Killer Ratings (2019) s01e01 Episode Script

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES Manaus is the capital of the Amazon State.
We are a river state.
Many of our cities can only be reached by boat.
We are an island of concrete in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.
We are on a drug trafficking route.
Today, our city is a murder capital.
The main problem is the drug trafficking.
The city became a hub for the movement of drugs.
Manaus ended up becoming a very violent city because of the fight for territory.
And it was here that the Wallace case took place.
The Wallace case was exceptional.
Many do not believe that what happened was even possible.
Such outrageous events, so momentous.
The case was so surreal that it felt like a horror movie.
It was completely crazy.
It was a mystery that gripped the whole country.
And only one person knew the truth Wallace Souza.
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY AMAZON STATE This is the route I take every day.
Let's go down the elevator.
It's arriving now.
Come with me.
FILMED IN 2009 Okay, dear, thank you.
Bye.
Have a good afternoon.
- When you're ready.
- We're ready.
Three, two, one Here in Manaus we had an issue with gangs.
Some call them street gangs.
These gangs were responsible for most murders.
A family man would get out of a night bus and be killed for a cigarette.
Manaus was cursed by this violence.
I said, "I'll see if I can make a TV show to combat this.
" And I started a crime show.
It's time to rumble! In Canal Livre's unwavering fight against crime.
OCTOBER 16, 2000 I want to start the show today with the issue of gangs, which we have discussed so much here on the show.
It is becoming more and more unbearable.
Honest families in our city need peace.
And I started to get involved with police work.
I followed police operations.
It was very dangerous to go with him on these assignments.
CAMERAMAN - CANAL LIVRE At the time, he didn't have a team.
He drove his own car.
It was just the two of us.
He would tip the police off about a gang and then we would follow the police to cover the arrest.
When we were following the police, some guys started shooting.
The police started shooting! A heavy shootout.
A firefight between the police and the criminals.
But since we were so close to the police, it was very risky for us.
Never in the history of journalism in the Amazon had anyone been brave enough to show these things, because everybody was scared.
Manel, I remember a crime you committed.
You murdered a citizen in front of a child.
I don't want to kill anyone else.
I promise to God that I will never kill again.
And the street gangs started to fear him.
The gangs started to leave.
When he got there, people would clap when they saw him.
They liked him a lot.
They really liked him.
People who had issues with crime started looking for me at the TV station to help solve other crimes.
It snowballed.
He started to become defender of the people.
He became a hero in people's eyes.
DIRECTOR - CANAL LIVRE When the show first aired, we didn't have many reporters.
Wallace was the first.
He is on the most-wanted list.
Accused of drug trafficking.
There's probably a lot of other stuff here.
Wallace fought against drug trafficking and criminals.
And it spread by word of mouth.
The show grew and grew.
We hired more reporters.
It wasn't nine to five.
I lived for the show.
People went to the show to denounce crimes.
People thought the show was just like the police.
People never stopped calling.
Back then, who were the heroes? It was Canal Livre.
It was early morning.
The phone rang.
The police themselves tipped us off.
And we sent a crew to report.
It smells like barbecue.
Yes, my friend.
It's here.
Look.
Here is the body.
In fact, there's still smoke.
Look.
It's a male.
The body hasn't been identified yet.
It was always traumatizing.
We would feel very upset in situations like that.
It was a barbaric crime, but it became routine for us.
It made Wallace angry.
Unfortunately, that's the daily life in Manaus.
We have three murders.
We're going to show you some very graphic images now.
Really graphic, unfortunately.
But that's the style of the show.
We don't sweep things under the carpet.
The images are shocking.
The crime took place around 3:00 p.
m.
The police are investigating, but they don't really know what happened.
Exclusively to Canal Livre.
Every crime reporter knew the show INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIS because they always got the news firsthand.
Back then, as a rookie, I always wanted to break stories.
The fact that they always arrived first on the scene, filming the corpses on the ground Everybody here knew him.
He wouldn't do anything to anyone.
The family crying over a dead body, the neighbors all stunned That definitely increased his ratings.
Wallace was very good at what he did.
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIS Why? Because he had a lot of sources.
He was a former cop, and he kept that old friendship with cops.
The first tips received went straight to him.
Before Canal Livre, I had never seen a dead person.
And I would see everything.
Things the audience was not allowed to see, I was obliged to watch.
Corpses blood It was difficult to get used to.
Actually, I never got used to it.
We were always called sensationalists.
In reality, we just wanted to help.
Canal Livre was the community's emergency line.
Since the government didn't provide, the show was there to play its part.
Despite the fact that we dealt with criminality, there was also a good side.
Sometimes there would be people crying, other times, there would be humor.
It was really cool because of that.
Over to you, Dom Xicote.
It's time for music on the Canal Livre stage.
