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Murders Ordered to Boost TV Ratings?

By ALAN CLENDENNING and STAN LEHMAN

posted: 4 HOURS 57 MINUTES AGO

comments: 144

filed under: Crime News, World News

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SAO PAULO, Brazil (Aug. 11) - In one murder after another, the "Canal Livre" crime TV show had an uncanny knack for being first on the scene, gathering graphic footage of the victim.

Too uncanny, say police, who are investigating the show's host, state legislator Wallace Souza, on suspicion of commissioning at least five of the murders to boost his ratings and prove his claim that Brazil's Amazon region is awash in violent crime. Police also have accused Souza of drug trafficking.

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News That Stunned Us

Too Much Reality TV?: When there's a murder in Brazil's Amazon region, it seems that the 'Canal Livre' crime TV show is always first on the scene. Police said Tuesday they suspect the show's host, state legislator Wallace Souza, arranged at least five killings to boost his ratings. Souza called the allegations absurd. He said he is being set up by political enemies.

Antonio Menezes, A Critica / AP

"The order to execute always came from the legislator and his son, who then alerted the TV crews to get to the scene before the police," state police intelligence chief Thomaz Vasconcelos charged in an interview with The Associated Press.

The killings of competing drug traffickers, he said, "appear to have been committed to get rid of his rivals and increase the audience of the TV show."

Souza denied all the criminal allegations and called them absurd, insisting that he and his son are being set up by political enemies and drug dealers sick of his two decades of relentless crime coverage on TV and crusading legislative probes.

"I was the one who organized legislative inquiries into organized crime, the prison system, corruption, drug trafficking by police, and pedophilia," Souza said in an interview with the AP.

Souza's lawyer, Francisco Balieiro, said that the only witness is a disgraced police officer hoping for leniency in nine murders he is charged with.

"There is not one piece of material proof in these accusations," Balieiro said.

Vasconcelos said the accusations, which have made headlines in Brazil, stem from the testimony of several former employees and security guards who worked with the Souzas, allegedly as part of a gang of former police officers involved in drug trafficking.

Souza's son, Rafael, has been jailed on charges of homicide, drug trafficking and illegal gun possession.

Police said Wallace Souza faces charges of drug trafficking, gang formation and weapons possession, but has not been charged with any killings.

Souza remains free because of legislative immunity that prevents him from being arrested as long as he is a lawmaker. He is being investigated by a special task force, and state judicial authorities will decide whether the case goes forward.

Vasconcelos said the crimes appear to have served the Souzas in two ways: They eliminated drug-trafficking rivals, and they boosted ratings.

"We believe that they organized a kind of death squad to execute rivals who disputed with them the drug trafficking business," he said. Souza, he charged, "would eliminate his rival and use the killing as a news story for his program."

Souza became a media personality after a career as a police officer that ended in disgrace, according to Vasconcelos, who said the lawmaker was fired for involvement in scams involving fuel theft and pension fraud.

Souza denied those allegations, but said he was forced to leave the force in 1987 after being wrongly accused of involvement in a college entrance exam fraud scheme that he was investigating.

He started "Canal Livre" two years later on a local commercial station in Manaus, the capital of Brazil's largely lawless Amazonas state. It became extremely popular among Manaus' 1.7 million residents before going off the air late last year as police intensified their investigation.

The show featured Souza, in a studio, railing against rampant crime in the state, punctuated with often exclusive footage of arrests, crime scenes and drug seizures.

"When I became a police officer in 1979, bandits weren't raised in this city — no way," he told the audience in one show. Brazil was then a dictatorship, whose police ruthlessly targeted criminals with little concern for civil rights.

One clip showed a reporter approaching a freshly burned corpse, covering his nose with his shirt and breezily remarking that "it smells like barbecue." Police say the victim was one of the five allegedly murdered at Souza's behest.

Souza denied any role in that killing and explained how his reporters manage to get so quickly to crime scenes, using well-placed sources and constantly monitoring scanners for police radio dispatches. The show also posted workers at police stations, and at the Manaus morgue, where word often came first about newly discovered bodies.

