he stabbed his father just one more time than he had stabbed his mother. And not forgetting his vow to Manuela, Pedro then proceeded to cut his father's heart out. He then sliced off a large chunk, which he chewed on, before spitting it out onto his father's bloodied corpse.

Once the deed was done, and the familiar, satisfying feeling of righteousness washed all over him, Pedro returned to his cell, let the guards free, and willingly allowed himself to be handcuffed. So he's like, OK, I've done what I need to do. You can put me back into the prison where I have lots of access to people I can kill. Which is, by the way, in case you hadn't noticed, my actual favourite thing to do. Just put me in very close quarters with a lot of people who've done bad things. It's my ideal situation. After avenging his mother's death, Pedro's killing only wrapped up.

He made friends with another inmate called Claudio, who was due to be released very soon. Pedro told Claudio that he'd be welcome to stay in his grandmother's house when he got out, and Claudio took him up on that offer. Once there, Claudio started a relationship with Pedro's sister. Why? Is it worth it? Yes, are you stupid? Like, just horny. Evidently, evidently. But things took a turn when Pedro's brother began accusing Claudia of having been in a homosexual relationship with Pedro in prison. In a fit of rage, Claudia shot at Pedro's brother, but ended up killing his sister and wounding her friend instead. Oh no. And for this crime, Claudio returned to prison and Pedro, unimpressed. And he chose to show his unimpressedness by walking into Claudio's cell at night and cutting his head off with a knife. Claudio must have been like any other prison, please.

Like literally any other prison in the entirety of Brazil, which is a massive, very populous country. Please, anywhere else. No, no, that's not, sorry. We can't do that. No can do. The red tape, the paperwork and the wardens on holiday, I'm, you know, I just can't make it work. No, we're just going to have to put you back in general population. You know some people in there though. You're just fine. You have a great time. Don't worry about it. It's just like riding a bike. Slot right back in.

So when Pedro wasn't quenching his ravenous thirst for murder, he learned to read and write. He's so productive. He really is very productive. Yes, yeah, yeah. The Seven Habits of Highly Efficient Killers. Pedro should write that book because it would be worth a read probably. He's making enough money on YouTube as it is.

Stop giving him ideas. This is true. Sorry, I'm not here to be your fucking business development manager, Pedro. Anyway. So yeah, he learned to read and write. And as a result of this, he was able to finally read the numerous letters that were sent to him from the public. Many were letters of admiration, but many more were actually requests for him to carry out revenge killings

on other prisoners on their behalf. But Pedro, a man of morals, at least as far as he liked to think, refused to kill for money. But if he felt that a request had legitimate cause for him to kill, he would happily oblige. Mate, this guy does need a business development manager. Like, why are you doing free murders? I mean, I know why. That's obviously his whole psychopathology. So his go-to methods to carry out these killings were either to beat his victims to

death, break their necks, or stab them. And soon enough, Pedro's infamy as one of Brazil's most notorious killers spread beyond the country's borders. And on top of the requests for murder to hire, Pedro also began receiving countless marriage proposals and love letters. Something which, to be fair to Pedro, he found incredibly strange. But he did eventually begin a relationship with another female prisoner who started visiting Pedro on conjugal visits after her release. Women falling in love with deranged killers is nothing new. After all, bad boys for life is the motto we all live by. And the subheading of one of the chapters of our book.

You're the one that's going to get murdered in your sleep if you keep plugging it every five minutes. Sorry, cut that. Take that out. But the kind of love and admiration Pedro received from much of the public does stand out from regular herbristophilia, and it's no doubt due to the work of the media. Reporters constantly lauded Pedro as this vigilante hero that fought against injustice and righteously punished

those who harmed women, children and the poor. And in a country where 10 to 15 women are murdered every day, and around 60,000 people are murdered per year, and has a conviction rate for homicides of less than 8%,

the people wanted their Bruce Wayne. Although, as previously stipulated, that man doesn't do killings, apparently. There are a number of stories online that claim that Pedro once killed a cellmate for having snored too loudly. Pedro dispelled this rumour in an interview and he said that the actual reason he'd killed that particular person wasn't for snoring.