The singer with the "perfumed panties," Paulo Aquino! I was living in a condo PRODUCER - CANAL LIVRE and I remember watching the show, and there was an echo.
I turned down the volume, but it carried on.
I thought, "Maybe it's the living room TV.
" But it wasn't.
Then, I looked through the window.
Everyone was tuned in to Canal Livre.
Everybody was watching it.
It was a phenomenon.
Extraordinary.
At lunchtime, everybody would stop to watch Canal Livre.
It was number one in the ratings.
It was hard to know why, because it was a chaotic show.
It was totally spontaneous.
Anything could happen.
And now an exclusive Wanderley Modesto.
There's something going on here and now on Canal Livre, which we're going to show you.
This lady here She is a little nervous.
What happened? The man who killed my son is over there.
The man who killed your son is here? Grab him.
Don't let him go! Bring him here.
Is this the man who killed your son? Where else does this kind of thing happen? Nowhere! Who'd want to miss a story like that? It was completely crazy.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
There were neighbors fighting, pulling each other's hair out.
They pulled it so hard, there were locks of hair on the floor.
Wallace had fun on the show.
Wallace loved the little puppet character.
Armed, are you? Look at that! I'm here to be your security.
Gil, The Pie-Man, sold sfihas.
He was always in the audience.
He was a guy who took everything very seriously.
He wouldn't put up with the puppet poking fun at him.
A big fight started between the puppet and Gil.
Right there, on air.
The puppeteer! Wallace thought it was hilarious.
Oh, man! It shouldn't have been called Canal Livre.
It should've been called The Life Show.
But what kind of life? Life in the poor areas, right? I came here to beg you.
I need two new tires, because mine are all worn out.
- And this is how I make a living.
- One of our sponsors will give you the two tires.
You can relax, okay? Many people benefited from the program.
There were people that would sometimes ask for food on the show.
Food.
There were people who needed everything.
They had no sanitation, no access to education no help from the government.
They had nothing.
The show played its part.
I started working at Canal Livre in 1997.
I started as a sound man.
I was the DJ.
Wallace paid my university fees.
I always saw Wallace as a role model.
He wanted to help so many people he looked after so many people And that's how everything ended up happpening.
I had this tattooed here.
It's his signature.
I wanted to mark on my skin what he means to me.
Against my mom's will.
She doesn't like it! But I did it anyway.
I think it's a fair tribute.
WALLACE'S SON Maybe people will want to talk now.
They can start telling the truth.
He was always with us.
He never stopped paying attention to his children.
He was a very good father.
He came from a very humble family.
He spent a few years as a cop, then he became a reporter.
His favorite brother was Ulisses.
He had a great bond with Ulisses.
Ulisses was a drug addict.
We lost my uncle to drugs.
Losing Ulisses left Wallace devastated.
WALLACE'S SISTER He said it was like a piece of him had been taken away, as if it had been torn off.
If there's one thing that makes me sick, really nauseous, it's drug dealers.
Wallace didn't hide his anger.
There's only way to stop drug dealers: bullets.
Bullets and the grave.
That's all they deserve.
He knew what the drug trade could do, so he understood in his gut how people felt when they lost a child to drugs.
Wallace had credibility with people.
The population was fed up with drug dealers and criminals.
They needed someone fearless, who could put an end to all that.
That's when he decided to turn to politics.
He had dreams of changing things.
He told me, "I'm going to be a candidate.
I'm going to make a difference.
" And I'd say, "And now, right here with you CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR the all-time top of TV ratings in the Amazon State.
He is coming.
Wallace Souza!" And people would go wild, clapping their hands.
How many of you here watch Canal Livre? Most of you watch the show.
The girls went completely crazy.
"Wallace, I love you.
I adore you.
You have my vote.
Our family will vote for you.
" We'll make a pact with every one of you to reduce violence.
He rode the wave of popular acclaim.
It was a phenomenon.
He was the top-voted representative.
The state representative with the most votes in history.
In his first election, he won the most votes in Manaus.
In his second election, he had the most votes.
In his third election, Wallace got the most votes.
It was incredible.
WALLACE'S BROTHER WALLACE'S BROTHER He called Carlos, and Carlos joined the show.
And soon Fausto joined too.
Everybody knew them as the Courage Brothers.
Not the Souza Brothers, but the Courage Brothers.
Good afternoon.
Before long, Carlos was elected as city councilor.
Again, with the most votes in the history of the State.
And later he was elected a federal congressman.
Wallace Souza and Carlos Souza are warriors.
Wallace and Carlos were gaining political power.
They were getting stronger all the time.
The last campaign was in 2008.
It gave me goosebumps, because it was a mad frenzy.
Wallace, it's a decisive moment.
Very emotional, isn't it? Sure, but it's gratifying to see the people rewarding our work and our principles.
