A man who scavenged in bins for a living and who stabbed his sleeping friend to death with scissors before chopping him up, burning him and drinking his blood in a suspected Satanic ritual has been given 28 years in prison.

The Jury Court of Samambaia – an administrative region in the Federal District in Brazil – jailed Andre Soares Ferreira, 39, after finding him guilty of killing, mutilating, burning and drinking the blood of Antonio Carlos Pires de Lima, 33.

The Civil Police of the Federal District reported in the wake of the crime that Ferreira also skinned his victim’s head and removed his skull, which remains missing to this day.

The court handed him 28 years in ‘reclusion’, one year and six months in ‘detention’ (a lighter form of imprisonment served in a semi-open or open system), and a fine of 38 days’ wages in the verdict delivered on Monday, 18th April, which has now been made public.

Ferreira had been in pre-trial custody since October last year, and he will have to remain in custody if he appeals his sentence.

Despite the case finishing, it is still unclear if the murder was motivated by any disagreement between the two men.

The nature of the suspected macabre ritual also remains unclear, but local media noted that the victim was the same age Jesus was commonly believed to have been when he died.

Lead investigator Rodrigo Carbone revealed that De Lima was killed while sleeping on a sofa in a squat.

Investigators would go on to find graffiti with Jesus’ name, drawings of a demon, the number ‘666’ and a DVD cover for a horror series in the run-down building.

Ferreira is believed to have covered De Lima’s mouth with a motorcycle-glove-clad hand while he used his other hand to stab him to death with a pair of gold-handled scissors.

In his trial, Ferreira denied the charges against him, but admitted some bizarre details, such as enjoying walking around wearing a cape and top hat. Local media reported that he seemed articulate and knowledgeable in legal terms.