Brazilian court annuls conviction of man accused of killing U.S. nun

Published: 2007-12-21

SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) -- A court in the Brazilian state of Para has thrown out the murder conviction of Rayfran das Neves Sales, who had been tried and sentenced to 27 years in jail for killing U.S. Sister Dorothy Stang in 2005. The 73-year-old nun, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, was a native of Dayton, Ohio, and a naturalized Brazilian citizen. The appeals court agreed with defense lawyers Dec. 18 that Sales had been denied the right to defend himself properly. Prosecutors claim Sister Dorothy's murder was ordered, while Sales states he killed the missionary out of self-defense because Sister Dorothy threatened him. Brazilian law states that anyone convicted to more than 20 years in jail has the right to a retrial. Sales has admitted killing the missionary but denied he had been hired to do so by wealthy landowners who opposed Sister Dorothy's work with environmentalists. Sales will remain in jail until a new date is set for the trial, his third in the case.

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