Rancher guilty in nun’s death

BELEM, Brazil – A Brazilian rancher was convicted Tuesday of ordering the killing of an American nun and rain forest defender in a case seen as an important test of justice in the largely lawless Amazon region. A judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison.

A jury voted 5-2 to convict Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura of masterminding the shooting of 73-year-old Dorothy Stang on Feb. 12, 2005, deep in the rain forest that she had been working decades to defend.

Judge Raymond Moises Alves Flexa said Moura “showed a violent personality unsuited to living in society,” adding that the “killing was carried out in a violent and cowardly manner.”

The sentence is the maximum in Brazil, which does not have the death penalty. The judge said Moura must remain imprisoned pending appeal.

Stang’s brother David, who flew to Brazil for the two-day trial, trembled and wept after the verdict. “Justice was done,” he said.