José Paz Bezerra

José Paz Bezerra, known as the Morumbi Monster, is a Brazilian serial killer responsible for the deaths of more than 20 women in the states of São Paulo and Pará. Bezerra was sentenced to more than 60 years in prison and served the maximum Brazilian sentence - which is 30 years - at São José prison in Belém. He has been at liberty since 2001.

Bezerra's crimes occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. What struck the attention of the specialists was the coldness of the murderer, who left the victims in vacant lots in the same way: naked, gagged, feet and hands tied with pieces of clothing and with signs of strangulation and sexual violence. According to experts, Bezerra became a serial killer because of his troubled childhood, since from an early age he had to take care of his father, who had leprosy, by sanitizing and removing the necrotic parts of the lesions caused by the disease. In addition, he had a prostitute as a mother who took him to watch her have sex with her clients. With that, Bezerra began to hate her. Autopsies from the victims' bodies indicated that the Morumbi Monster was looking for women who resembled his mother.[1][2]