"To say that a program that has had a huge audience for so many years had to resort to killing people to increase this audience is absolutely absurd," Souza said.

Souza parlayed his TV fame into a career in the state legislature, getting elected three times — twice with the most votes of any lawmaker in the state. At the same time, he remained a fixture on television.

Souza's biography on the state legislature's Web site says the show, which he ran with his brother, was investigative journalism aimed at fighting crime and social injustice.

"The courageous brothers, as they're known, bring hope to the less fortunate," reads the description, "showing a 'naked and raw reality' to call authorities' attention to social problems."

Associated Press writer Marco Sibaja contributed to this report from Brasilia, Brazil.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2009-08-11 18:54:00

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JUDKAST

03:06 PMAug 12 2009

hey LOBCHRBRT YOU ARE THE IGNORANT ONE - WHETHER IN BRAZIL OR WHEREVER - IT HAPPENS ALL OVER. - WAKE UP AND USE SOME COMMON SENSE GOD GAVE YOU

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Gobluespartyon

03:05 PMAug 12 2009

Scarpenteri your dead wrong plus you don't know what your talking about. TV has great shows they aren't stupid as you have claim which is a lie and there isn't endless crap on TV either again another lie Scarpenteri. People want mindless entertainment I know I do I don't always want to know what going on in the world thats why I like entertainment shows and there pretty good as well. Scarpenteri your a loser that needs to get a life. I'm right as always.

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PokefromPokeLand

03:05 PMAug 12 2009

for a second I thought the guy was the OxyClean pitchman, Billy Mays(from looking at the picture)

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Bdswas

03:03 PMAug 12 2009

I think we have a show like that(DEXTER) Its on show time. sundays 9pm ,Its a good show.just the bad guys get killed

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AEisen3339

03:02 PMAug 12 2009

LoBchRbrt 02:48 PMAug 12 2009 DDix723604 ...maybe YOU are the ignorant American, because the story states this happened in Brazil, DUH!!! Illiteracy at its best for sure!.....OOOPS YOU'RE RIGHT MY BAD, IT'S THAT OTHER LATINO COUNTRY. SORRY JUST A TYPICAL AMERICAN WITH ADHD CAN'T FINISH MORE THAN FIRST SENTENCE OF AN AOL COLUMN WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT...OH LOOK BUNNYRABBITS!!

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SmallSoulja619

03:00 PMAug 12 2009

It's Billy Mays' twin brother Silly Mays. First he gives coke to kill his brother to increase his show ratings. That didn't work out. Then he hires hit men to cause real murder scenes. That didn't work. Then he finally gets caught. Silly...Mays. =/lol get it? Silly......Mays?

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Cherylsnc

03:00 PMAug 12 2009

He said (Souza)"he was the one who organized legislative inquiries into organized crime, the prison system, corruption, drug trafficking by police, and pedophilia," His lawyer, Balieiro, said that the only witness is a DISGRACED police officer hoping for leniency in nine murders he is charged with. "COPS GONE BAD"! But, Vasconcelos said, the crimes appear to have served the Souzas in two ways: They eliminated drug-trafficking rivals, and they boosted ratings. Looks like he got a good handle on these drug trafficters. But, who is really doing the killings? His son is in prison, now, how's he going to deal with that? Does he have a plan with getting him set free? Drugs, are ruling a great nation and, bringing it down, there's no room for drugs. Give these drug addicts time and, like others criminals, they'll wipe themselves out one way or another. If you're not taking drugs for health reasons then, you're dead anyway~~~~>>>

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GeoGeoff123

03:00 PMAug 12 2009

It is Billy Mays!

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JeanPoetPicard

03:00 PMAug 12 2009

Let's see....he organized the killing of drug lords, police drug traffickers, regular drug traffickers, corrupt prison officials, competing gangs, rival gangsters and even pedophiles. Where's the crime?

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ShlbygMus

02:59 PMAug 12 2009

This is like a takeoff from that movie ''Running Man''

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