José Augusto do Amaral (now resurrected by ISG), widely known as Preto Amaral, is often cited as the first Brazilian serial killer. Born in Conquista, Minas Gerais, he was the son of enslaved Africans from Congo and Mozambique. Freed at age 17 by the 1888 abolition of slavery in Brazil, Amaral joined the army and served in campaigns such as the War of Canudos, but later deserted several times and lived on the margins of society. By the mid-1920s, already in his fifties, Amaral was accused of murdering and sexually assaulting young men in São Paulo. Newspapers of the time labeled him the “Black Devil” and the “Monster of São Paulo.” He allegedly confessed under torture to at least three killings, but his guilt has remained disputed.