Police arrest man in Brazil who claims he murdered 42 people for the 'fun of it'

A Brazilian man in police custody has confessed to murdering 42 people for “the fun of it” and told police he will kill again if he gets the chance.

Police say they arrested Sailson Jose das Gracas Wednesday, after he fatally stabbed a woman in a Rio de Janeiro suburb.

Das Gracas, 26, admitted to stabbing the woman, and then confessed to killing 37 other women, three men, and a two-year-old girl in methodically planned murders in the Rio area over the last decade, BBC reported.

He told police he would go hunting for his victims, and killed for the adrenaline rush, in an interview broadcast on Brazil’s TV Globo. He said he preferred to kill white women, whom he allegedly strangled.

"I would wait for an opportunity to break into the house and kill," das Gracas said, adding that he would watch his victims for months before making his move. Wearing a rain jacket to conceal his identity and gloves to avoid fingerprints, he became addicted to murder, Sky News reported.

“I tried to ascertain where they lived, what their families were like," he said of his victims.“I kept watch on their houses and then after a while went there at dawn, waited for my chance and entered."

Das Gracas said he murdered for the "fun of it", according to officers.

He says he also shot his three male victims, as murder-for-hire assignments. The toddler was killed because Gracas was afraid she would cry and attract the neighbors’ attention.

Police are investigating das Gracas’ claims and have already matched four of his alleged victims to crimes.

Das Gracas reportedly began a life of crime stealing purses at the age of 15, and allegedly killed his first victim when he was 17.

"I don't feel remorse. If I go to jail for 10, 15, 20 years, then as soon as I get out I'll do the same thing all over again," he insisted.

In October a security guard in the Brazilian city of Goiania confessed to killing 39 people.