Gabriel Kuhn was a 12-year-old boy from Santa Catarina, Brazil, who tragically lost his life in a gruesome murder committed by his close friend, Daniel Petry.
Gabriel was an avid video game enthusiast and had developed a friendship with Daniel through an online game called Tibia.
The two bonded over their shared love for gaming.
On July 23, 2007, Daniel visited Gabriel’s home to resolve an apparent disagreement over the online game.
However, according to online reports, once inside, Daniel locked the door and brutally assaulted and molested Gabriel.
When Gabriel threatened to tell his parents about the molestation, Daniel strangled him with gaming system cables, causing him to lose consciousness.
Daniel believed Gabriel was dead and attempted to hide the body in the attic; he even located a saw and began slicing his body to make it lighter and fit it into a small crawl space in the hallway.
As he sliced Gabriel’s victim’s body, he suddenly woke up and began screaming in unbearable agony and pain.
Daniel was amused by the sounds of Gabriel’s screams, and his wicked grin widened as he continued to sever his torso killing him in the process.
Gabriel’s brother returned home a few hours later, only to discover the gruesome sight of his younger sibling’s decapitated body.
Motive behind Gabriel Kuhn’s murder
The motive behind Gabriel’s gruesome murder was a disagreement over an online game called Tibia.
The deceased had borrowed 20,000 Brazilian Real (BRL) from Daniel to buy virtual currency for Tibia, but when Daniel asked for the electronic currency Gabriel had promised, he withheld it and disconnected him from his virtual contacts.
On July 23, 2007, Daniel visited Gabriel’s home to resolve the disagreement over the online game.
However, once inside, Daniel locked the door and brutally assaulted and molested Gabriel, and when he threatened to tell his parents about the molestation, Daniel strangled him with gaming system cables, causing him to lose consciousness.
He later cut him with a saw badly damaging his torso leading to his death.
Daniel was sentenced to three years in a juvenile delinquent facility for the murder due to his age at the time of the crime.
The relatively light sentence sparked outrage among many who felt justice had not been adequately served for such a horrifying crime.
After serving his three-year sentence, Daniel Petry was released from the juvenile correction facility in 2010.
There is little information available about what has happened to him since then.
The case of Gabriel serves as a tragic reminder of the potential dangers that can arise from online interactions and the importance of ensuring the safety of children in virtual spaces.
