Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Brazilian accused in “murder for ratings” scam

Some stories speak for themselves (especially one as allegedly cold and callous as this):
In one murder after another, the Canal Livre 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.

"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…

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.
Whether Souza is guilty of “murder for ratings” or not one thing is for sure: you have to have a strong stomach to show the charred and still smoldering remains of a lynched body on TV. (Previous video link is very explicit and NOT SAFE FOR WORK).

Image- CBS News (“Amazonas State legislator and television show host Wallace Souza, center, speaks during a news conference in Manaus, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009.”)
Online Sources- MSNBC, YouTube

1 comment:

joe jones said...

Wow, that is harsh. Why though, why being accused?