Brazilian police have said a suspected serial killer had confessed to killing 39 people since 2011, targeting mostly women, but also homeless people, and possibly transgender women and gay men.
Thiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha was arrested on Tuesday.
His arrest came two months after the Civil Police in the central Goias state established a special Task Force in order to capture and investigate the perpetrator of 15 attacks in the capital of Goiania since the start of the year.
Police said Mr da Rocha confessed to having committed those crimes in addition to two dozen additional murders on Wednesday, though an investigation is still under way.
Family members and friends of some of the killer's victims gathered outside the state's homicide investigation centre where the suspect was being held.
Police tracked down Mr da Rocha using CCTV footage at a snack bar in Goias where the latest crime was committed.
According to police reports, he had committed the murders in order to alleviate his personal suffering and anxiety.
His defence attorney Thiago Huascar, however, said the suspect has denied the charges.
"(I want to see) The police investigation. To see the evidence they really have against him. I spoke with him yesterday and he denied the events to me", Mr Huascar said.
The 26-year-old lived with his mother and worked for a private security company in a public obstetrics hospital.
