Tiago Gomes da Rocha

Tiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha, a.k.a. "The Goiânia Serial Killer", is a prolific Brazilian serial killer.

Background
Rocha never knew his father and lived alone with his grandparents. He claimed that he was sexually abused by his neighbor at the age of eleven and was a victim of bullying. However, he stated that the main reason of why he became a killer was the fact that he was never loved by a girl. At some point in his life, he became a security guard and also started committing robberies.

Murders, Arrest and Incarceration
On November 9, 2011, Rocha lured a young homosexual man named Diego Martins Mendes to a forest with the promise of having sex with him. There, Mendes was strangled to death. Rocha proceeded to kill several people over the course of two years, targeting gays, vagrants, and prostitutes. Because of his different victimologies and varying M.O., the local authorities never managed to link his crimes until his capture. By the end of 2013, Rocha shot a woman to death during a supposedly attempted robbery. On January 18 of the next year, while driving his motorcycle, he shot Bárbara Costa while she was waiting for her grandmother at a square. One day later, he approached Beatriz Moura and fatally shot her. A housekeeper named Lílian Mesquita e Silva was his next victim; as she was on her way to pick up her sons at school, Rocha silently approached her and shot her in the chest. One month later, Ana Duarte was shot by Rocha at the front of a snack bar. A month after Ana's death, Rocha fatally shot Wanessa Felipe on her back while she buying medicine at a drugstore.

Later, Rocha killed Janaína de Souza while she was drinking at a bar. On the same day, he killed Bruna Gonçalves while she was waiting for her bus to come, shooting her to death. On the same month, he approached Carla Barbosa and her older sister, asking for their cellphones before shooting Carla to death in front of her sister. A month later, he shot Isadora dos Reis while she was walking down the street with her boyfriend. His next victim, Thamara Silva, was pregnant and was on her way to the church with her husband when she was shot. On the same day, Taynara Rodrigues da Cruz was talking her friend when Rocha approached her and shot her to death. A month later, Rocha approached Rosirene Silva and asked her for her car keys before fatally shooting her. One week later, Juliana Dias was alone with her boyfriend when Rocha suddenly appeared and shot her several times, one of which was in her head. His last known victim, Ana Gomes, was waiting for her bus when Rocha came and shot her to death.

Because of the fact that Rocha used different motorcycle plates during his shootings, investigators initially believed that the murders were being committed by local drug dealers or that the cases were simply unrelated. The public made the assumption of a serial killer being active on the region on May 2014, but the police only saw this theory as a rumor. However, minutes after murdering Ana Gomes, police noticed that Rocha's motorcycle plate was stolen. Rocha was tracked down and arrested on October 14, 2014. After being interrogated, he confessed to the murders. In his house, police found a .38 revolver, which matched the ballistics of bullets found at the scenes of the shootings. In prison, Rocha confessed that he once worked as a hitman and was paid to kill an unnamed merchant. At some point, he attempted to commit suicide by slashing his wrists with a broken lamp bulb but failed. Rocha is currently awaiting trial. He is suspected in at least 39 murders.

Modus Operandi
During his initial serial killings, Rocha had three different victimologies and three different modus operandi: homosexuals who were manually strangled, vagrants who were fatally shot, and prostitutes who were stabbed to death. Later, he completely changed his M.O., only targeting random women and shooting them with a .38 revolver as he drove past them on his motorcycle. To conceal his identity, Rocha would wear a black motorcycle helmet and a black coat.

Known Victims

 * November 9, 2011: Diego Martins Mendes
 * Unspecified dates from 2012 to 2013:
 * Several unnamed homosexuals
 * Several unnamed vagrants
 * Several unnamed prostitutes
 * Unnamed woman
 * Unnamed merchant
 * 2014:
 * January 18: Bárbara Ribeiro Costa, 14
 * January 19: Beatriz Oliveira Moura, 23
 * February 3: Lílian Mesquita e Silva, 16
 * March 14: Ana Victor Duarte, 27
 * April 23: Wanessa Oliveira Felipe, 51
 * May 8:
 * Janaína de Souza, 24
 * Bruna de Sousa Gonçalves, 26
 * May 23: Carla Barbosa Araújo, 22
 * June 1: Isadora Cândida dos Reis, 24
 * June 15:
 * Thamara da Conceição Silva, 17
 * Taynara Rodrigues da Cruz, 13
 * July 19: Rosirene Gualberto da Silva, 29
 * July 25: Juliana Neubia Dias, 22
 * August 2: Ana Lídia Gomes, 14

On Criminal Minds
Though he wasn't mentioned or referenced in Criminal Minds, Rocha is similar to serial killer Jason Clark Battle. Both were involved in law enforcement and chose their victims at random before shooting them with .38 revolvers in drive-bys.