« Colonel Ubiratan Assassinated by Sexy Lover »

Brazil's most macho policeman, acclaimed for putting down a rebellion in São Paulo's Carandiru prison so savagely that 111 prisoners died, was murdered at his manly apartment in Sao Paulo. Colonel Ubiratan Guimaraes, a former military police commander who oversaw the invasion of the Carandiru prison in 1992, was found wrapped in a towel and with a single bullet wound to his chest.

Whatever the truth behind the murder of Colonel Ubiratan , odds are it was a crime of passion. Colonel Ubiratan, was a target of frequent death threats and never went out unarmed. Police believe his murder to be more likely the result of a lover's quarrel than delayed revenge. He was known to have had relationships with some of the hottest women in Brazil.

In 2001 a judge sentenced Colonel Ubiratan to 632 years in prison for his role in the Carandiru bloodbath. But to many in São Paulo he was a macho hero. The gregarious law-enforcer ran several times for the state legislature, choosing 111 as part of the code for supporters to punch into voting machines. Enough enjoyed the joke to elect him in 2002. A court overturned his conviction this year, saying that the judge had misinterpreted the jury's verdict (which several jurors denied). He was in the midst of a promising campaign for a second term when he was killed in his apartment by a single shot to the abdomen. His girlfriend was questioned by the police.

"This seems to be another case where a woman is just completely unaware about how strong and macho her man is," explains the police captain Marcos Ednilson. "Instead of worshipping him, she kills him, this is a terrible loss."

Candidates in next month's general election are wooing the city's voters with vows to tackle crime. In such company, Colonel Ubiratan had nothing to prove. One mourner felt it was “a pity” that he had not killed a thousand prisoners. “Then you wouldn't have the the gangs,” she reasoned. Among the more unlikely passions the colonel inspired was love.