(Updates with gunman in court, color)

By Altair Paixao

BELEM, Brazil, May 14 (Reuters) - A Brazilian rancher went on trial on Monday accused of ordering the murder of U.S.-born nun and activist Dorothy Stang in a test case of justice in the lawless Amazon.

Vitalmiro Bastos Moura is accused of hiring the gunmen who shot Sister Dorothy, a 74-year-old Ohio native, on a remote track in the Amazon jungle in February 2005.

She had lived for more than 20 years in Anapu town in Para state helping peasants threatened by loggers and ranchers and fighting against the destruction of the rain forest.

She was shot six times and left lying in the mud by hired killers.

The gunman, his accomplice and an intermediary have already been convicted and were sentenced to prison terms of 27, 17 and 18 years respectively. All three appeared in court to give testimony implicating Moura, who has denied the charges.

His jury trial, taking place in the state capital Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River, is viewed by many as a test case for Brazil's justice system because it is rare for landowners to stand trial for ordering killings.

"We have hope but we also have the experience that the justice system here in the state of Para has not worked when it comes to the 'mandantes', to those who ordered the murder," the nun's brother, David Stang, said.

Prosecutor Edson Cardoso told Reuters it was often difficult to convict suspects accused of ordering hits but he said Moura's trial was a watershed case that would make would-be killers think twice in future.

'WHO CONTROLS THE AMAZON?'

Police armed with assault rifles stood guard outside the courthouse and a group of Stang's friends carried wooden crosses, sang and prayed for a just verdict.

Her brother, who traveled from the United States for the trial, criticized the lack of government control over the rain forest.

"He (Moura) has his cattle on the land and in this trial right now he says the land belongs to him. So who is more powerful? Who controls the Amazon?" he told Reuters.

Violent conflicts are common in the Amazon, where illegal loggers, ranchers and miners use fake land titles and strong-arm tactics to claim land.

Weak policing and a chaotic judicial system have made it hard for Brazil to control the continent-sized forest, much of which is accessible only by river boat.

Almost 800 rural workers have been murdered in Para state in the past three decades, but only four landowners have been convicted, said Jose Batista Alfonso of the church-based Pastoral Land Commission, which tracks rural violence.

"We have to confront this impunity," Batista said.

Booming global demand for commodities like beef and soy have increased the hunger for land in recent years, triggering thousands of violent conflicts.

After Dorothy Stang's murder, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called her another Chico Mendes, the rubber tapper and rain forest activist whose murder in 1988 drew world attention to the problems in the Amazon.

Another landowner accused of plotting her killing should stand trial later this year, Cardoso said. Moura's trial is expected to end on Tuesday.

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