Welcome everyone! Welcome to a new episode of Love and Murder – the weekly true crime podcast discussing relationships gone terribly wrong. Where our motto is [you’re either someone’s last love or first murder]
I am your host Ky and this show discusses true crime cases told in the form of a story with mystery and suspense.
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In today’s episode, I’m talking about a case of obsession and murder.
Last Week’s Episode: Love, Lies, & Betrayal – The Case of Randy Stone
But first, I wanted to remind you to head on over to our exclusive group at patreon.com/loveandmurder. In our upcoming bonus this week, me and Char did a fun little episode for you – answering “AITA” You don’t want to miss it – join the LaMs at www.patreon.com/loveandmurder.
Now, on to the show…
Pedro Bravo was born to parents Azucena Duque and Pedro Bravo Sr, but beyond that, there’s not a whole lot of information out there about his childhood or family background. What we do know is that he attended Doral Academy Preparatory School in Florida.
Christian Aguilar was born and raised in Miami-Dade County, Florida to Carlos and Claudia Aguilar. Christian was a bit shy growing up, but that didn’t stop him from graduating high school at Doral Academy Preparatory and enrolling in the University of Florida in Gainesville in Alachua County. He had big plans for the future, hoping to become a biomedical engineer. Christian was also dating a girl named Erika Friman, whom he had known since high school.
Erika Friman went to Doral Academy Preparatory School with Christian Aguilar and Pedro Bravo. Erika thought Pedro was funny and that’s what attracted her to him. But, as time went on, they realized that their relationship wasn’t working out. Erika asked Pedro for a break, but he didn’t take it well. She felt like he almost manipulated her into continuing their relationship. She was worried that something bad would happen if they took a break. So they continued to date until after they graduated, when Erika had to move to Gainesville, Florida to enroll in Santa Fe Community College. That’s when Erika ended things with Pedro for good and started seeing Christian, who was also in Gainesville to attend the University of Florida. Pedro, on the other hand, wanted Erika back. He enrolled in the same community college as Erika, and because he constantly said he was suicidal, Erika kept an eye on him. However, she didn’t tell him about her relationship with Christian because she thought it would upset him even more. But, Pedro eventually found out about Erika’s new relationship and things got complicated.
On September 20, 2012, Erika was worried when Christian didn’t show up for their night out as planned so she filed a missing persons report. Detective Randy Roberts from the Gainesville Police Department was called to investigate the case. He spoke to both Pedro, who had accompanied Erika to the police station, and Erika herself. Pedro told Detective Roberts that he’d been feeling depressed and had suicidal thoughts and he figured that talking to someone might help. So he’d called up Christian. He said that they drove around talking and then he and Christian had gone to Best Buy to get a Kanye West CD, and on the way back, they picked up a hitchhiker who was described as a man in his 50s or 60s with gray hair. According to Pedro, the hitchhiker was fiddling with duct tape in the back seat of the car. Later on, after they dropped off the hitchhicker, Pedro and Christian had an argument about personal issues, and Christian asked to be let out of the car. Pedro said he dropped him off on the side of the road near a business that sold four-wheel vehicles and was near a wooded area. He claimed he never saw Christian again.
As the last person to have seen Christian, Pedro was a critical part of the investigation. Detective Roberts asked Pedro to show them the exact route he and Christian had driven the day before, and during the interview with police, Pedro admitted to having suicidal thoughts. Following standard protocol, which is the Baker Act, Pedro was taken into custody for a 72-hour hold to determine if he was a danger to himself.
According to the website, “The Best Drug and Alcohol Rehab of FL” at https://www.tpoftampa.com/ “The Baker Act is a law in Florida that was created in 1972 to establish legal procedures for the involuntary examination and treatment of individuals with mental illness. This law was put in place to prevent the indiscriminate admission of individuals to mental health institutions and to ensure that people are only admitted to such facilities with just cause. The Baker Act allows for a mental health professional to initiate an involuntary examination if they believe a person is a danger to themselves or others or is unable to care for themselves. The Baker Act encourages individuals to seek voluntary mental health help. However, if an individual is not open to voluntary treatment for a severe mental health crisis, family members, health professionals, law enforcement or others can ask the circuit court for an involuntary mental health examination.
The involuntary examination period cannot exceed 72 hours for adults and 12 hours for minors. Within that time, a clinical psychologist or a physician experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders must examine the individual.”
