The Brazilian man who has admitted pushing needles into his two-year-old stepson now says he wanted to kill the boy to get revenge on his wife, it has been reported.
The story has shocked the world since the little boy was taken to hospital last week with stomach pains.
The boy has now had surgery to remove the needles, one of which punctured his lung.
His stepfather, Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, told Globo Television that he pushed the needles into the boy to spite his wife.
In a telephone interview from jail, he said he got his stepson drunk on wine before inserting the needles.
"It was a crazy idea. I mixed wine with water and had him drink it. He drank it and passed out, then I inserted the needles," he told Globo.
"It was to get back at the boy's mother. I thought the needles would work their way through his body and kill the boy. It was a way to kill without anyone discovering."
Police in Brazil have already said Magalhaes, a bricklayer, has confessed to the crime, claiming his mistress made him do it.
He said his mistress instructed him to carry out the "black magic" ritual in order to kill the boy as an act of revenge on his wife.
His lover would enter a trance and "command him to stick the needles in the boy's body" according to Magalhaes.
It has been reported that she paid to have the needles blessed by a practitioner of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble.
The boy had four needles removed in an operation on Friday, and further surgery is planned to remove needles from his abdomen, intestines and bladder.
Source: BBC