It was for spying on him during one of his conjugal visits. A much more valid reason? I don't know. This is the problem with obviously all vigilantism that you might be like, yay, this guy's killing criminals or murderers or rapists or child sex offenders. But I'm like, that person is unstable and deluded and deranged and operating on what is currently a moral compass that you agree with, that society agrees with. I mean, obviously, aside from the fact that we shouldn't have judge, jury and executioner vigilantes running around. But one day they're going to expand that black and white thinking into other spheres which don't feel as righteous to be murdered like this. Nothing is stationary in psychopathology.

And we say psychopathology because a prison-appointed psychiatrist diagnosed Pedro as, unsurprisingly, a psychopath, incapable of feeling sympathy or remorse, with the added complications of paranoia and ASPD. Uh-oh. That's not good news. ASPD, antisocial personality disorder, is the umbrella term under which personality disorders like psychopathy live. You can't actually be diagnosed as a psychopath.

You are diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and then they'll just put in the notes definite psychopath. So in another interview, Pedro recounted the story of how a transgender prisoner had fallen in love with one of his friends, but his friend rejected them. Pedro claims that this trans prisoner then apparently spread a rumor that led to the murder of Pedro's friend. As a reaction to this, Pedro broke into the part of the prison where the trans prisoners were living and went on a murdering rampage. He told the person interviewing him that their screams left him deaf for three days. Again, you're seeing escalation,

out of proportion, escalation for something that isn't even founded. Sir Pedro had entered the prison system at the age of 18, charged with 14 murders. But now his confirmed kill count was 71. And for this, his sentence was increased cumulatively to 400 years. He's killing people in prison. Maybe do something else with him. This is the problem. And there are more problems because one thing is that the maximum sentence that any prisoner is legally allowed to serve in Brazil, regardless of their crime, is 30 years. And that includes serial killers like our friend Pedro. It's important to note, though, that this 30-year rule was put in place when the life expectancy in Brazil was around 43 years. So maybe it needs some updating? Possibly.

Quite possibly. Most prisoners in Brazil rarely ever survive the full 30 years. Many die from illness due to the overcrowded and unsanitary prisons, and others are just murdered. President Bolsonaro, the far-right leader of Brazil, has made it clear that he intends to be much tougher on Brazil's violent criminals and is very much in favour of restoring the death penalty and terrifyingly even has hopes of using torture as a legitimate practice.

Bolsonaro is crazy. I don't think that's a controversial thing to say. The man has been running around saying that COVID isn't real, etc, while Brazil plunges into a hell-like state and literally has run out of space to like bury the number of COVID dead. I also saw an interesting article a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if he's okay now, but he was admitted to hospital after hiccuping non-stop for seven days. Oh my God. I know. That can kill you, you know. I'm sure it's a very serious condition. I only laugh because

he is the man who's been running around calling men in particular pussies if they're scared of COVID or if they got sick from COVID. Exactly. Context. That is pretty funny. Hiccups can kill you from it via exhaustion if you go on for long enough. There you go. So eventually it was realised that keeping a man like Pedrino the Matador amongst the general population in prison was doing nothing but exacerbating the problem. So, authorities sent Pedro to Tabauté Maximum Security Prison and Psychiatric Treatment Centre, where he would be kept separate from other inmates, and therefore unable to continue his campaign of vigilante murder. So, eventually... Oh, no, what's his name? What's the name of the man in the box

maudsley maudsley yes yeah so they eventually maudsley him in august 1996 pedro did an interview for television and when he was asked whether he would continue his killing if he were released he said yes i'd have to to put it simply i'm a murderer i always have been and you know he did a whole fucking dead cat ritual in a fucking quarry with a bunch of seeds and a necklace. He has to fulfil his life's purpose. He does, yep. He has to keep going. So despite this rather ominous statement that Pedro gave, he was in fact released from prison on the 24th of April 2007. This case is not that long ago. Like, it feels like an old and timey case,

but he was released in 2007 after 34 years in prison. He was finally a free man. Now, apparently, and this is an interesting little fact that we picked up, Brazil does not monitor released prisoners. And Pedro was no different. So he moved far away into a cottage in a rural area of Brazil, where he lived with his pet Labrador. Everything was new to Pedro. Remember, he's been in jail for over three decades. Like, he'd never seen a colour TV before, he'd never used the internet before.

