Coelho, nicknamed Mariozinho, was unmarried. He had a son and lived with his father, also named Mário, 72, the owner and editor of A Verdade, a newspaper published three times a month with a circulation of 5,000. Both father and son had been due to give statements at the 105th Police Precinct in the neighboring city of Petrópolis on August 17 one day after the murder. Mário Coelho, Jr. was being sued by the mayor of Duque de Caxias, José Camilo Zito dos Santos, regarded as a political strongman in Baixada Fluminense. Coelho had published in A Verdade a story in which he linked a security guard with Zito's wife, Narriman, who herself is mayor of Magé. On learning of Coelho's murder, she issued a statement regretting the incident and saying that she hoped the crime would soon be solved.

Eye-witnesses described the assailant. According to Detective Ricardo Hallak of the 65th Police Precinct in Magé, who is in charge of the investigation, Coelho had many enemies in the city because of what he wrote, often in a sensationalist style. The father declines to make any accusations, preferring to wait for the outcome of the investigation. He did comment, however, that some four months before his son had received threatening telephone calls and this had been reported in A Verdade.

Self-taught journalist

A journalist by vocation, Coelho was self-taught, never having gone to university. He inherited work ethic from his father and joined him as a young man at his newspaper, A Verdade. "Because there is no journalism school in Magé, we have the right to work as journalists on the basis of prior experience," said the father, who had once been a reporter for the Rio de Janeiro daily newspaper O Globo.

Coelho had two sisters, who also worked A Verdade. His family remembers him as a good-natured and friendly person liked by all around him. He had a girlfriend 20 years his junior with whom he had been going out for four years and a 5-year-old son by another woman, but he never married. "He lived one day at a time, never thinking about tomorrow. If he had 1,000 reais, he'd spend it all in one day," recalls the girlfriend, who out of fear preferred not to identify herself.

He lived with his father in a villa in Magé, where the unsophisticated newsroom of A Verdade was located. A computer installed in the living room was where he would write his stories. The paper was printed in the neighboring city of Petrópolis, where the costs were lower. He was a workaholic. "Sometimes he would go out in the morning looking for news and advertising and would get back only at night," recalls his sister Nádia.

Coelho always took a critical line in the newspaper. He based his articles on documents published in the Official Gazette and in the Record of the Legislative Assembly, but because of his allegations opinions about him in the city were divided. He was regarded by some colleagues and people he had interviewed as a courageous person. Others called him sensationalist and an opportunist. "He was daring," Nádia said. "Perhaps he was sensationalist in the headlines, but who isn't, when FHC (Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso) was called a thief, and not for that did FHC order the journalists to be killed."

The father used to ask his son to take care, but he would reply that everything he published was well documented. "He was aggressive in the newspaper, he didn't know when to stop, but he maintained contacts in the civil and military police departments and had good relations with the community," Mário Sr. said. His friends said he had "a nose for news." However, this is not the view a Magé reporter who knew him, calling Coelho's kind of relationships "promiscuous". "Mário was a disaster, he played the game of the yellow press, provoking people in order to get where he wanted," the report said. One day, he recalled, Coelho wanted to show off his new automobile, hinting that his kind of reporting had its advantages. "I have a brand-new automobile and you are still going around on foot," he declared. He also showed that he carried a gun - something that the father and sister denied.

Politicians criticized by Coelho in the newspaper accuse him of being a "blackmailer." "It is not a journalist that has died, but a bandit who sought to extort people, mainly those in public office," declared Aroldo Candido de Brito, the Duque de Caxias city hall press chief.

Four months before his death Coelho received telephoned threats and reported them in the newspaper. It was not the first time. On April 10, 2000, he filed a complaint at the Magé 65th Police Precinct that during carnival celebrations that year he had learned of a plot to kill him that he believed had been hatched by certain politicians. Coelho told the police that he had received an anonymous telephone call in which he was warned to watch out because his reports did not please local politicians. Coelho recalled that he had published stories against City Commissioners Genivaldo Nogueira, nicknamed Batata, and Eliane Franco and State Representative Núbia Cozzolino. He also said that his car had been intercepted by another vehicle on the Manilha to Magé highway.

According to Detective Hallak, at the time Commissioner Nogueira filed a lawsuit for libel for what Coelho written about him. "The two reached a settlement and withdrew their mutual complaints," Hallak said.

Nádia never thought they would kill her brother or that he was going to be sued, because all the allegations he made had already been published in the Official Gazette or in other newspapers. But he was sued at least eight times, his father said.