It was like he was the one who would save the city.
I had 52,000 votes.
Proportionally, more votes than any state representative in Brazil.
And that bothers a lot of people.
This is bulletproof.
I have to travel like this because of the death threats.
I need a bulletproof car.
He had a great hunger for justice to try to solve things.
I think he made many friends, but also many enemies.
I think I'm one of the most threatened men in the State.
I'm afraid of being killed.
When I leave home, I ask God to allow me to go to work and come back alive.
And He has done that.
Thank God.
He used to leave the house very early, around six in the morning.
And I already knew there was a chance of him not returning home.
He always prepared us for that.
The criminals didn't like my father.
NOVEMBER 9, 2005 Wednesday, early morning, a criminal, a thug, has taken a family hostage, including a child.
He is threatening to kill the whole family if the police try to touch him.
The kidnapper didn't trust the police.
He was afraid of being killed.
He said, "I'll only leave with the Representative Wallace Souza.
" Wallace was at home.
He got dressed and went there.
The guy was holding the family hostage.
Wallace spoke to him.
The guy said, "If you can guarantee my life, I'll come out.
" So Wallace went into the house and came out with him.
Representative Wallace is now a hostage.
The guy comes down with a gun on Wallace and they get into the car.
Wallace was really scared.
They've demanded that Wallace stay in the car until they get to the jail.
He wanted to leave with Wallace so nothing bad would happen to him on the way.
In Brazil, these things happen.
A moment of huge tension.
And we're here trying to follow them.
The officer just told me that they are armed.
A very tense moment.
It's dangerous.
Even for us.
A gunshot.
A gunshot.
Oh, my God.
It seems that a shot was fired over there.
It seems like a shot.
My God.
We don't know what's going on.
My God, the Representative is alright.
We can relax.
He's okay.
Our crew can also relax.
He's alright.
He hasn't been shot.
He's calm.
They freed Representative Wallace! They've just released him right now! Representative, you went through a tough time, exchanged yourself for the family Did you use your experience as a cop? I tried to remain calm.
They wanted to go to jail, but on the way they changed their mind.
The hunt for the criminals will continue.
Wallace went to the police station to give his statement.
And then he went straight to the show.
The kidnapping case really boosted his image.
A politician who put his own life at risk to save someone else.
That scene got a lot of airtime.
Wallace presented himself as a savior.
He was going to solve all the issues.
The lack of security, the violence in Manaus.
He said he had the solution.
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY AMAZON STATE Honorable Chairman, fellow representatives, unfortunately, Manaus is facing a wave of violence His political career was clearly set out.
Wallace would either have been secretary of security or state governor.
A lot of people had a vested interest in stopping him.
A lot of people.
He knew he had a lot of enemies due to his criticisms.
If the intelligence department was careful enough to locate criminals, gangs, drug traffickers, I'm sure Manaus would be much safer.
This kind of criticism displeased many people.
And in Brazil, it can be dangerous to go against the system.
They were messing with the prestige of very important people and that had to stop.
It had to stop.
Wallace got everyone together.
He was very tense.
He was going to denounce someone very important.
He said, "I am messing with some big fish things are going to get rough.
" These were Wallace's words: "From now on, all hell is going to break loose over me.
" OCTOBER 20, 2008 I always liked to combat drug trafficking.
POLICE INVESTIGATOR We got an anonymous call tipping us off.
We were told that there was a former military policeman and that he was a very dangerous person.
We arrived at the location around 9:00 a.
m.
and stayed for about three hours, monitoring comings and goings.
And we confirmed that there was drug dealing going on.
There was a building site next door with a ladder.
When we jumped down - What's that? - Police! Open the door! Open the door! Police! Stop what you're doing! We decided to do a search There was a huge amount of drugs, several knives, two guns.
That itself constituted a crime.
He tried to bribe us by offering money.
And said he'd give us 10,000 reais if we didn't arrest him.
The team asked him how he would get that kind of money.
He said he wouldn't pay himself.
It would come from his boss.
He was terrified of being arrested.
He said, "I have many enemies in jail.
If you arrest me, I will be killed.
" To us, it was a normal arrest.
A routine matter.
I received a call that afternoon.
SECRETARY OF INTELLIGENCE "Thomaz, the Anti-Drug Unit just arrested Moacir.
" And I said, "Who's Moacir?" "Moacir Jorge Pessoa da Costa.
" I said, "I don't know who that is.
" Moa.
Moacir was a former Military Police officer who was expelled from the force.
At that time, in 2008, he was already facing charges for nine homicides.
Moa was brought to my office.
He was asking the following: "Look, I need special treatment.
I need to be put in a cell of my own or in a military prison.
If you put me with ordinary prisoners, I will be killed.
" "But what makes you such a special prisoner?" Then he started to talk.
