Adriano Vicente da Silva

Adriano Vicente da Silva (born 1980), known as The Monster of Passo Fundo (Portuguese: Monstro de Passo Fundo), is a Brazilian serial killer and rapist who killed at least nine children and one man in Rio Grande do Sul from 2001 to 2004. Convicted on all counts, he was sentenced to 264 years imprisonment for these crimes.

Early life A native of Paraná, Da Silva would later claim that he dropped out of school after the fifth grade, started practicing Muay Thai at age 10 and was known for his aggressiveness and cruelty to animals. At age 12, he was sexually abused by a neighbor, and two years after that, his parents separated, causing him great emotional turmoil.

Da Silva claimed that he first got the "urge" to kill at age 15, when he attacked a classmate, but failed in his attempt and the boy survived.

Murders Sometime in 2001, Da Silva was arrested for robbing and killing a taxi driver in União da Vitória, for which he was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment. After escaping from the prison he was detained at, he fled to Rio Grande do Sul, where he found work as a handyman.

Between August 2002 and January 2004, Da Silva carried out at least twelve attacks on young boys aged from 8 to 14. His modus operandi consisted of offering them money or popsicles and then luring them to forested areas, where he beat them using his martial arts skills and then sexually violated them. Ultimately, he strangled his victims with a rope.

Investigation and arrest Even after several similar murders of young boys occurred in the region, investigations advanced only in November 2003, when a witness reported seeing one of the victims being accompanied by an older man before disappearing. As a result, several teenagers who were detained for some of the murders were released, with some of them claiming that they had been tortured into confessing by police officers.

Due to his lack of remorse and large amount of physical evidence implicating him, da Silva was found guilty of all the crimes in a 5-year span and given a combined sentence of 264 years imprisonment. As of October 2022, he is detained at the Charqueadas High Security Penitentiary.

Confirmed victims Éderson Leite, age 12: killed August 16, 2002 Douglas Oliveira Hass, age 10: killed April 2003 Volnei Siqueira dos Santos, aged 12: killed July 9, 2003 Alessandro Silveira, age 13: killed September 2003 Junior Reis Loureiro, age 10: killed September 2003 Jéferson Borges Silveira, age 11: killed September 2003 Leandro Dornelles dos Santos, age 8: killed October 2003 Luciano Rodrigues, age 9: killed November 2003 Daniel Bernardi Lourenço, age 14: killed January 3, 2004