The day following the murder, August 17, Coelho had been due to go to the Petrópolis police precinct as a result of a lawsuit filed by the mayor of Duque de Caxias, José Camilo Zito dos Santos. At issue was a story Coelho had published in A Verdade citing a statement made by State Representative Núbia Cozzolino hinting that Narriman Zito, the mayor of Magé and the Duque de Caxias mayor's wife, was having an affair with a security guard.

Following Coelho's death, the Brazilian Bar Association and a number of city commissioners held ceremonies honoring his memory. There was also protest demonstrations. A public statement signed by journalists and members of the community repudiating the murder was distributed in Magé. "We believe that the crimes occurring in our region against politicians and journalists have not been tackled with sufficient alacrity by the public safety agencies to identify the guilty and bring them to justice," the statement declared. "Impunity has enabled and encouraged criminals who act in broad daylight, emboldened by the certainty of authorities failing to respond, evidently demonstrating an interest in concealing the identity of the murderers, putting into the question the free exercise of expression by the local press, politicians, citizens and institutions."

In the week following Coelho's murder, State Representative Cozzolino launched a series of attacks on Duque de Caxias Mayor Zito dos Santos in the Rio de Janeiro state legislature, accusing him of having instigated the crime. " I am not going to respond to foolish and groundless gossip," Zito dos Santos told the Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Dia. "The investigation will show what the truth is." But the charges and counter-charges between Cozzolino and Zito dos Santos' daughter Andrea continued.

In the quest for control of the Baixada Fluminense region, politicians nominate relatives as candidates for key positions in the Senate, Legislative Assembly and municipalities throughout the area.

Political power in Magé has been fought for a long time between Cozzolino, former Magé Mayor Nelson Costa Mello and the current mayor of Duque de Caxias, Zito dos Santos.

The city of Duque de Caxias is located about 10 miles from Magé and some 30 miles from Rio de Janeiro. In addition to being the location of most of the industries and having a large oil refinery, Duque de Caxias is regarded as one of the most violent cities, with the highest rate of auto theft in the Baixada Fluminense region.

In Magé, also one of the most violent cities in Rio de Janeiro state, local newspapers play a crucial role, becoming political instruments in which generally those with greatest economic clout get most space. Magé "is a city that has a very bad legacy, with 23% of the population living in poverty," acknowledged Jorge Lopes, special secretary of Mayor Narriman Zito. He sees it as normal that when a mayor starts doing something for the people the opposition politicians become annoyed and invent "things" against them.

In fact, the residents fear that the situation of impunity in the area will be perpetuated. Duque de Caxias school teacher Maria das Graças Rocha, 45, said that she had worked in the community for a long time and at one point had charged that money from the Health System destined for the Sase Hospital had been siphoned off. As a result of her charges, seven shots were fired at her. She believes that she is a victim of Zito dos Santos and she would like to set up an "Association for the Support of Relatives of Victims of the Baixada Fluminense Death Squad."

Suspect arrested

Retired Military Police Sergeant Manoel Daniel De Abreu, Jr., 55, was arrested on September 14, 2001, on suspicion of murder in the Coelho case. The Magé judge issued the arrest warrant at the request of Detective Hallak following receipt of an anonymous tip the day before that led to De Abreu.

At his apartment, located in the city of Belford Roxo, also in the Baixada Fluminense region, police found weapons, among them a 38mm pistol - the same caliber as the gun used to kill Coelho. De Abreu is remaining in custody at the Military Police 20th Battalion headquarters in the township of Mesquita while ballistic tests are carried out to establish whether or not his gun was the one used in the Coelho murder.

According to Detective Hallak, two eye-witnesses who helped produce an Identikit picture of the assailant and then identified De Abreu from a photograph failed to confirm the identification in a police line-up. The suspect has yet to face other witnesses. Hallak plans to seek authority to obtain De Abreu's records of telephone calls and his criminal record to determine whether or not he took part in the murder and the motive.

De Abreu, who told police he had not been in Magé for 10 years, works as a bodyguard of Maristela Corrêa Nazario, wife of Waldir Zito, mayor of Belford Roxo and brother of José Camilo Zito dos Santos.

On this subject the suspect refused to respond. He said he would answer questions about his work for the family of Mayor Zito dos Santos only in any trial and in the presence of an attorney.

De Abreu's work was confirmed by Mayor Zito dos Santos himself, who in an interview with Rio de Janeiro newspapers acknowledged that De Abreu was the bodyguard of his daughter, State Representative Andreia Zito, but said he stopped working for her "in order to be nearer his home." After learning that the two eye-witnesses had failed to identify the suspect, the mayor told O Dia that he planned to sue Detective Hallak and the state government for libel for having linked his name to the murder, insisting that he was a victim of political persecution for running for governor of Rio de Janeiro state, a post currently held by Anthony Garotinho.

