Romualdo Eustáquio da Luz Faria, also known as ‘The Japanese’, and police officer César Narcizo Da Silva, will be judged on December 11th, 2006. Also accused are police clerk Charles Roberto Lisboa, who has claimed mental insanity, and José Sasso, who died in prison in 1992. “It was a difficult trial,” said Joana D’Arc Calmon Tristão Guzansky, Vitória’s state attorney. “There were many irregularities during the trial; police Chief Claudio Guerra forged evidence and took money not to mention names. Guerra himself was found guilty on other charges and fired from the police department,” said Calmon.

Based on the evidence presented in the trial, the state attorney will ask Lisboa be tried (his initial trial was suspended) because she now doubts his insanity plea. A new investigation is set to begin in May 2007. Maria Nilce Dos Santos Magalhães was a social columnist and editor of Vitória’s Jornal da Cidade. Shortly before she died, Maria Nilce had published some information and threatened to write more about people who she said were involved in drug trafficking and organized crime.

Sentenced two involved in murder of journalist

Paulo Rogério
Gazeta Rádios staff and Internet reports

9/5/06 - Two of the four defendants accused in the murder of columnist and Editor Maria Nilce were sentenced to prison in a state court after a two-day trial. The sentence was read on Tuesday night by Judge Marcelo de Souza Noto, 17 years after the crime.

José Alayr Andreatta, found guilty of murdering the journalist, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Marcos Egydio Costa, a pilot found guilty of planning the getaway, was sentenced to 112 months behind bars. Two other defendants in the case will be tried in December.

The jury’s deliberation started on Monday. Lawyer Gilberto Pereira Ferreira, lead counsel for Andreatta, has five days to appeal the sentence. “I will file the appeal on Monday before the State Court,” said Pereira.

Egydio’s public defender Elisio de Oliveira Lopes will have 10 days to file his appeal, five days more because he’s a public defender. “We also plan to appeal,” said De Oliveira.

At the end of the sentencing hearing, Marcos Egydio was removed from the courtroom by four military police officers. Public defender Elisio Lopes said Egydio is under custody in a police station in Jacaraípe awaiting his transfer to a state prison.

Egydio had already been convicted twice for drug trafficking, was a fugitive and did not attend the first day of the procedure. He was arrested recently for suspicion of belonging to an ID forging ring.

José Alayr Andreatta remained free during the whole process because he attended all court appointments, did not caused problems during the procedures and did not have a previous record, according to Judge Marcelo Noto.

“We thought it wasn’t necessary to put him in jail at this moment, as opposed to the other defendant, who was a fugitive and had two previous drug-trafficking convictions,” said judge Noto.

The State Attorney’s Office rejected the idea of Andreatta remaining free and said it will definitely try to reverse the decision. During the trial, Andreatta’s defense denied his client involvement in the case. Egydio’s defense alleged his client committed a lesser crime.

Prosecuting Maria Nilce’s murder took 17 years due to a long police investigation because of a high number of defendants and witnesses.

Judge Marcelo Noto said there is no possibility of time running out due to the statute of limitations because at each new phase of the case the 20 year statute restarts again, so at this point in the procedure the statute run out in 2026.