Maníaco da Cruz

Dyonathan Celestrino (born January 5, 1992), known as The Cross Maniac and by his Orkut handle, DOG HELL 666, is a Brazilian serial killer who committed three ritualistic murders in Rio Brilhante from July to October 2008, when he was still a teenager. Due to the high probability of him posing a future danger to society, he remains incarcerated.

Murders In 2008, Celestrino decided to murder those whom he perceived as "not following God's precepts." Along with his religious motivations, he was both inspired and challenged by Francisco de Assis Pereira, another Brazilian serial killer. Celestrino intended to surpass Pereira's ‘record’. He would pick his victims at random and bring them to an isolated area at knifepoint. Firstly, he would ask them if they believed in God. If they answered ‘yes’, he would proceed to ask them various sexually related questions, such as what age they lost their virginity, how many partners they had, and their sexual preference. If he considered them impure, he would proceed to kill them, typically by asphyxiation. After murdering his respective victim, Celestrino would partially undress them, spread their arms and cross the legs at ankle height to resemble a cross.

Victims Catalino Gardena, 33, killed on July 2 - a bricklayer and neighbor of Celestrino. Celestrino claimed that Gardena "deserved to die" because he was an alcoholic and a homosexual. He was found in a vacant lot. He was asphyxiated with a plastic bag and stabbed in the chest. The word INRI was written on a piece of paper nearby, standing for Jesus, King of the Jews.

Letícia Neves de Oliveira, 22, killed on August 24 - a lesbian gas station attendant. Found half-naked on a grave in a cemetery.

Under Brazilian law, Celestrino was scheduled to be released in 2013 at the age of 21, but as he was deemed incapable of living a normal life, his sentence was extended indefinitely. 2 fake Facebook accounts were made of him after the news of his escape, one of the accounts threatening the town of Dourados.

Residents of the town nicknamed him ‘Johnny’, and 2 of his friends described him as a flirt. Celestrino even tried to make advances on a 15-year-old sister of one of these friends. Messages to her from him show that he tried to get her to go out drinking with him. Police also found a diary of his, the most notable excerpt which reads ‘In life and death, I am a serial killer’, and a miniature Portuguese-Spanish dictionary with strange drawings of his scrawled on the back pages. He also gave an exclusive interview in Paraguay after people found out who he was, and he made a deliberate lie, explaining he was a hitman hired to kill these people and execute the crimes in the way he did.

After his escape from Unei de Ponta Porã, he was transferred to the Campo Grande Penal Institution, and as of August 2022, Celestrino remains incarcerated. He is described as a good inmate, is currently studying for a degree in environmental resource management and receives regular visits from family members, and weekly calls with his mother.