As Botton entered his teenage years, he began spending more time in the streets of São Paulo. Eventually, he discovered a way to survive. He began offering sexual services to older men. Clients were said to be drawn to his muscular build. Among them, he became known by a nickname: “PILO.” Many of these encounters took place along Paulista Avenue, one of the busiest and most famous streets in the city. Near the São Paulo Museum of Art, where nightlife and anonymity blended together. But by the late 1980s, things began to change. Botton was getting older. Clients became harder to find. Money grew scarce. To cope, he began committing petty theft and robberies.
Much of the money he obtained went toward food and crack cocaine. Reports later suggested he was using about two grams per day. Fueled by drug addiction, limited resources, and poverty, the robberies eventually escalated into something far worse.
Between 1986 and 1989, a series of murders quietly unfolded across São Paulo. The victims shared a disturbing pattern. They were typically older men, gay and often well wealthy. More, shockingly, they were killed in their own apartments. Police later discovered a chilling method used by the killer. The victims were first encouraged to drink heavily. Once intoxicated, they were restrained. Hands and feet tied to the bed. Their clothes removed. Then the killer would strangle or stab them. Afterward, valuables were taken from the apartment. Electronics, cash, clothing, basically anything that could be sold.
The earliest confirmed victim was José “Zezinho” Liberato, a 66-year-old decorator. His body was discovered inside his apartment on December 7th, 1986. He had been bound with a bedsheet. Electrical wire was used to tie his hands. A scarf had been wrapped tightly around his mouth. And nylon around his neck suggested he had been suffocated.Soon after came another victim. A theater director named Manoel “Maneco” Iraldo Paiva. Like the others, he was found dead in his apartment. Strangled and robbed. Among the stolen items were a television, a walkman, a watch, and even a typewriter.
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What makes this case especially disturbing…is that the murders didn’t immediately trigger a large investigation. In the late 1980s, Brazil was still deeply influenced by social stigma surrounding homosexuality. Many victims were reluctant to report threats or assaults. And authorities often failed to recognize the pattern forming across the city. Behind the scenes, investigators later suspected that as many as thirteen men may have been killed. But only a few cases were ever fully connected.
Ironically, the killings didn’t stop because police identified the pattern. They stopped because Botton made a mistake. In 1989, he attempted to extort a 19-year-old student for money. The student reported the incident. And Botton was arrested. During questioning, something shocking happened. Botton confessed. Not just to one murder. But to seven. He described how he targeted clients and robbed them. Sometimes, he claimed, he killed because they refused to pay him enough. Other times, he said the motive was anger over insults. In one chilling example, he said he murdered psychiatrist Di Giacomo simply because the man complained that he smoked too much.
Despite confessing to seven murders, prosecutors were only able to charge Botton with three. He underwent psychiatric evaluation by doctor Guido Palomba. The conclusion was alarming. The report described Botton as a sexual sadist who experienced epileptic episodes that could trigger violent outbursts. Palomba warned that if Botton were ever released…he would likely kill again.
In February 1997, prison guards discovered Fortunato Botton Neto dead inside his cell. An autopsy revealed the cause. Bronchopneumonia. A complication resulting from AIDS. He was 33 years old.
The case of the Trianon Maniac remains a disturbing chapter in São Paulo’s history. Not only for the brutality of the crimes…but also for how easily they went unnoticed. Hidden behind fear. Stigma. And silence. Today, the murders remain a reminder of how vulnerable marginalized communities can be when crimes against them are ignored.
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The Monster of Passo Fundo
In the early 2000s, a series of horrifying crimes shook the quiet communities of southern Brazil.
The man responsible would later become known as The Monster of Passo Fundo.
His real name was Adriano Vicente da Silva.
Born in 1980 in the Brazilian state of Paraná, da Silva would go on to become one of the most disturbing serial offenders in the region's history. Between 2001 and 2004, he killed at least nine children and one adult man in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
For these crimes, he would eventually receive a combined prison sentence of 264 years.
But long before the murders began, the warning signs were already there.
According to da Silva, he dropped out of school after the fifth grade. As a child he began training in Muay Thai at the age of ten. Those who knew him described him as aggressive, volatile, and cruel to animals.
His childhood was also marked by trauma.
