Consumed by Evil

What was behind the drive-by killer’s shooting spree?

Time was up.Four years after his first murder, the law finally caught up with 26-year old Tiago Gomes da Rocha in October 2014.

His arrest saw him confess to 39 murders, making him one of the world’s most prolific serial killers.

Quiet child

What caused the young, handsome Brazilian to be gripped by such evil?

Growing up in the city of Goiania, 200 miles from the country’s capital Brasilia, Rocha was known as a quiet boy with few friends.

Raised by his mother and grandparents, he grew up with a brother. He never met his father and describes his childhood as quite ordinary.

But at the age of 11, that all changed.

This, Rocha claims, is when he was sexually abused by a neighbour, planting the seed of self-hatred and igniting an anger so fierce it would eventually consume him.

‘It was for about a month. He threatened to kill me if I told anyone,’ Rocha said later. ‘After that, I felt like I was nothing. I felt the anger growing in me from that moment on.’

At school, bullies picked up on Rocha’s quiet nature, which he says contributed towards his mental and physical aggression.

Despite this, he went on to graduate from high school and gain employment within a private security firm.

Religion was also important to him, and he attended services at church regularly.

It was here he met his fiancee, a beautiful woman with long, dark hair.

But while Rocha may have seemed happy on the outside, he drank to hide his inner pain. Until things reached a head…

‘When I was 22, I couldn’t stop myself anymore. It was like I had to do it,’ Rocha explained.