DaytonDailyNews.com

"They Killed Sister Dorothy" — a documentary that's on the short list for an Oscar nomination — contributed to the arrest last week of the wealthy Brazilian rancher long suspected of masterminding the murder of Dayton-born missionary Sister Dorothy Stang.

"Absolutely, the documentary deserves a lot of credit for this arrest," said Stang's brother, David, who became close to filmmaker Daniel Junge during his years of research. "First I was amazed and then delighted. I never thought they would take these big landowners on."

Federal prosecutor Felicio Pontes, a friend of Stang's, said the film's interview with the suspect's lawyer prompted him to reinvestigate the case. Galvao had been charged in connection with the killing in 2005 but was eventually freed after a series of appeals based on a claim that he had no connection to the land where Stang was murdered. "Felicio is a young man with a wife and family," Stang said. "It takes tremendous courage to bring these charges."

Galvao's appeals contradict land titles that bear his name. Prosecutors have now looked more closely at those titles and are accusing Galvao of forging the documents to lay claim to the land known as Lot 55. Witnesses also said that Galvao claimed ownership at a public meeting Oct. 28 conducted by INCRA, Brazil's land reform agency.

"He was directly flaunting the premise under which he was released from jail," David Stang said. "I guess it was his way of showing the people of Brazil who's in charge."

Stang's siblings said they hope the arrest improves the chances for an Oscar nomination for "They Killed Sister Dorothy." (It's among 15 films being considered for five slots.) More importantly, they hope the arrest brings hope to the struggling peasant farmers of Brazil. "Traditionally in Brazil, a poor person can be charged with anything, but the rich man never gets charged," David Stang said. "So this is a real paradigm shift. That is what's so exciting."

Edson Cardoso, who has served as lead prosecutor at the previous murder trials in the case, said he hopes to bring Galvao to trial within the month. Two gunmen and the middleman are currently serving time for the murder. Another rancher, Vitalmiro Moura, had been convicted of ordering Stang's murder but was acquitted during a retrial in May.

Members of Stang's religious order, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, hailed news of the arrest. "I think this time they really have some documentation that links him to the murder, and particularly to the interest in that land," said Sister Joan Krimm, who grew up with Stang in Dayton.

Meanwhile, Krimm, of Cincinnati, said the SND sisters received a hopeful note from their fellow nuns in Anapu, the town in the Brazilian rainforest where Stang lived and worked for so many years. The land where Stang was murdered — the land that Galvao claimed was his — is being used for a Sustainable Development Project. "There will be 45 homes and families who will farm and work in a reforestation project," the sisters wrote. "Life does get complicated, but there are strong signs of hope and new life."