Rancher cleared in nun’s death
- Share via
BRASILIA, BRAZIL — An Amazon cattle rancher previously convicted of ordering the killing of U.S. nun Dorothy Stang in a land dispute has been acquitted in a retrial, a court official said Tuesday.
The same jury convicted another man who confessed to firing the fatal shots but who disputed the circumstances.
Stang’s death in February 2005 became a symbol of the often violent conflict over natural resources in the region. For more than 20 years she helped peasants threatened by loggers and ranchers, and opposed the destruction of the rain forest.
The jury absolved rancher Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura of ordering a gunman to kill Stang, a court in the Para state capital, Belem, said in a statement.
In a previous trial, he had been convicted and sentenced to a 30-year prison term.
The same jury sentenced Rayfran das Neves Sales, who confessed to killing Stang, to 28 years in prison, a year more than the sentence in his previous trial. Sales had tried to convince the jury that he had not been hired but shot Stang because he felt threatened by her.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself.
Madison McGhee is joined by legendary Dateline host Josh Mankiewicz and esteemed L.A. Times Reporter Richard Winton as the three of them dive into all-things Menendez Brothers, the good, the bad, and the still unknown.
NPR climate editor Sadie Babits talks about why the media has long overlooked the climate crisis, and how that’s starting to change.
