Wallace Souza – the Brazilian TV presenter who ‘arranged’ murder for ratings

Okay, this is slightly off the beaten track but I just couldn’t believe this story when I first saw it. Wallace Souza, was the presenter of Canal Livre, the normal police chase-style program, which was aired in the Amazonas in Brazil. In 2009 he had to step down from the program over allegations that he had ‘arranged’ for a series of killings in order to improve ratings. The accusations came from the fact that his TV crew was also the first to any murders, often getting there as the police arrived. The final straw came when police saw footage of a drug dealier burning in the woods on the show, with the TV crew there long before the police turned up. He was soon arrested for hiring hitmen to kill five people.

Wallace Souza died on Tuesday (27th July) of liver failure so we will never get to know if he was willing to admit to the offences. We can be sure though that this only adds to the notion that Brazil is one corrupt country. Souza was an ex-police officer who left the force very hastily in 1987. There are no official records why he left but I’m guessing he wasn’t on his best behaviour. He later then turned up as a state deputy in Amazonas in 1998 where he continued until his arrest in 2009 despite a ridiculous amount of allegations for drug trafficking and his additional role as TV presenter. His son is also currently in prison facing charges of homicide, possession of firearms and drug trafficking. Many detectives and ex-police officers have already stepped forward to say that they were contacted by Souza to carry out ‘hits.’

There’s more about Wallace Souza at these sites:
‘Murders for ratings’ Brazil TV host dies in hospital
Murder suspect TV host dies in hospital