But Pedro was keen on leading a simple life. He began attending church regularly and found work as a caretaker on a farm. His employers later told police that Pedro was a serious, hard-working and religious man. But little did Pedro know, his newfound freedom was not to last. The authorities and politicians were not happy about his release and had been working hard to find a way to get him back behind bars. Why do you want him back behind bars? That's where he kills people. Leave him on the farm.

They're not bothered about the people he's killing in prison, though. They want him off the street because eventually he's going to find out how fucking corrupt they all are and come for them. Yeah. On the 15th of September 2011, following an anonymous tip off on his whereabouts, Pedro was rearrested on charges of having participated in a riot during his time in jail, having taken a prison guard hostage during that riot, and they added on an extra charge for being in possession of an illegal firearm when he was arrested. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and almost immediately another media storm took place around him. Only bigger this time. Flurries of reporters were constantly visiting Pedro, writing articles garnering sympathy for him.

But this time, along with the reporters, came documentarians, authors, and the worst of them all, TV producers. They were all keen to capitalise on his story and his celebrity. There's a gap there, there's a niche. No-one mentioned true crime podcasters. Shockingly, people like hearing about this stuff. So after this stint, Pedro was re-released finally on the 6th of December 2017 at the age of 64, which is going some. And he gave an interview

shortly after he got out in which he said he was finished with killing. Unless, of course, somebody were to harm his family, then he would be out of his hands. Pedro teamed up with a man named Pablo Silva and together they released an autobiography and created the YouTube channel that we've been talking about this whole time with over 200,000 followers. It doesn't feel great to be beaten at YouTube by a 64-year-old, but there you go, they've got over 10 million views.

They upload videos together really regularly to keep that algorithm happy. And the content is anything from the day in the life of Pedro to him analysing the crimes of others and warning children about the dangers of a life of crime. And the channel is called, just in case you're wanting to look it up, Pedrino X Matador and Pablo Silva. And determined to shed his old skin, Pedro even covered up his old prison tattoos. And he fixed one, the one that read, I kill for pleasure, by covering it with a scorpion. And he covered the word revenge with love.

Sneaky. He's also apparently available for hire as a motivational speaker. You know, you've got to diversify those revenue streams, you know, and you've got to start charging. Can't do it for free. Yeah, oh God, yeah. Never do something you're good at for free. Don't do anything you're bad at for free. It really reminds me of that bit in Love Actually where Bill Nye is like, don't do drugs, kids. Become a pop star and they give them to you for free.

It's exactly what he's doing. Don't be a YouTuber. Kill a bunch of people and then it will be much easier for you. Yes, absolutely. There you go, kids. Solid plan. So now aged 67, Pedro Filho claims he is living proof that a psychopath can be cured. But he did also go on to say that he still experiences an urge to kill, but that now it always fades away. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily say that Pedro is proof that a psychopath can be cured. No, I would encourage you not to say that, actually. No, I won't say that. It's okay. That is the party line. I will toe the party line that I won't say that Pedro is proof of that. I will say that Pedro is proof that someone like Pablo

Silva can come along and be like, stop that. Let's take that machete out of of that. I will say that Pedro is proof that someone like Pablo Silva can come along and be like, stop that. Let's take that machete out of your hands. I've got a much more lucrative idea for you. It's called YouTube. So yeah, that is what is probably a very famous case that most of you are aware of to some extent, but probably not in the depth we just did because I certainly wasn't. hope you enjoyed it and didn't fall too much into the cult of Pedro like maybe I was starting to before he totally lost it yeah I was tiptoeing around the abyss of falling into it I think I know it's a tough one but we are through it guys there you go hopefully you weren't sick from any of the heart chewing bits

