In less than 48 hours, the investigation accelerated. Brazilian police on Saturday confirmed the death of indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, whose remains were found in a remote area of the Amazon along with those of British journalist Dom Phillips, and that both had been killed by a ‘firearm’ .
A suspect in the murders surrendered on Saturday morning, she also announced, the third now arrested in this case. Dom Phillips, 57, longtime newspaper contributor The Guardianand Bruno Pereira, 41, a recognized expert on indigenous peoples, were in the Amazon as part of a book on environmental conservation.
A dental examination
They had been seen for the last time on June 5, when they took a boat to Atalaia do Norte (north-west), in the Javari Valley, an area known to be dangerous where multiple drug trafficking, fishing or illegal gold mining. On Friday, the Brazilian Federal Police (PF) indicated that the first human remains discovered on the indication of a suspect were those of Dom Phillips, on the basis of an odontological examination (dental, in particular) by a laboratory in Brasilia.
On Saturday, she announced that Bruno Pereira’s remains had also been found by investigators. The expert was hit by three shots, including one to the head, and Mr. Phillips by a bullet to the chest, she added. The suspect who surrendered on Saturday is Jeferson da Silva Lima, known as “Pelado da Dinha”. According to all the evidence and testimonies collected, this fisherman “was at the scene of the crime and actively participated in the double homicide”, said police commissioner Alex Perez Timóteo.
A fisherman among the suspects
The remains of Dom Phillips were found on Wednesday at the place indicated by the fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, known as “Pelado”, who had admitted the day before having buried the bodies. According to local media, the police are looking for a fourth suspect, information that has not been officially confirmed.
The police indicated that the elements available to them at this stage of the investigation suggested “that the killers acted alone, without a sponsor, without a criminal organization behind the murders”. The Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (Univaja), whose members actively participated in the research, refuted the police version. “There are not just two killers, but an organized group that planned the crime down to the smallest detail,” Univaja said in a statement.
fear of the natives
Univaja claims to have sent the authorities a report in which it explained that “Pelado” was involved in illegal fishing activities. This 41-year-old man had also been accused of having committed “firearm attacks in 2018 and 2019 against a base of Funai”, the Brazilian government agency for indigenous affairs, in the same city of ‘Atalaia do Norte.
Univaja evokes “a powerful criminal organization which tried at all costs to erase its traces during the investigation” on the double murder, recalling that Bruno Pereira, who worked for a long time at Funai, had already done the object of “death threats”. According to several experts, the illegal fishing of endangered species in the Javari Valley is, most often, under the control of drug traffickers who use the sale of fish to launder drug money. “We demand the continuation and deepening of the investigations,” insisted the Univaja.
The double murder of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira has sparked outrage around the world, with strong criticism of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro accused of promoting deforestation and encouraging resource exploitation in the Amazon since his coming to power in 2019. The United States urged on Friday that the responsibilities be established in the murder of the two men, “murdered for their support for the preservation of the rainforest and the indigenous populations”.