Loose ends: Doubts raised in police investigation

1. The murderer spent at least four days staking out the journalist. He sat on the corner of the street where Coelho lived and went to various places around the city that Coelho used to visit. Detective Hallak believes that the police arriving at the crime scene rapidly helped production of an Identikit picture of the suspect that was distributed to newspapers. A hotline was set up, with a reward of 5,000 reais for information leading to an arrest.

2. Statements by eye-witnesses say that Coelho shouted out, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me!" as he came out running when he saw the murderer.

3. Coelho had two cellular phones at the time of his death. The family said he in fact owned only one. Hallak requested the telephone call records.

4. According to police, when the killer approached Coelho's car, Coelho veered away. The first shot hit the driver's side window, but did not hit him. Hallak believes that Coelho had bent down to pick up his gun, then might have got out on the passenger side, dropping something, which could have been the gun that he was trying to grab. Family members said he never carried a gun. The murderer might have grabbed the gun from the ground. According to Hallak, Coelho ran about 15 yards to a vacant lot, where the killer fired five shots - hitting him in the legs, shoulder and forehead. Found at the crime scene were 45 and 32 caliber spent cartridge, although the bullets that killed Coelho were 38 caliber.

5. In Coelho's wallet police found a copy of the I.D. of retired police officer Dejair Correa, vice chairman of Magé Mayor Narriman Zito's City Commission. Hallak believes that this is possibly related to the gun that Coelho had. Correa told the IAPA that he has been a family friend for 15 years and one day, about five or six years ago, he asked Coelho to make copies of his documents. "But I didn't know that he had a copy of my I.D., that was a surprise," he said. Correa admitted that Coelho always helped him politically. "I paid for reports in his paper," he said.

Coelho's adversaries

Coelho was accustomed to directing his allegations against politicians and public figures in the Baixada Fluminense region. Among them were:

Narriman Felicidade Zito - mayor of Magé, wife of José Camilo Zitos dos Santos, mayor of Duque de Caxias. In recent issues of A Verdade newspaper, Coelho accused her of mishandling public funds. The lead story in the July 26-August 8, 2001, issue carried a photograph of the mayor smiling, with the cutline, "Attention Public Prosecutor's Office: Narriman increased the fares of the Primavera (company) which had been cancelled." The story reported that the Primavera bus company had obtained the transit concession that had been revoked by the previous city administration for failure to make payments and unlawful operation. In another issue, Coelho reproduced statements by State Representative Núbia Cozzolino accusing Narriman Zito of having an affair with a security guard, which resulted in Coelho and his father being called to make depositions at the Petrópolis Police Precinct, Rio de Janeiro state.

Narriman Zito declined to talk to the IAPA. On August 18, 2001, she sent a note to the local press regretting Coelho's murder and saying that she hoped the police investigation would shortly determine who was responsible so that justice might prevail because, she said, "Magé is an orderly city and the murder of a local resident is something that shocks the whole community."

José Camilo Zito dos Santos - Mayor Duque de Caxias in the Baixada Fluminense region. In various issues of A Verdade Coelho published allegations concerning Zito dos Santos and his wife. In the February 15-28, 2001, issue there was a photograph of the mayor with the headline, "Lawsuits against Zito should come out into the open." Coelho said there were more than two dozen charges, including "crimes whose witnesses were ignored by the justice system, an omission that enabled him to have a political career, even interfering in other municipalities with the aim of aspiring to the state governorship." There are indications that Coelho even changed his voter registration I.D. so he could obtain documents in the neighboring city of Duque de Caxias and make accusations against the mayor, dubbed by Coelho "Emperor of Caxias," and his aides. There are rumors in the city that Zito dos Santos a nominee for state governor.

Zito dos Santos is regarded as a powerful man. In addition to his wife being mayor of Magé, his brother Waldir is mayor of the city of Belford Roxo, also in Baixada Fluminense. That is why his administration earned the title of "Zitoland." Zito has been accused of murders in Duque de Caxias.

Police found in Coelho's trouser pocket a piece of paper listing 13 lawsuits relating to the Duque de Caxias mayor and another nine cases that had been shelved. There were also two petitions dated April 9, 2001, and signed by Coelho registered with the Caxias do Sul city hall. One of them requested information concerning school matters - he wanted to know who was supplying educational material and school uniforms and whether or not there had been a public bid. The other was to verify allegations about the power being exercised by people associated with the company that provides meals to city hall.

