The Paturis Park murders are a series of 13 murders of gay men between February 2007 and August 2008. The murders took place in Paturis Park in Carapicuíba, Brazil and perpetrated by an unknown killer dubbed the Rainbow Maniac. São Paulo is the annual stage for the largest gay pride march on Earth and home to one of South America's most vibrant gay communities. But a wave of homophobic murders cast a shadow over one of the most tolerant cities in Latin America. The killer labelled the Rainbow Maniac, was behind the murders of 13 men in Carapicuíba, a city of nearly 400,000 people in greater São Paulo. They were killed in a park used as a gay meeting point. Police also investigated whether the same killer was behind three murders in the neighbouring city of Osasco, where a similar weapon was reportedly used. The killing began on 4 July 2007 when 32-year-old José Cicero Henrique was murdered in the Paturis park. 12 other men have been killed in the park, nine in virtually identical circumstances. Their half naked bodies were dumped in the undergrowth with a .38 caliber bullet in the back of the head and their trousers wrapped around their knees.
