In SP, man presents himself to the PM for involvement in the death Bruno and Dom

A 26-year-old man presented himself today to the PM (Military Police) in the Sé region, in the center of São Paulo, claiming to have been involved in the death of indigenist Bruno Pereira and English journalist Dom Phillips in Amazonas. According to delegate Roberto Monteiro, from Seccional Centro, Gabriel Pereira Dantas “reports in great detail” his alleged participation in the crime and the trip to São Paulo.

Earlier, a policewoman had already confirmed the arrest to the UOL. In the afternoon, in an interview with the press, Monteiro stated that he asked for Dantas’ temporary arrest and is awaiting a decision from the Judiciary.

The case is being investigated by the team of the 77th DP (Police District), in Santa Cecília, also in the center of the capital. The Civil Police of São Paulo has already contacted the PF (Federal Police).

According to the delegate, Dantas said he is from Manaus and was in Atalaia do Norte (AM). He would also have said that, after participating in the crime, he left Amazonas, went to Pará, then to Mato Grosso, and, hitchhiking with a truck driver, traveled from Rondonópolis (MT) to São Paulo.

Without money and shelter, he looked for the PM around 6 am and said he was involved in the crime.

In a video published by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, Dantas says he helped pilot the criminals’ boat and cites one of the arrested suspects. But he denies that he shot Bruno and Dom or participated in the concealment of the bodies. “I just took [os dois corpos do barco]I was in despair”, he says.

Monteiro did not respond if Dantas is on the PF list of eight suspects of having participated in the death of Bruno and Dom (read more below). Sought, the PF also did not answer the questions of the report.

The delegate informed that Dantas gave the names of witnesses to the story reported – one of them testifies this afternoon in Rio Verde (GO).

The crime

Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips disappeared on June 5 in Vale do Javari, in the Amazon. Dom was a correspondent for The Guardian newspaper. A British man, he came to Brazil in 2007 and traveled frequently to the Amazon to report on the environmental crisis and its consequences for indigenous communities.

The journalist met Bruno in 2018, during a report for the Guardian. The pair were part of a 17-day expedition through the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, one of the largest concentrations of isolated indigenous people in the world. The common interest brought the two together.

Bruno, a licensed servant of Funai (National Indian Foundation), was known as a defender of indigenous peoples and active in the inspection of invaders, such as prospectors, fishermen and loggers.

According to the Brazilian Public Security Forum, the area in which the duo navigated is “a stage for disputes between criminal factions that stand out for the overlapping of environmental crimes, ranging from deforestation and illegal mining to actions related to drug and arms trafficking.” .

So far, the PF investigation has reached three suspects — only one of whom, fisherman Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as Pelado, has confessed to being responsible for the double homicide. According to the police, he had admitted to having thrown the bodies in a part of the forest in Vale do Javari, quartered and set on fire. However, this week, he backtracked and claimed not to have participated in the murder.

According to the fisherman’s testimony, the person responsible for the deaths of the indigenist and the journalist, which occurred earlier this month, is Jeferson da Silva Lima, also known as Pelado da Dinha.

The two, along with Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, Amarildo’s brother and known as Dos Santos, are being held by the PF. Oseney denies involvement in the crime. In all, the corporation considers eight suspects.