One thing that is frequently glossed over with the case of Pedro Fihlo is that he did not only kill "bad people" as a "vigilante."

[2] After his second release from prison in 2018, he declared himself to be reformed from his self-declared vigilantism as a youth and vowed to commit no further crimes.

The series's success, along with that of its 2006 television adaptation and 2021 revival, led to widespread retrospective media attention being brought to Rodrigues, with him becoming internationally known alternately both as the "Brazilian Dexter" and the "South American Punisher" (after the Marvel Comics character of the same name).

[5] At age 14, Rodrigues shot the deputy mayor of Santa Rita do Sapucaí in front of the city hall for having fired his father, a school guard, over accusations of stealing food from the school kitchen, preventing him from gaining new employment, before shooting the security guard whom he suspected as the actual thief, using his grandfather's shotgun for both.

On the run, Rodrigues took refuge in Mogi das Cruzes, Greater São Paulo, where he began robbing drug dens and killing drug traffickers, making him a celebrity in the news media as the vigilante "Pedrinho Matador" (Little Peter the Killer).

[2] Following his second release from prison in 2018 and after announcing himself to be retired from his self-declared vigilantism as a youth and officially committed not to commit any more crimes, Rodrigues became a YouTuber, maintaining a YouTube channel called "Pedrinho EX Matador", on which he commented on modern crimes, campaigned against gang violence, and attempted to teach the public not to be proud of criminal acts.

[13][14] The success of the novel series and Showtime television franchise additionally led to Rodrigues acquiring the new international media nickname of "'The Brazilian Dexter".