Initially, a search team looked for Christian in the woods near the four-wheeler shop, where Pedro admitted to dropping him off. The searchers wanted to thoroughly search, but also quickly search because, if Christian was out here an hurt, he would have to contend with dangerous animals like alligators, water moccasins, and rattlesnakes. When Christian wasn’t found in the woods, investigators had to consider that maybe the hitchhicker Pedro spoke about, had possibly taken Christian. The search had to expand to an air unit and hundreds of volunteers, including Christian’s family from Miami joined. Nonetheless, there was no trace of Christian or the hitchhiker they had picked up.
During this time, people tried to call Christian’s phone and investigators even tried tracking it. Detective Matthew Goeckel determined that Christian’s phone had been intentionally switched off, indicating a strong possibility of foul play.
Two days had passed, and investigators thought that Pedro’s stories were not adding up. He’d been released from the hospital when it was determined that he wasn’t sucidal and was speaking to investigators, but his account kept changing. He had claimed that things got physical with Christian after they dropped the hitchhiker off. “I stopped the car … and I just punched him in the face.” He said that Christian told him that he should kill himself which pissed him off. He began punching Christian multiple times before leaving him on the roadside. “I could see he was OK but he was not gonna get up anytime soon. And then I got in my car and left.” The way he retold his story made investigators really look at him differently. And when police searched his house, they found Christian’s backpack hidden in another suitcase, among other things.
During the search they also found something that made them look at the case differently – a journal documenting Pedro’s obsession with Erika and his plan to get her back.
“The situation between Pedro and Christian was very strained because Pedro felt like he had tried to go behind his back to date Erika.”
Being that Pedro was starting to look like a prime suspect, investigators didn’t want him to run, but they couldn’t arrest him unless they had incriminating evidence. So they detained him on different charges to buy time while they looked for more incriminating evidence.
“Pedro was arrested for failure to render aid, based on his statements about harming Christian and leaving him helpless.” Wow. I didn’t know you could be arrested for all of that. I mean I guess the beating yea, but failing to render aid? Interesting…
So he was charged with depriving a victim of medical care and given a bond of $100,000. This kind of charge is a 3rd degree felony.
As the investigation continued, autorities looked at surveillance cameras of the areas they knew Pedro had visited in the time leading up to Christian’s disapperance. In one such video, they saw Pedro buying duct tape, a knife, a shovel, and sleeping pills just a couple days before the disappearance.
Investigators immediately got a search warrant for Pedro’s car and the search of the car led to the discovery of a Gatorade bottle and a roll of duct tape. Further investigation determined that the dirt and limestone on the undercarriage of the car were from Levy County.
On October 12, after more than three weeks of searching, two searchers found remains after smelling something that resembled decomposing animal. They then found a shallow grave with human remains in it and called the sheriffs. Sherrifs came and saw remains that was face down with the ankles, wrists, and neck bound in duct tape. Upon investigation, they found clothes near the skeletal remains that matched the clothes Christian was wearing. After DNA analysis from a hip joint and dental records, the body was confirmed to be Christian’s.
Christian’s remains were found in a shallow grave in Levy County in Florida which is about an hour’s drive from Gainesville. While there was no confirmation regarding the exact cause of death, the medical examiner deemed strangulation as a strong possibility.
Investigators found duct tape near the remains and sent it to the crime lab for analysis. Comparing it to the duct tape found in Pedro’s car proved that they were from the same roll. Meanwhile, findings from the Gatorade bottle found in Pedro’s car suggest that the crime was premeditated. Trace amounts of sedatives were found in it, indicating that he was incapacitated before he was killed.
Further evidence from the bloody fluids in Christian’s lungs that seeped into the carpet suggested that he was strangled. Evidence from Pedro’s home and journals outlined his plans to win back Erika “by making Christian disappear” only added to the case against him.
Both of them were seen at a Best Buy before Pedro allegedly poisoned and strangled him in a Walmart parking lot. Damn! In the parking lot of Walmart?! Didn’t even go somewhere private! The balls! Cell tower data indicated that around 8pm that night, Pedro was headed in the same direction where the body was eventually found.
Pedro had been arrested on September 28, 2012, but now investigators could charge him with first degree murder.
On August 4, 2014 Pedro Bravo’s trial began.
Pedro plead – say it with me now LaMs: NOT GUILTY of course.
