Brazilian police have identified five more suspects in connection with the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian activist Bruno Araújo Pereira, whose bodies were found on Wednesday in a remote location in the Amazon.
The Federal Police, which coordinates the investigations, said in a note released on Sunday that it is investigating eight suspects, three of whom are already in custody, including one who confessed to the crime and led the authorities to the place where the bodies were found.
Brazilian authorities revealed on Friday that they believe the three suspects already in custody – Jeferson da Silva Lima, known as “Pelado da Dinha”, and brothers Amarildo and Oseney da Costa Oliveira – “acted alone” in the double homicide.
On Sunday, police said the other five suspects were being investigated for allegedly helping to hide the bodies, which were buried in the jungle, about three kilometers from the river where the victims’ boat was intercepted.
The five new suspects will be able to answer for the crime of concealing the body, which would allow them to await trial in freedom.
The Federal Police added in the statement that it is continuing the investigation to try to clarify all the circumstances of the crime.
On Wednesday night, authorities found human remains in a remote part of the Amazon, which were later confirmed to belong to the British journalist and the Brazilian activist.
Phillips and Araújo disappeared on June 5th while sailing a river in Vale do Javari, a jungle region near Brazil’s borders with Peru and Colombia, where they had traveled to collect material for a book the journalist was working on about threats faced by indigenous people in the region.
Dom Phillips was a journalist based in Brazil for 15 years, where he collaborated with various international media, such as the Financial Times, the New York Times and the Washington Post, among others.
