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The upcoming episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered is all set to shed light on the case of Christian Aguilar's murder at the hands of his college mate and friend Pedro Bravo. The episode, which dates back to 2020, will re-air on Oxygen on January 2, 2024, at 9.00 PM EST.
The case takes viewers back to Gainesville, Florida, in 2012, when a love triangle between three friends, Erika Friman, Christian Aguilar, and Pedro Bravo, led to one of them losing their life, and so brutally that this case still echoes the hearts of Gainesville natives.
Titled Circle of Friends, the synopsis for this episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered 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."
Pedro Bravo, despite his attempt at manipulating the police after Christian's disappearance, was not too clever in avoiding the law. After getting caught in his web of lies, the authorities ultimately pinned him as the primary suspect and gathered enough evidence to prosecute the youngster. He was sentenced to life, where he is still serving.
The upcoming episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered covers this case in more detail.
Why did Pedro Bravo kill Christian Aguilar?
Though Pedro Bravo and Christian Aguilar were friends from their high school in Doral, Florida, Pedro dated Erika Friman in school. But after Erika dumped him in their senior year, she started dating Christian Aguilar in college. This led to a build-up of jealousy and rage in Pedro Bravo, who soon started plotting ways to get rid of Christian. Pedro allegedly believed that Christian had gone behind his back to date Erika.
After his differing statements from the day before Erika reported Christian missing landed him in trouble, the police understood that he was trying to manipulate them. His changing stories did not help either and soon he fell into his web of lies, leading the authorities to single him out as the prime suspect.
How did Pedro Bravo get caught?
After initially saying he and Christian argued before he dropped Christian, he changed the statement saying he had punched Christian and left him on the side of the road. Bravo's lack of concern raised an alert among the authorities and they arrested him for failure to render aid.
A search warrant was obtained for Bravo’s vehicle, and soon they discovered a Gatorade bottle and a roll of duct tape in the car. The car also seemed to have gone to Levy County in Gainesville.
Days later, Aguilar's body was found in a shallow grave in that area. Duct tape found with the remains of the decomposed body indicated that it was from the same roll that was found in Pedro Bravo's car. The Gatorade bottle in the car was also determined to be laced with sedatives. Medical examination also revealed that Aguilar was most likely strangled.
A search warrant was secured for Bravo’s home also proved fruitful as detectives found a receipt for a shovel and journals filled with disturbing entries about his plans of winning Erika back.
This was enough to prosecute Bravo, but he also shared his plans to have other murders committed with an Alachua County Jail inmate.
Bravo's trial in 2014 ended with him being awarded a life sentence. He continues to serve in prison.
