(May 30, 1949 - October 29, 1997)

Date of murder: October 29, 1997

Place of murder and circumstances: Edgar Lopes de Faria was on his way to the Rádio FM Capital radio station where he hosted the talk show Escaramuça. As he used to do every day, he left his home on Júlio Barone street in the São Francisco neighborhood and went to the Pão de Mel bakery, six blocks from the radio station. There, he purchased the morning newspapers and had breakfast. But that day he was running late. He arrived at the bakery about 6:20 a.m. When he got back to his car, someone called out to him. He turned around. The first shot struck him in the armpit. The assailant was walking towards Faria and fired five more shots from a 12 caliber weapon. There was another man on the street corner, with a 765 pistol, who fired twice. One of the shots hit a magazine that was in the bakery and the other a tire on Faria’s car. The assailants made off in a white, four-door Cora automobile that had no license plate. Faria died on the spot.

Possible motives: Allegations about involvement of police officers in the city of Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul state, in death squads and political and police corruption.

Place of Birth: Presidente Bernardes, São Paulo, Brazil

Age at Death: 48

Marital Status: Married to Edeltraud Bretz de Faria, 52

Children (names and ages at time of father’s death): Marcos Antônio Lopes de Faria, 30; Anderson Renato Lopes de Faria, 27; Alex Henrique Lopes de Faria, 16. He had one other son, Tiago, who does not live with the others.

Education: 4th grade

Profession/Position: Talk show host and television announcer. At the time of his death he was hosting the talk show Escaramuça 6:30 to 8:00 a.m. Mondays to Fridays on Rádio Capital FM and an evening show on TV MS, an affiliate of the Record network, titled Boca do Povo (Voice of the People).

Journalism Background: In 1971, he worked as an announcer at Rádio Regente Feijó in the city of the same name in São Paulo state. In 1974, he went on to do reports for Rádio Difusora in Presidente Prudente, São Paulo state. In 1978, he moved to Campo Grande in Mato Grosso do Sul state, and began work at Rádio Cultura as a sports reporter. He contracted air time to host his own program. He joined Rádio Difusora. He took over running the radio station as manager and sports commentator. In 1987, he was hired by Rádio Educação Rural, where he started broadcasting the talk show Escaramuça (Portuguese for skirmish), which became his personal nickname. He moved to Rádio AM Capital and in 1994 to FM Capital, where he hosted the same show. From 1996 until his death he hosted the Boca do Povo program on TV MS, an affiliate of the Record network.

Other Activities: From 1988 to 1993 he was a city commissioner for the PMDB party and during that time he halted his radio work. In that public office, he managed to obtain approval for giving senior citizens free rides on buses in the state capital. He switched to the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) and was on the point of joining another party on whose ticket he planned to run for state representative. He had begun work at an early age, as a construction laborer, and that is why he used to say he planned to stop working when he was 50.

Hobbies and Leisure Pursuits: He was known as a good-humored person. He was very keen on fishing and would go fishing nearly every weekend to Corumbá or Aquidauana. He owned a bait and tackle shop. He also had a dairy farm and a restaurant specializing in local dishes.

Awards: In 1995 and 1996, he was awarded the Juca Ganso trophy as best host of news shows by the FM 97 radio station. In 1997, he was the recipient of the Ivan Paes Barbosa award for "The Best in Radio."