The Cross Maniac ๐ง๐ท
16-year-old ศฤriaล ฤทiลลฤr Dyonathan Celestrino who committed 3 ritลณฤ
ลiลtic mลณrdฤrล in 2008 in Brazil Rio Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul.
It all began in 2008, in the city of Rio Brilhante (MS). Between July and October of that year, three people were mลณrdฤrฤd. The bรธdiฤล were found with their arms outstretched and legs crossed at the ankles, as if they had been posed in a crucifixion ritual. The city was plunged into shock.
The first viรงtim was a 33-year-old man, Catalino Gardena, who was found dead with the name "INRI" carved into his chest with a knife. (July 2, 2008)
The second viรงtim, a 22-year-old woman Letรญcia Neves de Oliveira, kiลลed by asphyxiation and found in the same position. (August 24, 2008)
The third, a 13-year-old girl, Gleice Kelly da Silva, also mลณrdฤrฤd in the same way. (October 3, 2008)
He had at least one surviving victim. In September 2008, he approached a 17-year-old girl named Carla late at night. He abducted her at knifepoint, took her to an abandoned building, and asked questions about her religious beliefs, sexual history, and purity.
After approximately two hours, Carla โpassedโ his test. Dyonathan released her unharmed and said to her : " Vocรช รฉ realmente ingรชnua, pura. Saรญ para matar uma vadia e te encontrei" ( "You really are naive, pure. I went out to kill a bitch and I found you,")
Dyonathan sitting on a tomb in a cemetery
At the time, Orkut was the most popular social networking site in Brazil, so investigators examined the victimsโ profiles in search of clues related to the killer. While reviewing Gleiceโs scrapbook page, they came across a user named DOG HELL 666 who had posted a disturbing message:
โDead people donโt get scraps, you sickos.โ
Investigators obtained access to Gleiceโs phone records and discovered that an unknown number, which was not listed among her contacts, continued attempting to call her even after her death. They later identified the number as belonging to Dyonathan, who was also behind the DOG HELL 666 account.
He was arrested on October 9, 2008. In November, the Cross Maniac was sent to the Educational Internment Unit of Campo Grande and later transferred to the Ponta Porรข unit.
An interview with him by FOLHA: click here.
Dyonathan Celestrino at a court hearing in 2009.
โSรฉculo XXI, os cristรฃos na fogueiraโ
21st Century, Christians at the Stake.
Investigators discovered a notebook in Dyonathanโs room containing his personal writings and reflections. Among them was a text titled โ21st Century: Christians at the Stake,โ which advocated violence against Christians. In his writings, he described religion as one of the greatest curses in human history. At Dyonathan's house, they found a list with the victims' names, knives, and their personal belongings.
In his personal list of contacts found by police, he wrote next to her name: โCarla - Savedโ, while marking the three mลณrdฤr victims as โDeadโ.
What happened after Dyonathan Celestrino was arrested: click here.
He briefly escaped from a youth facility in Ponta Porรฃ in 2013 but was recaptured in Paraguay and transferred to the Instituto Penal de Campo Grande (IPCG), where he has remained since. In prison, he has exhibited repeated violent and disruptive behavior, including assaults on guards (using broomsticks, forks, punches, and throwing urine), hunger strikes, and refusals to return to his cell. These incidents have led to his isolation in the psychiatric wing.
As of 2026, at age 34, Dyonathan remains indefinitely interned in the psychiatric section of the maximum-security facility in Campo Grande. He only receives visits from his mother, has taken distance-learning courses (including Environmental Management), and continues to undergo periodic psychiatric assessments that justify his ongoing institutionalization.