and a watch this space for Hannah and I's brand new venture, which will be a film based loosely on the story of Pedro X Matador. It'll be called Matador Man, and no one will know that it's the same thing. With that, we have got some Patreon thank yous to say. So thank you very much to Sophie, to Hannah Fordyce, Cassandra Ryan, Hannah, Monica Lee, Monica Lewandowska, Natalie Baker, Daniel Etel, Emily Shear, Sophie Robinson, Caroline Spellman, Ursula Fuller, Miss Jessica Ruth Smith, Laura Mitchell, Erin Nevin, Lauren Josie Cannon, Erin Birkland, Kelsey Robinson Bird, Nina Chang, Ellie Morgan, Stephanie Smith, Kelsey Cass, Jalapeno, Joseph Hefner, Jesse, Nia Sia, Louise Carter, Sula Wolf Vala, that's a great name, Jamie Sobush, Gabriella Sosa, Julie Ryan,

Jenny Clemens, Amy Frost, Anastasia McNally, Anna Wesch, Laura Park, Michelle Jordan, Lauren Tag. Fucking well done, mate. That's the best run you've had for ages. I know. I wasn't going to say it in case I jinxed myself. I was like, just as I get good at it, we're like in November. We've got some months to go. Oh, we've got another Hannah M. Someone commented on Instagram. They were like, please get my name tattooed. It's Hannah McGuire. Which I thought was very funny.

Emily A. I also think it would be the worst possible name to tattoo on yourself. Yes. Yeah. Worse than like Madeleine McCann. Like it's just not not it is he limarchant jade tostney ema ryan rachel pounder eden bateman laura brooksmith leia north leia north possibly penny fitzsimmons becky cooper lauren bianco nora charlotte eddington bernice kutumash

jill maria caroline mostly emma caitlin Caitlin Hutchison, Kennedy, Lucy Miller, Marguerite Lang, Sian Clements, Alison Klein, Amy Carwood, Claire Maguire, Are We Cousins Claire, nobody knows, Zoe St. Bob, Bob A maybe, Claire Boyle, Sarah Garland, Danielle Trudeau, Donna Weitz, Annie, Catherine Perkins, Libby Spooner, Ashley Barnes, Jenny Conway, Caroline Kendall, all capital letters, Mary Beth, Charlotte Roberts, Jeryn Hamilton, Claudia Flanagan, Jojo Sheehan, Brianna Stevenson, Chiara Lee Conaway, Bernice Duplessis, Toma Dalsunyait. Nope, sorry. No, you know who you are. Helena Unwin-Golding, Amanda Rains-Taylor, Chanel Williams, Molly Westbrook,

Hannah, just Hannah, Trisha, Duffy and Brett, thank you ever so much for your support. We will see you over on Patreon immediately after this for Under the Duvet. If you listen to the Under the Duvet first and then you listen to the episode, you are an abomination in the eyes of the law.

And with that, goodbye. Bye! in the eyes of the world. And with that, goodbye. Bye. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud.

In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable vehicle, the Space Shuttle. And in 1985, they announced they're sending teacher Krista McAuliffe into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, along with six other astronauts. But less than two minutes after liftoff, the Challenger explodes. And in the tragedy's aftermath, investigators uncover a series of preventable failures by NASA and its contractors that led to the disaster. Follow American Scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery Plus. You can join

Wondery Plus in the Wondery+. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today. I'm Jake Warren, and in our first season of Finding, I set out on a very personal quest to find the woman who saved my mom's life. You can listen to Finding Natasha right now, exclusively on Wondery+. In season two, I found myself caught up in a new journey to help someone I've never even met. But a couple of years ago, I came across a social media post by a person named Loti. It read in part, Three years ago today that I attempted to jump off this bridge, but this wasn't my time to go.

A gentleman named Andy saved my life. I still haven't found him. This is a story that I came across purely by chance, but it instantly moved me and it's taken me to a place where I've had to consider some deeper issues around mental health. This is season two of Finding, and this time, if all goes to plan, we'll be finding Andy. You can listen to Finding Andy and Finding Natasha exclusively and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.