Brazil: Suspect confesses to killing missing journalist, indigenous expert

By James Blears

Although the dismembered bodies have yet to be formally forensically identified, the search for journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira, who vanished on June 5th  is now over.

They were last seen on their boat on the Itacoai River, near the entrance of the Javari Valley, which is indigenous territory.

Many parts of this remote area of the Amazon Rain Forest, close to the border with Peru, are rife with cocaine trafficking, fish poaching, illegal logging causing deforestation and illicit gold mining. 

Suspect's confession

Police Investigator Detective Eduardo Alexandre Fontes says fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliviera has confessed to the killings and led them to a remote place in the woods where human remains were found.

His brother Oseney, who has also been arrested, has denied any involvement. Police say they are investigating the motive for this crime and expect to arrest more people. 

Dom Phillips was researching a book he was writing about sustainable development in Amazonia, with every respect and courtesy to its indigenous peoples.

It cost him and his colleague Bruno Pereira their lives in a cruel incident of senseless violence.