Rayfran Sales Confesses He Killed US Nun

A military helicopter arrived in Altamira from Anapu with Rayfran das Neves Sales aboard. Sales was identified on Friday, February 18, by an eyewitness as one of the killers of the American-born, naturalized Brazilian missionary, Dorothy Stang on February 12.

Sales was arrested last night by the Armed Forces and civil and military police around 35 kilometers from Anapu.


According to civil police commissioner, Marcelo de Souza Nunes, he confessed the crime, which he said he had committed together with the hired gunman, Uilquelano de Souza Pinto, known as Eduardo.


As for who ordered the crime, the commissioner said that it will be necessary to await Sales’s statement in Altamira.


The regional commissioner in Altamira, Pedro Monteiro, also declared that only after obtaining the statement will a clearer definition of the crime be possible.


The Minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos, assured soon after the assassination that the government would do everything possible to punish the culprits responsible for the death of the 73 year-old missionary, Dorothy Stang, who was shot six times early Saturday morning, February 12, in Anapu, in the state of Pará.


Bastos said that the government’s reaction “must be tough and implacable.” He lamented the crime, saying that he was acquainted with the American nun and her work. Strang,


who had become a Brazilian citizen, worked together with communities of pioneers and settlers in northern Brazil, an area of violent economic conflicts, involving squatters who invade government lands.


Bastos informed at that time that he is accompanying the investigations. “What exists there is a territory in a very tense situation, in which the State is not present and in which the Ministries of Environment, Agrarian Development, and National Integration have begun to act, to transform economic activity into an organized effort rather than a predatory means of survival.


“And this is causing a huge reaction on the part of individuals who aren’t used to living in a democratic and civilized society no a society under the rule of law,” the Minister declared.


Bastos said also that he expected a quick solution, because various suspects had already been identified, and three preventive arrests had already been mandated. Since the region is immense and the searches have been hindered by the rainy weather, the government decided to send reinforcements, including an airplane.


Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil: Lula Joins Sí£o Paulo Campaign at Last

Well, it looks like President Lula is finally going to São Paulo. But it ...

A Washington State Worth of Jungle Becomes Sanctuary in Brazil

A large stretch of Brazilian Amazon rain forest almost the size of Uruguay or ...

An Arabian Night’s Café in Brazil

Low lights, a warm environment, candlelit tables, carpets on the walls, cushions on the ...

Vive Cardoso

Blaming the Americans for the world’s problems will always win applause, especially in France, ...

Dengue Drops 69% in Brazil

Cases of dengue fever, transmitted by the aedes aegypti mosquito, dropped 69% last year ...

Bus burned in São Paulo, Brazil

Today the Police. Tomorrow Brazil’s Terror Will Kill Judges and Politicians.

Brazil was gripped by violence in the past few days. Everyone is talking about ...

Brazilian Police After Thieves of Rare Albino Alligators

Brazil's federal police are investigating the disappearance of seven albino alligators from the UFMT ...

Getting Ready for 2014 Cup: Brazilian Airports Get US$ 2.7 Billion

Cities hosting the 2014 World Cup in Brazil should receive 5 billion Brazilian reais ...

Another Push Far from Microsoft, in Brazil

Since Sunday, Brazilian government’s Radiobrás Internet services,  are using free source software. This is ...

Letters

Are they serious?In your March edition in the “Rapidinhas” section you listed a short ...