21 67.3. On October 19, 1996, Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho attended a public festival known as the “Festa do Boi,” and while in the company of friends and a young woman by the name of MdS,∗ received a threatening telephone call.20 67.4. On October 20, 1996, at approximately 12:00 a.m., as he was traveling to his farm in the company of the young woman MdS, he was followed by a red Gol automobile bearing no license plates, occupied by three men whose faces were uncovered. When Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho reached the front gate of his farm, the Gol vehicle placed itself in front, so as to block his automobile. The occupants of the two cars eyed each other for a few moments. Thereupon, the man occupying the passenger seat of the Gol vehicle pointed a shotgun-type weapon out the window and shot once; in response, Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho backed up in his automobile in a futile attempt to flee. The next shot hit Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho in the head. Several more shots were fired, after which the Gol vehicle returned in the direction from which it had come.21 67.5. Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho died of intracranial hemorrhage caused by puncture wounds from weapons fire. The vehicle driven by Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho was hit by at least 18 shots. Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho was killed by at least three physical perpetrators, and it is likely that others were involved as masterminds.22 67.6. The vehicle used by the assailants in the ambush and murder was subsequently burned. It had been pierced by weapons fire directed from inside the vehicle toward the outside, hitting the right side of the car roof above the passenger seat.23 ∗ At the request of the Inter-American Commission, the young woman will be identified here by her initials only because she was underage at the time of the events. 20 Cf. statement by MdS given to the Federal Police on October 26, 1996 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, Volume 1, folios 2813 through 2818); and statement by Juney Pinheiro Lucas given to the Federal Police on October 31, 1996 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, Volume 1, folios 2855 through 2860). 21 Cf. statement by MdS on October 26, 1996, supra note 20; statement by Mauricio Pereira de Medeiros to the Federal Police on October 23, 1996 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, Volume 1, folios 2786 and 2787); Police Investigation Report No. 296/96-SR/DPF/RN issued by Federal Police Chief Gilson José Ribeiro Campos, of June 9, 1997 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, Volume 4, folios 3734 through 3770); and statement by Juney Pinheiro Lucas, October 31, 1996, supra note 20. 22 Cf. autopsy report on Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, supra note 16; report from a police examination at the site of the violent death, conducted by the police lab, Instituto Técnico-Científico de Policía, October 20, 1996 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, Volume 1, folios 2894 through 2915); statement by MdS, October 26, 1996, supra note 20; report of the study of weapons fire conducted by the police lab, Instituto Técnico-Científico de Policía, October 30, 1996 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, folios 2928 through 2952); police investigation report No.296/96-SR/DPF/RN, June 9, 1997, supra note 21; statement by Maurílio Pinto de Medeiros given to the Federal Police on May 20, 1997 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, Volume 3, folios 3587 through 3591); testimony given by Fernando Batista de Vasconcelos, supra note 17; expert opinion by Luiz Flávio Gomes submitted under notarized signature on January 11, 2006 (brief of preliminary exceptions and possible merits, reparations and legal costs, folios 489 through 538); and criminal charges filed by the Office of the Public Prosecutor against Otávio Ernesto Moreira on January 25, 1999 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, Volume 1, folios 2741 through 2746). 23 Cf. report of the examination of the motor vehicle conducted by the police lab, Instituto Técnico-Científico de Policía, October 20, 1996 (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, Volume 1, folios 2916 through 2917).