<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-24-what-happened-on-this-day/5b612a99-16d8-4782-8709-02bbb8502548#7" rel="" target="" title="Pedro Rodrigues Filho"><span>Pedro Rodrigues Filho</span></a><span>, a notorious vigilante from </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/brazil" rel="" target="" title="Brazil"><span>Brazil</span></a><span> who hunted down serial killers and other criminals, had his first taste of jail on May 24, 1973, at the age of 18.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rodrigues was handcuffed in the back of a police car alongside a convicted rapist on that day.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rodrigues killed the rapist in the back without the police officers noticing.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Following his release, his history would inspire the book series </span><em><span>Dexter</span></em><span>, about a serial killer who killed other killers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The series later became a popular television show.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rodrigues would be re-arrested in 2011 and spent another seven years behind bars.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-24-what-happened-on-this-day/47cd0781-af42-420b-9ccb-c190f203854c" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Though he spent most of his life behind bars, he managed to kill at least 71 drug dealers, rapists or murderers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He claimed to have killed far more people than he was actually convicted of.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-29-what-happened-on-this-day-hyphen-war/9d24576f-6be0-428d-b797-8d362e6a782e"><strong><span>Country splits in two after failing to resolve punctuation dispute</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Most of the crimes were committed while he was a teenager.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rodrigues spent 40 years behind bars until his release from a final prison term in 2019.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He then became a popular YouTube commentator on crime.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But his violent past caught up with him when he was killed in a drive-by shooting in March 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-5-what-happened-on-this-day-poon-lim/0fd62d7e-75ac-4ebb-aecb-3ecfb1c84cd7"><strong><span>Shipwrecked sailor spends 133 days on rickety raft</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-21-what-happened-on-this-day-collyer-brothers/d420209f-80bc-49c4-8745-b09ffc292bb8" target="" title="Brother starves to death after hoarder killed by own booby trap"><strong><span></span></strong></a><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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