The PF superintendent in that northern territorial division, Alexandre Fontes, reiterated Colombia’s responsibility for the crimes committed in the Valle de Javari region of the Amazon in early June.
«I have no doubt that the intellectual author was Colombian. We have evidence that he supplied the ammunition to Jefferson and Amarildo (da Costa Oliveira, known as Pelado), the same ones found in the case,” Fontes said.
He announced that new names were appearing in the file, such as Amarildo’s brother.
He said a report containing six additional charges has been sent to the federal judiciary. “We used to have three names. We have identified Amarildo’s brother, who provided him with the firearm and will stand trial for involvement in the murder,” he said.
The Amazon federal court on January 20 highlighted the first hearings of the trial investigating the murdered.
Sessions were due to take place on January 23, 24 and 25 but were canceled due to technical issues and are scheduled to take place on March 20, 21 and 22.
After the bloody events, Colombia was arrested in the act of using false documents while being questioned at the police station in the Amazonian municipality of Tabatinga for alleged involvement in the patricides.
Although he denies his involvement in the deaths, one of the PF’s investigative lines is that Colombia, which would also be a drug trafficker, is buying illegal fish from criminals in the region.
Phillips, a contributor to The Guardian newspaper, and Araújo disappeared while on an expedition to survey the Javari Valley in June.
They were last seen on June 5 cruising through the community of San Rafael in a boat. From there they drove to Atalaia do Norte. The 45-mile journey was supposed to take only two hours, but they never reached their destination.
The remains of both men turned up on June 15 in an area specified by Pelado, who admitted to burying the bodies near Atalaia do Norte in a remote forest on the banks of the Itacoaí River.
Another suspect already in custody is Pelado’s brother, Oseney Oliveira, nicknamed Dos Santos. In addition to the three arrested, five other suspects involved in covering up the remains of the victims have been identified.
On June 24, the body of the Indigenista was cremated in Pernambuco State (Northeast) in a painful setting marked by Indigenous prayers and rituals.
Two days later, the burial and cremation of Phillip’s remains took place at a cemetery in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
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