18 October 2010
Francisco Gomes de Medeiros
Shooting
Crime reporter Francisco Gomes de Medeiros died after being shot five times outside his home in the north-western city of Caicos.
The 48-year-old radio journalist and popular blogger had received several death threats, many of them after he broke a story on vote-rigging in the run-up to Brazilian general elections, held on 3 October. The story reported that local politicians were bribing voters with crack cocaine.
On Wednesday 20 October, local authorities confirmed they believed the killing to be linked to Medeiros’ work.
According to the Associated Press, police have arrested a former prisoner, Joao Francisco dos Santos, who confessed he killed Medeiros because he felt that coverage of a robbery he committed in 2007 convinced the judge to sentence him to 18 months in jail instead of the seven months he expected. However, police are continuing their investigations despite the confession.