In opening statements, Pedro’s Lawyer Michael Ruppert, said “Pedro has a history of suicidal ideations, was upset and wanted to talk to his friend. Christian Aguilar told Pedro Bravo, ‘Why don’t you just go ahead and kill yourself.’ Pedro reached over and punched his friend. But he did not kill Christian.”
Prosecutor Brian Kramer showed pictures of Christian’s body after it was found. He also showed surveillance pictures of Pedro and Christian buying the Kanye West CD as well as highschool pictures of Pedro and Christian as friends.
Pedro showed no emotions as the pictures went across the screen.
During witness testimony, Christian’s parents took the stand. “The first conversation I had with him he told me they had an argument and that he left him. I told police I think Pedro did something to my son.” Christian’s father said
Erika took the stand and said, “He was very distraught at the thought of us not being together. There was a lot of crying. It was very hard for him. I thought it was a little strange but I wasn’t sure if it was the norm. It’s not like what you see in the movies.”
Some classmates testified that they knew he only went to Gainesville to try to get Erika back. They also testified that Pedro would consistently tell them that he was suicidal.
Further on in the trial, Prosecutor Kramer would go on to show pictures of Pedro buying the shovel, duct tape, etc as well as entries from his journal. You can actually see these things in our Patreon.
“Every plan has a goal, and this is the goal. His plan is to get her back. He’s got to reunite with Erika.”
Prosecutor Kramer also showed that Pedro searched, numerous times, on his computer how to plan a murder, how to cut veins, anesthetics, and more.
“He cuts off the air to his airway and blood to his brain. He would later (tell someone) it took Christian 13 minutes to die.” Plot twist. Wait till you hear who he told.
Attorney Ruppert rebutted saying that, “They pulled over and there is a fight. Christian lost the fight but he was still breathing and alive. Pedro did not kill Christian Aguilar. He had no premeditation to kill Christian Aguilar. The police never investigated anyone else.”
A former cellmate with Pedro, Michael Angelo who is a convicted gang member who became a jailhouse informant, testified that Pedro asked him for help to make it look like the killer was still out there. He said that Pedro admitted to killing Christian because he was dating Erika. He said that Pedro told him that he’d given Christian sleeping pills, then he climbed into the backseat of his car and put his belt around Christian’s neck and watched the clock on his car for 13 mins while strangling him. The cellmate’s conviction led them to find the shovel used in the crime, further cementing the case against Pedro. What do I always tell you LaMs – always have every scrap of evidence on or around your person. In addition, document everything on your cellphone or computer. Finally, tell every and anybody who will listen. This, dear LaMs, is how you get away with murder.
He said when Pedro first got to the jail he would cry alot and would also just stare at the ceiling. He also said that Pedro had asked him for a pencil so that he could write a suicide note and for a shoelace to commit suicide. He did write the letter, but gaurds found it and he was placed on watch. In the letter Pedro wrote that he was he was “a monster for hurting Chris the way I did.”
On August 14, 2014, Pedro was found guilty of 1st degree murder, false imprisonment, poisoning, tampering with physical evidence, and 3 more charges. In only 4 hours, the jury came back with the guilty verdict and a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Pedro said, “I know in my heart and I know in my actions that day and I know God as well knows that I did not kill Christian Aguilar.”
Pedro was sent to Taylor Correctional Institution in Perry, FL
In September, Attorney Ruppert requested a new trial stating that the State Attoney Bill Cervone called and asked the other defense attorney, Margaret Stack, for help in getting information about where Pedro had burined the body. Attorney Cervone denied doing this. Instead he said SHE called him with the information. Attorney Ruppert said if he had known this, he would have used it in the trial.
The judge denied the request.
Erika said that Christian was the love of her life and believes that if he were still alive, they would have been married by now.
“You don’t expect to lose your love that young, and not in such a traumatic way… [but] at the end of the day, when I think of all these unknowns, I think of how much Christian loved me, and that’s kind of what gets my through it.”
In 2017 Erika did graduate from the University of Florida with a BA in Sustainability Studies and currently lives in Kissimmee, FL where she works as a Donor and Engagement Administrator for Heart of Florida United Way.
And that wraps up the case of Pedro Bravo and Christian Aguilar.
What do you think of this case? Do you think Pedro did it or do you think the attorney was right; that police never even looked at anyone else. Pedro maintained his innocence throughout all of this. I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments below, or feel free to post it on any of my social media.
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