What he said left us perplexed.
We were shocked and worried.
It was around 11:00 p.
m when I received a call informing me that the Anti-Drug Unit was holding a man called Moa.
CHIEF DETECTIVE When I read Moa's statement HOMICIDES at first, it seemed like fantasy.
Everything he said was unbelievable.
Moa was part of a powerful criminal group, very well armed.
They trafficked drugs, they were killers, dozens of homicides.
Moa felt he was in danger, he felt threatened.
He thought that the criminal organization wanted him dead.
So, in exchange for protection, he decided to talk and reveal all that had happened.
At one point in his testimony, he said that a meeting took place at the home of the criminal kingpin and that he ordered his group to go out in the city of Manaus to commit crimes.
Robberies, homicides.
The leader of this criminal group was Representative Wallace Souza.
They always got there first because the Representative ordered the killings.
Representative Wallace he wanted to make sure his ratings kept increasing.
In reality, Canal Livre was a massive smokescreen.
They had the information and got to the scene first precisely because they had committed the crimes themselves.
Every day, they were obsessed with increasing their ratings.
And to capture the audience, there's nothing better than showing crimes firsthand.
It's surreal.
Murdering people for TV ratings.
When Moa was arrested, rumors began circulating that politicians were involved in organized crime.
But we didn't know who they were.
So journalists started digging to find out who they might have been.
Witness statements started to get leaked, and the first statement to leak was Moacir's.
As soon as the statement appeared, it was all over the press.
It was like a bomb.
MOA'S STATEMENT REVEALS DETAILS REPRESENTATIVE HAD A 'MILITIA' AT LEAST 17 HOMICIDES DEATH SQUAD TO INCREASE RATINGS I remember coming back from school and I enjoyed reading newspapers.
I saw my father's name, and I understood the situation.
The driver didn't want me to see because I was too young.
MOA'S STATEMENT ACCUSES WALLACE I didn't even understand what that guy was talking about.
I was like, "What?" My father was the same person.
I didn't see any change.
He was always happy.
At least with us, he tried to pretend the world wasn't falling down.
I was always convinced of his innocence because the Wallace they were talking about was someone I had never met.
Wallace called me and said, "Come over to my house.
" I thought, "My God, what's happening? How could he be in charge of a gang, or whatever?" Wallace said he was going to the Assembly to expose everything that was going on.
He was not going to hide.
Taking the stand now, Representative Wallace Souza.
Ladies and gentlemen maybe I am the only one who knows what it is to fight against powerful people.
I may be going through the biggest political persecution ever to be seen in this state.
It is one of the vilest and most irresponsible political persecutions, which has placed my family's life at risk.
I see myself as a warrior of light.
I'm capable of doing good, but also of doing bad.
If they continue to throw false accusations at me, I will come back here to name those responsible.
He went there to say he was being persecuted, due to his criticism of the authorities.
He said he believed he was a victim of political persecution.
All murders that take place in Manaus are ordered by Representative Wallace.
The Secretary of Security, which is so useless in fighting crime and so useless in deploying intelligence with any intelligence is now investigating Representative Wallace.
And they are tapping me.
Investigating me.
What on earth is going on? Isn't this a plot to damage me? Isn't this a sordid campaign to end me politically? I don't want to be remembered as a dead hero.
I don't.
Some people saw his decision to go to the State Assembly as a way of trying to move his colleagues so they would stand by him.
First, I would like to affirm my total solidarity with Your Excellency.
I'm not saying any of us is immune from investigation.
But it's important to separate investigation from persecution, because that is unacceptable.
And Your Excellency has a TV show which contributes enormously to our city and to our state.
Because you have the courage to report, please accept my support.
Support for Your Excellency will not be lacking in this house.
Wallace categorically asserts that he did not know Moacir Jorge.
WALLACE SOUZA DENIES KNOWING MOA He said that.
That he had never worked for him.
That he had never seen him before.
Who is more credible? Is Moa more credible than Wallace? It was political persecution.
It's a fact.
They looked at clips from the show and said, "Since they arrive so early on the scenes, let's say they were involved in the crimes.
" Come on! Come on, it's ridiculous! Absurd.
Absurd.
There is no concrete proof against Wallace.
None.
There is no real evidence.
Nothing.
Just Moa.
Moa was accused of many crimes Everyone knew that it was all a farce.
That it was all a lie.
How credible is Moa? He says something against someone, and they start an investigation? Come on.
Wallace didn't have a connection with Moa.
I'd never seen Moa in my life.
I didn't know him.
We journalists following the case, for us, at the press, it felt weak.
It remained open.
Then, a few days later photos started to arrive at the news desks.
We don't know how, but they arrived at reception.
It was a shock to us.
And, at that moment, everything changed in the Wallace case.
Subtitle translation by Ashley Cardaman