Utah native exec killed, wife severely injured in Brazil

[Judi Lynn]

TUESDAY
December 02, 2003

Utah native exec killed, wife severely injured in Brazil




Todd Staheli, 39, left, and his wife, Michelle Staheli, 36, in a family photo. (The Associated Press)

By Ashley Broughton
The Salt Lake Tribune

A Spanish Fork native working in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for Shell Oil was slain during the weekend at his home, authorities said, and his wife, also from Utah, remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday.

Z. Todd Staheli, 39, vice president for joint ventures for Shell's Southern Cone gas and power unit, was found dead Sunday morning by one of his four children at the family's luxury, guarded condominium in Rio de Janeiro's upscale Barra da Tijuca neighborhood.

His wife, Michelle, 36, a Logan native, was found bleeding from face and head wounds. She was taken to a local hospital, where she underwent surgery. She remained on life support Monday, said Staheli's brother, Chad Staheli of Spanish Fork.
Police said the two had been struck repeatedly in the face and head with a sharp instrument, possibly a hatchet or meat cleaver. They apparently were attacked while they were sleeping, Chad Staheli said.

Nothing was stolen from the home, and there were no signs of a struggle, police said. (snip/...)

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Dec/12022003/utah/116298.asp

[NJCher]

1. nothing was taken:

Nothing was stolen from the home, and there were no signs of a struggle, police said.

Gated community. Wealthy area. Soon there will be no place for we ugly Americans to hide.


Cher

[el_gato]

2. there is no "we"

only them

[Superfly]

4. So, you're going into hiding, now?

The Sky is falling, after all.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Update from the Houston Chronicle:

Dec. 3, 2003, 6:26AM

Woodlands neighbors mourn slain oil executive
By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle


(snip) Police in Rio de Janeiro continue to investigate the brutal attack against Staheli and his wife, Michelle, who remains hospitalized in critical condition. The two were bludgeoned with an ax-like object Sunday in their seaside condominium, where their children found the bodies.

Officials continued to investigate possible motives for the crime, which does not appear to have been a robbery and might have been related to Staheli's work for Shell Oil. Published reports stated the family received threatening phone calls regarding an international gas pipeline.

Shell officials have not commented on the nature of the incident.

"There are a number of strange elements in this case, and there is some reason to believe that this case may have an international element," said Wagner Victer, energy secretary for the state of Rio. Victer said the fact that no clues were left and bedside valuables such as a Rolex watch were ignored suggested it was a professional job.

But other motives were not dismissed. (snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2265882

[Dhalgren]

5. Jesus Christ! A professional ax murderer!?

If this was a "hit", then it was also a message. A pro would not run the risks involved in such a bloody killing unless it was also a warning to others. A silenced .22, one headshot apiece, would have been the clean, pro way. But chopping up two people with an ax? Some kinda' pro!

[goforit]

7. Yah, I don't think this is a pro. Probably some derranged Fri.13th nut!!!

That couple seem so young.This is so sad.

Ever since Bush has been in office
Americans don't stand a chance anywhere over seas.

[UpInArms]

6. more info regarding Shell in Brazil

http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/5_10/vs.html

BRAZIL - BOLIVIA: At the cost of US$2 billion the Bolivia-Brazil pipeline is one of the single largest private sector investments in Latin America. Total length of the pipeline will be 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers). The main portion of the pipeline from Santa Cruz to Puerto Suarez was completed over a year ago. It already traverses the Pantanal wetlands of Bolivia and Brazil and is heading for the Chaco and subtropical forests of Bolivia, and the threatened Brazilian Atlantic forests in the states of Santa Catarina and São Paulo. On the Bolivian side, Shell and Enron own nearly 80% through their 35% holding in Gastransboliviano and their mostly joint ownership of Transredes who holds the other 51% of the pipeline. In 1997, The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank approved US$550 million in loans to Petrobas who is also a part of the Transredes consortium and who is the principal owner of the Brazilian portion of pipeline. Indigenous populations and pristine ecosystems will mostly be impacted and according to environmental groups, the Bank has not instituted effective accountability measures to control impacts. When construction began in 1998, approximately 1,000 construction workers overwhelmed the community of El Carmen which during and after the construction period, suffered shortages of food and medicine, water and telephone access, noise pollution, and trash. The pipeline was built within 2,000 feet (600 meters) of the local school, and was accompanied by illegal logging, construction of new access roads into the forest and misconduct by construction workers, including sexual abuse of local women. The Rio San Miguel-Cuiaba arm of the pipeline, also sponsored mainly by Transredes, will split off the main pipeline not too far from Santa Cruz and cuts 391 miles (630 kilometers) northeast to Cuiaba, Brazil.

[goforit]

8. Interesting backround.

There may be a story here.

[diamond14]

9. he was 'doing God's handiwork for Shell gas', what nice rational

raping and plundering third world countries in GOD's name....these were real sick people, and it appears that their approach gained them great wealth....blowback.....


-snips from first article-

Two weeks ago, Todd Staheli updated his profile on a Web site for former LDS missionaries to Australia: "I work for Shell's natural gas business and get to see and experience much of God's handiwork here on Earth.

[goforit]

10. That is perverse........if that is what they do.

I guess in a way action is speaking louder than words.

Yet so sad to pay such a high price.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. It's creepy

This kind of perverted, demented murders seems to only happen in ultra-rich homes (at least here in Brazil). Poor people, when they want to kiil each other, just shoot to the head and be done with it. I'm not sure that means anything or I'm just freaked out by this.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Reuters story on Todd Staheli, wife

Police clueless in Shell executive murder in Rio
Reuters, 12.01.03, 8:52 AM ET

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - A senior executive with Anglo-Dutch energy conglomerate Shell has been killed in Rio de Janeiro, and Brazilian police said Monday they still had no clues to the mystery murder.

Todd Staheli and his wife, Michelle, both U.S. citizens, were found by their 10-year-old son in their house inside a luxurious, guarded condominium in Rio's upscale Barra da Tijuca neighborhood Sunday, a Shell spokesman told Reuters.

Todd Staheli, who was bleeding from wounds that could have been from an ax, died moments afterwards, while his wife was rushed to hospital in a serious condition. She is in a coma due to a severe head injury.

(snip) Staheli, 39, was Shell's Director for Gas and Energy in Brazil responsible, among other things, for the natural gas pipeline from Bolivia and local distribution. The couple and their four children, aged 3, 8, 10 and 13, moved to Brazil just over three months ago. (snip/)

http://forbes.com/home/newswire/2003/12/01/rtr1164541.html