Brazilian psychopath admits to 41 murders

A Brazilian man accused of stabbing a woman to death in a Rio suburb has confessed to having murdered 41 people, most of them women, "for the fun of it".

"He wanted to kill women - white women, not black ones. He followed the victims, studying them closely before committing the crimes," according to Brazilian police commissioner Pedro Henrique Medina.

Sailson Jose das Gracas, a 26-year-old described by police as a psychopath, says he became addicted to murder after claiming his first victim – aged 17.

"At 17, I killed the first woman and that gave me a buzz. I kept on doing it and I enjoyed it," he said, adding on one occasion a couple, Cleusa Balbina and her former husband, Jose Messias, contracted him to kill someone for money. Balbina and Messias are now also under arrest.

Gracas says he murdered 37 women, three men and a two-year-old child over a nine-year killing spree, explaining he killed the child because he feared it would cry and attract neighbours' attention.

"I observed them, I studied them. I waited for a month, sometimes a week, depending on the place. I tried to ascertain where they lived, what their families were like. I kept watch on their houses and then after a while went there at dawn, waited for my chance and entered,"  the Brazilian media quotes Gracas as saying.

Gracas said he used a firearm for contract killings and strangled his other victims. The crimes were planned meticulously, the killer taking to wearing a rain coat in order to obscure his identity and gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints.

"When I wasn't killing someone I got uptight. I would pace up and down at home. Killing calmed me down."I'd kill someone and then would think about the victim for two or three months. After that, I'd go off hunting for another victim”.

"I don't feel remorse - if I go to jail for 10, 15, 20 years, then as soon as I get out I'll do the same thing all over again", Gracas said.

Under Brazilian law, the maximum prison term is 30 years.