Trial begins for last defendant charged with murder of US nun, Amazon defender Dorothy Stang

Brazil: Last rancher on trial for US nun’s murder

RIO DE JANEIRO — The last defendant accused of ordering the 2005 murder of U.S. nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang is on trial in Brazil.

Stang was a Dayton, Ohio, native who worked for three decades to preserve the rain forest and defend poor settlers’ land rights.

Prosecutors say Rancher Regivaldo Galvao helped orchestrate Stang’s killing because she blocked him and another rancher from taking land the government gave to poor farmers. Earlier this month, rancher Vitalmiro Moura was sentenced to 30 years for his role in planning the 73-year-old Stang’s murder.

The confessed gunman is serving a 28-year sentence.

Testimony began Friday in a courtroom in the jungle city of Belem.