The World - News from Dec. 27, 1988
A cattle rancher’s son surrendered to Brazilian police and said he arranged the killing last week of Francisco Mendes, an internationally recognized Amazon ecologist. Darcy Pereira, 21, told police he hired a professional killer to slay Mendes, who was shot Thursday as he stepped from his house in the jungle city of Rio Branco, 2,650 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, authorities said. Mendes, 44, was known for leading a campaign against destruction of the Amazon rain forest. Mendes said in recent interviews that he had received death threats from Pereira’s father for his efforts to stop the clearing of rain-forest acreage.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
