5 chilling details about Christian Aguilar's murder

A still of Pedro Bravo (Image via Oxygen)

The upcoming re-airing of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen is all set to take a detailed look at the 2012 disappearance and subsequent murder of Christian Aguilar, an 18-year-old college freshman who fell prey to a jealous ex-boyfriend in a love triangle. The manner of the murder and the subsequent mystery that unfolded still sends a chill in the city of Gainesville, Florida.

The 2020 episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered, titled Circle of Friends, covered this case earlier. It will re-air on January 2, 2024, at 9.00 PM EST on Oxygen. The synopsis for the episode reads:

"In high school, Christian, Erika and Pedro formed a tight trio: best friends who excelled at academics and shared big dreams; when they went to college something changed; it started with a secret romance and ended in tragedy."

The story of the three friends and their eventual tragedy is riddled with complex revelations that would make even veteran true crime enthusiasts flinch. Ahead of the episode's re-airing, here are five significant details from the murder case of Christian Aguliar.

5 chilling facts about Christian Aguilar's murder

1) Christian Aguilar was reported missing on September 20, 2012, by his girlfriend

Things were seemingly fine with Christian before one morning his girlfriend, Erika Friman reported that he was missing after he failed to show up the night before. She went with Pedro Bravo, their mutual friend, and her ex-boyfriend, without knowing that he was the key piece of the puzzle in the case.

2) Pedro Bravo was the last person who saw Christian alive, but...

Pedro Bravo confessed that he had seen Christian a day before when they went out to grab a bite and then to Best Buy to get a Kanye West CD. Pedro also recounted an elaborate story about how they picked up a hitchhiker, who had fiddling around with some duct tape in the backseat.

The friends allegedly got into a fight after dropping the hitchhiker, over how Bravo was handling personal issues. He said he dropped Christian on the side of the road near a business that sold four-wheel vehicles after their argument.

3) Bravo's changing stories seemed to tell a different tale

Pedro Bravo's trial (Image via Julian Pinilla | The Independent Florida Alligator)

Pedro Bravo immediately drew suspicion as the last person known to have seen Christian Aguilar alive. Expressing suicidal thoughts, Bravo was taken into custody under the Baker Act for a 72-hour hold.

Later, however, police started to look into the background of the three friends, only to find out that Bravo used to date Erika in high school, where all three of them went together before she dumped him and started dating Christian, leading to tension between the friends.

This was also the time police noticed inconsistencies and changes in Bravo's stories, leading them to brand him as the prime suspect.

4) Bravo's car and house indicated that he was planning to murder Christian Aguilar for quite some time

After taking Bravo into custody following a statement, police searched his car and found duct tape and a Gatorade bottle laced with sedatives. When Christian Aguilar's body was discovered in a shallow grave, evidence from the car confirmed that it was Bravo who killed his friend.

Moreover, a search into Bravo's home also revealed journals that indicated he had been planning Christian's "disappearance" for quite a while as a way to win Erika back.

5) Pedro Bravo was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Christian Aguilar

Ultimately, the case was resolved completely when all the evidence stacked up against Pedro. Moreover, he also confessed other plans to a cell inmate, who revealed it to the police.

Pedro Bravo was sentenced to prison for life at the age of 20 in 2014.

More details about this grueling case can be found in the upcoming episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered.

Edited by Abigail Kevichusa