Links
Brazilian rancher convicted in killing of US-born nun
A jury convicted a Brazilian rancher Saturday of orchestrating the slaying of U.S.-born nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang in 2005.
Regivaldo Galvao -- the last of five defendants to stand trial in the case -- was sentenced to 30 years in prison, said Telma Lima, a spokeswoman for the federal court in Belem, the jungle city where the trial was held.
The verdict came two weeks after another rancher, Vitalmiro Moura, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of collaborating with Galvao.
Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers.
The trials were seen as a test of Brazil's ability to tackle the lawlessness that reigns in the Amazon region -- an area the size of the United States west of the Mississippi River. The government has little presence in the area, and activities such as illegal deforestation and mining are rampant.