Crime Show Host Ordered Murders for Killer Ratings

Politician's crime show 'went as far as creating facts'
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 12, 2009 12:12 PM CDT
Crime Show Host Ordered Murders for Killer Ratings
Amazonas State legislator and television show host Wallace Souza, center, speaks during a news conference in Manaus, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009.   (AP Photo/A Critica, Antonio Menezes)

A Brazilian politician is suspected of commissioning killings to boost ratings for his crime show, the Guardian reports. Wallace Souza has asserted that the city of Manaus is crime-ridden; he’s suspected of ordering at least 5 deaths to make his case. The show “had an uncanny knack for being first” to a crime scene, the AP notes.

“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,” said an investigator. Souza has also been accused of drug trafficking. “We believe that they organized a kind of death squad to execute rivals who disputed with them the drug trafficking business," the official said. Souza "would eliminate his rival and use the killing as a news story for his program."
(More Wallace Souza stories.)

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