Brazil: 27 years prison for U.S. nun killer

A Brazilian jury upheld the conviction of the gunmen who murdered nun and activist Dorothy Stang in 2005. Rayfran das Neves argued in his retrial that he shot Stang in self-defense, yet prosecutor Edson Cardoso said that das Neves’ alibi was a weak attempt to absolve the intellectual masterminds behind her death:

"No half-way intelligent person is going to believe that an elderly person -- and (das Neves) confessed she reached into her bag for a bible -- could have threatened him," said Cardoso.

Stang spent the previous four decades of her life defending the rights of poor settlers in Brazil’s rainforest area from wealthy landowners. Prosecutors have linked two ranchers who paid das Neves $25,000 to kill Stang yet it's believed that there was a wider conspiracy against her.

Sources- BBC News, ABC News, Associated Press, The Latin Americanist, Reuters

Image- BBC News