Murder suspect TV host dies in Brazil

SAO PAULO (AFP) - A Brazilian television presenter accused of ordering murders to boost his crime show's ratings has died of an infection while hospitalized, media reported Wednesday.

Wallace Souza, 51, died Tuesday after contracting the infection while being treated in Sao Paulo for serious abdominal problems, newspapers and news websites said.

He had been under police detention in the hospital as an investigation was carried out into allegations he ordered at least five hits on drug traffickers to attract more viewers to his program "Canal Livre" shown in his home city of Manaus.

Suspicions were raised late last year by the fact that his TV crews managed to arrive at the murder scenes before the police.

The presenter, a former policeman and popular state politician, was also suspected of being a drug trafficker himself, and of using the murders to rid himself of rivals. One of his sons is being detained on narcotics charges.

Souza told AFP when he turned himself in last October after several days on the run that he was a "victim of an organized crime plot."

Souza's lawyer, Denise Macedo, said the death of her client robbed him of a chance to clear his name.

"He didn't have the necessary force to prove his innocence," she said.