At the age of twelve, da Silva said he was sexually abused by a neighbor. Just two years later, his parents separated, leaving him emotionally unstable and deeply troubled.
Da Silva later claimed that he first felt the urge to kill at the age of fifteen. He attempted to attack a classmate, but the boy survived.
Years later, those violent impulses would resurface in far more deadly ways.
In 2001, da Silva was arrested in the city of União da Vitória after robbing and killing a taxi driver. He was convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
But he would not stay behind bars for long.
After escaping from prison, da Silva fled south to the state of Rio Grande do Sul. There, he blended into small communities and found work as a handyman.
It was during this time that his killing spree began.
Between August 2002 and January 2004, da Silva carried out at least twelve attacks on young boys between the ages of eight and fourteen.
His method was disturbingly calculated.
He would approach children in public places and offer them money or popsicles. Once they accepted, he would lure them away to isolated wooded areas.
There, he would overpower them using his martial arts training.
The victims were beaten, sexually assaulted, and ultimately strangled with a rope.
Most of these attacks took place in rural areas within the cities of Passo Fundo, Sananduva, Soledade, and Lagoa Vermelha.
For months, the crimes went unsolved.
Communities were terrified. Parents were afraid to let their children play outside.
Despite the similarities between the cases, investigators struggled to find a clear suspect.
Then, in November 2003, a breakthrough finally occurred.
A witness reported seeing one of the missing boys walking with an older man shortly before the child disappeared.
Police eventually located the man and brought him in for questioning.
He identified himself as Gabriel Vicente da Silva and presented a birth certificate under that name.
When investigators checked the records, the identity appeared clean. There were no warrants, no criminal history, and nothing to justify holding him.
So the man was released.
However, before letting him go, police took a photograph.
That small decision would soon prove critical.
Investigators continued digging into the identity of “Gabriel.” Eventually they discovered a connection to a man living in the state of Paraná who turned out to be his brother.
When officers there saw the photograph, they immediately recognized the man.
It was not Gabriel Vicente da Silva.
It was Adriano Vicente da Silva — a convicted murderer who had escaped from prison.
Once his true identity was confirmed, police quickly issued wanted posters across several cities in Rio Grande do Sul. Media outlets began broadcasting his photograph and warning the public.
Just days later, on January sixth, 2004, Adriano Vicente da Silva was captured in the town of Machadinho.
He had been attempting to flee to the neighboring state of Santa Catarina.
Shockingly, only three days earlier, he had killed his final known victim.
After his arrest, investigators brought da Silva back to several crime scenes.
During the reconstruction process, he calmly pointed out the locations where he had hidden the bodies.
DNA evidence later confirmed his involvement. Samples collected from two victims matched his genetic profile.
As a result, several teenagers who had previously been detained in connection with the crimes were released. Some later claimed they had been pressured into falsely confessing.
During interrogations, da Silva admitted responsibility for twelve murders.
However, prosecutors were only able to formally charge him in nine cases due to insufficient evidence in three disappearances.
The charges against him were extensive.
They included murder concealment of a body, sexual assault, identity theft, and theft.
Before the trial, da Silva underwent a psychological evaluation.
During the assessment, a psychiatrist asked him whether he felt any remorse for his actions.
His answer was chilling.
Da Silva said he only felt remorse for the first victim.
After that, he claimed he could not control his desire to kill.
He even admitted that he had once considered dismembering the bodies.
In the end, the overwhelming physical evidence left little doubt.
Da Silva was convicted on all counts.
Over the course of multiple trials spanning five years, he received a combined sentence of 264 years in prison. As of 2022, Adriano Vicente da Silva remains incarcerated at the Charqueadas High Security Penitentiary in Brazil.
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Ironically, the killings didn’t stop because police identified the pattern. They stopped because Botton made a mistake. In 1989, he attempted to extort a 19-year-old student for money. The student reported the incident. And Botton was arrested. During questioning, something shocking happened. Botton confessed. Not just to one murder. But to seven. He described how he targeted clients and robbed them. Sometimes, he claimed, he killed because they refused to pay him enough. Other times, he said the motive was anger over insults. In one chilling example, he said he murdered psychiatrist Di Giacomo simply because the man complained that he smoked too much.