Marcos Antunes Trigueiro, known as the Contagem Maniac, (born in Brasília de Minas, Minas Gerais on May 29, 1978) is a Brazilian serial killer who operated in the Contagem and Belo Horizonte cities. Trigueiro raped and murdered five women between April 2009 and February 2010.  

  
***Modus Operandi:***

Between April 17, 2009, and February 26, 2010, Trigueiro targeted women who were alone in their cars or otherwise vulnerable and used a simulated robbery approach to lure them. Once he had control of the situation, he would commit sexual assault followed by strangulation murder. After killing his victims, he typically stole their cell phones and other personal items, a pattern recognized by investigators that helped establish the link between cases.

  
***Victims:***

* Ana Carolina Menezes Assunção, a 27-year old merchant, was found strangled inside her car in the neighbourhood of João Pinheiro, Northwestern region, on April 17, 2009. Her son, a baby of only fourteen months, was in the vehicle and was found sleeping on his mother's body unharmed. Carolina was strangled with a tennis shoelace.
* Maria Helena Lopes Aguilar, 49, was found strangled in her car in Rua das Trombetas, Cojunto California, Northwestern region, on September 17, 2009. Helena was strangled with a seat belt at the bank, behind the car.
* Edna Cordeiro de Oliveira Freitas, a 35-year old accountant, was found dead on a dirt road linking the Jardim Canadá neighbourhood in Nova Lima to BR-040 on November 12, 2009. Her car was found the previous day in the industrial district in Contagem with all her belongings except her cell phone. Cordeira was strangled with the necklace she wore.
* Adina Feitor Porto, a 27-year-old law student, disappeared on January 7, 2010, after leaving her home in the Santa Margarida neighbourhood to leave for college. Her car was found in Barreiro de Baixo the following day.
* Natália Cristina de Almeida Paiva, a 27-year old merchant, disappeared on October 7, 2010, in the Lindeia neighbourhood. Her body was found 22 days later, in a forest in the region of Ribeirão das Neves, but was buried as an indigent. Only four months later, the family recognized Natália's clothes, her body was exhumed and the victim was identified.

***Investigation and Arrest:*** 

Police forensic experts found semen from the same source in multiple victims from 2009, confirming a common perpetrator. Detectives also succeeded in tracking victims’ mobile phones, which played a key role in identifying and locating Trigueiro.  

Trigueiro was arrested on February 26, 2010, in the Lindeia neighborhood near the industrial district of Contagem, following an intensive investigation by the Minas Gerais Civil Police. He confessed to the murders after being taken into custody.

Investigators reportedly found burned mobile phones at his residence, some matching those reported stolen from victims.

  
***Prosecutions and Sentences:***

Trigueiro faced multiple trials and convictions:

He received a 34-year-plus sentence for the rape and murder of Ana Carolina Menezes Assunção. He was later convicted in successive trials for the homicide, rape, and related charges in the murders of other victims, with individual sentences such as 30 years and 5 months for one crime. Altogether, his combined sentences amount to well over 100 years’ imprisonment in a maximum-security facility in Minas Gerais.

  
***Suspected Crimes:*** 

***1. Possible killing of his own uncle***

Police in Minas Gerais opened an inquiry into whether Trigueiro murdered his uncle in Contagem in 2002.

Investigators sought to break his banking secrecy to trace R$25,000 that disappeared after the uncle’s death, trying to see if it passed through Trigueiro’s accounts.

Authorities considered this could be a case of latrocínio (robbery-murder), not just homicide linked to his serial crimes. Trigueiro denied involvement during questioning, but police publicly stated they had evidence worth further probing.

***2. Alleged involvement in the death of his infant daughter***

In a separate line of questioning, police suspected Trigueiro of killing his own 3-month-old daughter in February 2005.

Forensic reports pointed to the infant being beaten to death, leading authorities to examine whether the death could be linked to him.

Again, he denied responsibility when confronted, but investigators said the necropsy was concerning enough to warrant keeping it on their radar.

***3. The 1999–2001 murder series in Belo Horizonte***

Between 1999 and 2001, authorities in Minas Gerais investigated a series of murders and disappearances involving dozens of women whose bodies were found in and around Belo Horizonte and Contagem, including near the UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) and surrounding areas. At least 12 women were found raped and killed during that period, with many more disappearances also recorded. This cluster of crimes was sometimes referred to in discussions as the "UFMG Maniac" or the "Pampulha Maniac". It remains unsolved because no single perpetrator was ever definitively linked to all of the cases.

In some investigative discussions and witness accounts shared publicly (though not reflected in formal indictments), there were a few reasons police and observers considered examining Marcos Antunes Trigueiro’s possible involvement in the 1999–2001 murders:

* Geographic overlap: A number of the 1999–2001 victims were found in locations near where later bodies turned up and near Trigueiro’s known work and travel routes within the Belo Horizonte/Contagem region.
* Work-related mobility: During that earlier period, Trigueiro’s employment involved transportation and driving, which would have given him mobility across the same corridors where some victims disappeared.
* Reported sightings: A few anecdotal accounts including statements from witness interviews cited in investigative discussion, claimed that a woman (later identified as Simone Alves, whose remains were found in 2001) was seen in a car with a man who witnesses described in a way some people speculated could be Trigueiro. These accounts were widely circulated online but were not corroborated in official police records.

Marcos Trigueiro, the Contagem Maniac