Following the trend of all world production, this was another film based on a true crime chronicle, based on the murder of industrialist Adolfo Freire by gardener Augusto Henriques, which took place in Rio de Janeiro. No copy of Um Crime Sensacional survives, only 1 image from the film is known, which was placed in the magazine "Cinemin". It is not known whether the film was a "sound" film, that is, with actors dubbing themselves live behind the screen based on already recorded images. The only proof that the film could be a sound film is a 1913 song called "O Crime de Paula Matos" by Joaquim Pacheco, which may have been used in the sound versions of the film. This song is currently lost.