Overview
Marcelo Costa de Andrade, often referred to in the press as the "Vampire of Niteroi," is a Brazilian serial killer convicted of the rape and murder of fourteen boys in 1991 in the metropolitan region around Niteroi and Sao Goncalo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. His victims were children and adolescents, the youngest aged around six and most under the age of fourteen. The crimes were committed over a period of roughly nine months and shocked Brazil both for the number of young victims and for the disturbing nature of the killer's stated motivations.
Andrade became one of the most notorious figures in Brazilian criminal history. The case drew significant attention to questions of child safety in poor urban communities, the treatment of mentally ill offenders under Brazilian law, and the country's psychiatric and penal systems. He confessed in detail to the killings after his arrest.
Background
Marcelo Costa de Andrade was born on January 7, 1967, in Rio de Janeiro. Accounts of his early life describe an impoverished and abusive upbringing, including reports of domestic violence within the family and a childhood marked by hardship. As an adult he became involved with a Pentecostal religious community, and religious ideas would later feature prominently in the explanations he gave for his crimes.
He worked in modest jobs and lived in the Rocha Miranda area and the broader periphery of greater Rio de Janeiro. Before the 1991 killings, his documented criminal history was limited, and he did not initially attract attention as a likely offender, which is consistent with how the series of disappearances went unconnected for a period of time.
The Crimes
The murders took place during 1991. Andrade targeted young boys, luring them with money or small enticements before sexually assaulting and killing them, typically by strangulation. The bodies were left in wooded or vacant areas on the outskirts of Niteroi and Sao Goncalo. The victims came largely from poor families, and several were children who spent time on the streets, which contributed to delays in reporting and in linking the cases.
The most widely cited element of the case is Andrade's claim that he believed killing the boys while they were still young and innocent would send their souls straight to heaven, and that he was therefore doing them a kind of favor. He reportedly drew this rationalization in part from religious teachings he had absorbed, particularly the idea that dying young and pure guaranteed salvation.
The nickname "Vampire of Niteroi" arose from reports that, in at least some cases, Andrade drank the blood of his victims. He later told investigators and examiners that he did so because he wished to become as beautiful as the children he killed, or out of a belief connected to the victims' purity. These details, drawn largely from his own confession and psychiatric evaluation, are part of why the case is remembered as among the most disturbing in Brazil.
Arrest, Confession and Trial
Andrade was arrested in late 1991 after the series of child murders prompted intensive police attention. Once in custody he confessed extensively, providing details about the killings that helped authorities connect the separate cases. His total of fourteen victims was established through these confessions and the subsequent investigation.
During legal proceedings he underwent psychiatric evaluation. Examiners diagnosed him with serious mental illness, and Brazilian courts found him to be criminally insane, or not fully responsible for his actions, rather than convicting him as an ordinary defendant. As a result, instead of serving a conventional prison sentence, he was ordered to be held in a psychiatric institution for treatment and custody.
His case became a focal point in debates about how Brazil handles violent offenders judged to be mentally ill. Under Brazilian law at the time, individuals deemed not criminally responsible could be committed to a custodial psychiatric facility rather than sentenced to a fixed prison term, with periodic review of whether they remained dangerous.
Aftermath and Legacy
Andrade was committed to a forensic psychiatric institution. His case attracted ongoing controversy in later years, particularly when there were reports concerning his confinement, treatment, and the question of whether and when he might be released or transferred. The prospect that a mentally ill offender responsible for so many child murders might eventually be freed generated considerable public concern in Brazil.
The case is frequently cited in Brazilian discussions of serial killing, child protection, and the intersection of religion and pathology in a perpetrator's stated motives. It has been the subject of journalism, books, documentaries and criminology coursework in Brazil, where Andrade remains one of the country's most infamous murderers.
Because much of what is known about Andrade's stated reasoning comes from his own confessions and psychiatric assessments, some specific claims, such as the precise number of victims whose blood he drank or the exact theological framing he used, should be treated with caution. The core facts, namely fourteen child victims, the 1991 timeframe in the Niteroi region, his confession, and his commitment as criminally insane, are widely reported.