In his statement to police, Zito dos Santos said that he gave no importance to Coelho's allegations because several local papers, he said, made those kinds of accusations and he couldn't even be bothered to sue the journalist. He said he only responded on matters concerning the running of the city administration to the Public Prosecutor's Office. He believed that Coelho had been politically manipulated. He said he filed suit against Coelho only when he attacked his personal life, publishing allegations concerning his wife, Narriman Zito. Although the story did not disrupt his marriage, he said he was not prepared to make any settlement but wanted Coelho to be penalized.

Genivaldo Ferreira Nogueira, a.k.a. Batata (Sweet Potato) - Chairman of the Magé City Commission, member of the Liberal Party, owner of two pharmacies in the city which he has named after his nickname, Batata. He said he was the target of Coelho's articles when he was chairman of the PSDB in Magé and supported Narriman Zito in her bid for mayor. "Mariozinho [Coelho] was an ally of Nelson do Posto, that was when the attacks began," he said. He ran in his paper a claim made by another city commissioner that Noguiera had been seen practicing oral sex with a female commissioner in the commission chamber.

Coelho also alleged that Nogueira had not graduated from high school and that he was involved in the murder of a city commissioner. "I knew Mariozinho for the past 10 year, he was always looking for someone to write about," recalled Nogueira, who filed two lawsuits against Coelho, one for libel and the other for publishing a report on a crime in which he was alleged to have been involved. Concerning the accusation that he was allegedly involved in the death of a city commissioner, he said, "Let the accuser prove it." In making a deposition at the Magé 65th police precinct, Nogueira submitted a copy of his high school diploma from the Leopoldina da Silveira Municipal School in Rio de Janeiro. "I paid no attention to Mariozinho's paper," he said. "My conscience is clear, even though I have been libeled, I was re-elected. The name of the newspaper was A Verdade [The Truth], but it was a lie."

Nelson Costa Mello, a.k.a. Nelson del Posto - When he was mayor of Magé he had been criticized by Coelho in A Verdade, but in recent times he regarded himself to be a friend of the journalist. Mello is a member of MagéCar, a car dealership where Coelho had been minutes before returning home and being murdered. "He came here almost every day," said Mello, who was a city commissioner and then mayor Guapimirim and of Magé for the Liberal Party. He is not politically active currently. He had a service station and was very popular in the city.

At the outset of his term as mayor he was criticized by Coelho in A Verdade. The reason, according to Mello, was the suspension of placement of city advertising in the newspaper. At that time, Mello had decided to launch the Official Gazette, in which he could publish city administration edicts. "I sued him several times for what he accused me of," Mello said. In 1998, as the person responsible for A Verdade, Mário Coelho, Sr. was sentenced to prison. Coelho, Jr. and Mello came to a settlement. Coelho stopped his accusations and the mayor withdrew the charges against his father. After this incident, Coelho received an invitation to produce the Magé City Administration Newsletter, to be paid 3,000 reais (about $1,200) for two issues a month. At the same time, he ran reports on the city administration in A Verdade. The newspaper also participated in Mello's re-election campaign on the PDT party ticket. He lost the election, but Coelho continued supporting him. "I gave him 200 to 300 reais (about $80 to $120) a month for A Verdade," Mello said.

Lawyer cited in A Verdade - In the July 26-August 8, 2001, issue, the last published by Coelho, he wrote in his page 5 column titled "Disse Me Disse Me" (Tell Me, Tell Me), the following:
"LAWYER OF THE 1980s - He is known for the blows of 1.71, which he would apply to his friends and he still has the obsession of promising but fails to keep the promise, he is groping along with the problem of the tons of cocaine that were found in his jurisdiction. Next week we will publish his photo and his name."

Detective Hallak is believed to know who the lawyer is.

Jorge Lopes - Special secretary to Magé Mayor Narriman Zito since June 2001. Four years ago he was head of the General Services Department of the Duque de Caxias city administration. In the February 15-28, 2001, issue of A Verdade Coelho ran on page one and on page four a story saying that a lawsuit against Lopes had been filed with the Public Prosecutor's Office. Lopes at that time was Magé secretary of transportation. The suit referred to alleged overbilling by Lopes of industrial kitchen equipment when he was working at Duque de Caxias city hall. In July 1997, the paper had already published articles about the alleged overbilling and fraud in the bid process. "The accusation was not against me, but against Zito," Lopes told the IAPA. "All that was resolved, the documents were false, the Public Prosecutor's Office investigated."

He is not concerned about the allegations made in A Verdade against Narriman Zito. "God is just," he declared. For Lopes, Coelho brought about bad things because he became involved with many people in the city. The representative for 32 years of a book distribution company in Rio de Janeiro and Caxias do Sul, Lopes goes to Magé once a week to work as special secretary to the mayor.