Teen who murdered other criminals arrested after 71 slayings

Pedro Rodrigues Filho, a notorious vigilante from Brazil who hunted down serial killers and other criminals, had his first taste of jail on May 24, 1973, at the age of 18.

Rodrigues was handcuffed in the back of a police car alongside a convicted rapist on that day.

Rodrigues killed the rapist in the back without the police officers noticing.

He was initially sentenced to 126 years behind bars, but he was released in 2003 after Brazil instituted a 30-year maximum prison sentence, regardless of the crime.

Following his release, his history would inspire the book series Dexter, about a serial killer who killed other killers.

The series later became a popular television show.

Rodrigues would be re-arrested in 2011 and spent another seven years behind bars.

Though he spent most of his life behind bars, he managed to kill at least 71 drug dealers, rapists or murderers.

He claimed to have killed far more people than he was actually convicted of.

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Most of the crimes were committed while he was a teenager.

Rodrigues spent 40 years behind bars until his release from a final prison term in 2019.

He then became a popular YouTube commentator on crime.

But his violent past caught up with him when he was killed in a drive-by shooting in March 2023.

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