Convicted killer of college student speaks out following new developments in case
In 2012, a group of Florida friends was rocked by a homicide that prosecutors said was sparked by obsession, passion, and a love rivalry.
Pedro Bravo has been serving a life sentence in a Florida prison after he was convicted of first-degree murder and six other counts in the death of his friend Christian Aguilar. Aguilar had been dating Bravo's former girlfriend Erika Friman, who was also a high school friend of the two men.
Prosecutors contended that Bravo, who was driven by jealous rage, poisoned and strangled Aguilar and buried his body in a remote area in September 2012.
But after nearly a decade of silence, Bravo is speaking out to "20/20" about the case after two recent developments that his attorneys claim to support their client's innocence.
"No, I did not kill Christian," Bravo told ABC News correspondent Victor Oquendo in an exclusive prison interview.
His interview will be part of a "20/20" episode airing March 1 at 9 p.m. ET and streaming on Hulu the next day that re-examines the case.
Bravo and Friman broke up right before they graduated high school in the spring of 2012. That summer, Friman began to attend Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida, and started dating Aguilar, who was a freshman at the University of Florida.
News of their relationship crushed Bravo who detailed his depression in a journal.
Eventually, he arranged to meet Aguilar on September 20, 2012, investigators said. That day, Aguilar went missing.
Bravo was arrested and charged eight days later with Aguilar's death, whose body was found weeks later in a shallow grave in a wooded area in Levy County, Florida.
Investigators collected security camera footage that showed Bravo and Aguilar together on the day he disappeared.
They also discovered several pieces of what they claimed was incriminating evidence against Bravo, including a Gatorade bottle they determined contained trace amounts of over-the-counter sleeping pills, tape found on Aguilar's body which matched tape on the windshield of Bravo's vehicle, and blood on a car floor mat that matched Aguilar's DNA. Prosecutors noted that Bravo bought a shovel a few days before Aguilar disappeared.
During his 2014 trial, Bravo testified that he and Aguilar did have an argument when they met but he denied killing his friend. He testified that he left him on the side of the road after they fought.
On Aug. 15, 2014, a jury convicted Bravo of his charges and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was denied several appeals.
During his interview with "20/20," Bravo still maintained his innocence and argued that some of the evidence used against him by the prosecution was taken out of context.
When asked about internet searches about murder and kidnapping, Bravo told "20/20," "I was a kid that was into watching television shows, reading books, and the prosecution decided to highlight a handful of things," he said.
"They didn't have to do anything with Christian. To me, I was watching a show and made a search, I was looking up something," he added.
"I was in the middle of a maelstrom of everything that was going on. I didn't know what I was doing with my life. I didn't have any sense of direction, and it was just chaos," he said.
A new witness for the defense has emerged and according to an affidavit, she says that in 2012, she was in town trying to get tickets to a University of Florida football game and was supposed to meet someone in a parking lot.
While waiting, she says that she saw two young men fighting, who she claims were Bravo and Aguilar and that Bravo drove away leaving Aguilar behind. “20/20” reached out to this woman and she declined to comment.
Bravo said this recent development gave him hope.
"I couldn't believe it. and it felt vindicating to finally have someone that can corroborate what I said," he told "20/20."
Additionally, Michael Angelo, a convicted felon and Bravo’s former cellmate, who testified against him at trial has now recanted.
Angelo testified that Bravo told him where he hid the shovel used to bury Aguilar. Investigators recovered a shovel from the location told to them by Angelo.
Angelo told 20/20 he made up his testimony so authorities would help him with his case.
Angelo agreed to testify against Bravo as part of a plea deal in his own criminal cases.
Based on the witness affidavit and Angelo's recanted testimony, Bravo has filed a new motion for post-conviction relief, the first step of many in the hopes of getting a new trial. A decision is expected sometime this year.
State Attorney Brian Kramer, who prosecuted the case, told "20/20" that as of February he has not spoken to the woman claiming to be an eyewitness, explaining that until a judge rules on Bravo’s motion, the case is considered closed.
"In order for it to be something that would concern me it would have to somehow lead to the conclusion that it isn't possible that Pedro Bravo is the person who committed this murder and the evidence that he did is overwhelming," he said.
Investigators also told "20/20" that the location where the witness claimed to have seen the argument between the two men was miles away from the location where Bravo testified the fight happened.
Kramer told "20/20" that Angelo's recantation has little bearing on the outcome of the case.
"The problem from Michael Angelo and that recantation is that we proved what he said was true," he said.
Bravo said when it came to Aguilar's parents he couldn't "come close to understanding what it feels like to lose a son."
"There's no words that I could offer to try and make things better or make that pain go away, because maybe that pain shouldn't go away. That pain should stay there, because at least when you have that pain, that person's still in your life," he said.
Carlos Aguilar, the victim's father, however, told "20/20" that he has zero doubt that Bravo killed his son.
"I wish he can repent. I wish he can realize that he destroyed his family and my family, and being able to, once, say the truth and accept what he did," he said.
