After the expert examination, the bodies of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira are handed over to their families this Thursday, 23rd

Bruno Pacheco – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The bodies of british journalist Dominic Mark Phillips, 57, and indigenous activist Bruno Araújo Pereira, 41, will be delivered to their families on Thursday, 23, after undergoing genetic testing. Both were murdered this month in the Javari Valley region, in the municipality of Atalaia (AM), after conflicts with groups that practiced illegal fishing. Three people have been arrested so far.

Read also: Forensic examinations confirm that ‘human remains’ found in Atalaia do Norte are those of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips

The plane is scheduled to take off from Brasília airport, at 2 pm, and land, at 5 pm, in Salvador (BA), where Dom lived with his wife Alessandra Sampaio; then, the aircraft will fly to Recife (PE), at 6 pm, city where Bruno lived with his wife Beatriz Almeida and two children.

The “human remains” of the journalist and the indigenist were found in the region of Atalaia do Norte (1,136 km from Manaus), on the 15th of this month, and were sent to the municipality of Tabatinga (1107 km from the capital). From the site, the remains were sent to Brasilia, on Thursday, 16, for police analysis that confirmed the identification of the bodies. “The results found are in accordance with the analyses of Forensic Odontology, Forensic Anthropology and Papiloscopy, which indicated that they were the “remains” of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira”, the Federal Police said in a statement.

The Crisis Committee, coordinated by the Federal Police, informed that the Forensic Genetics exams, proposed in the scope of the investigation so far, have been concluded.

According to the Federal Police, the biological samples indicated the presence of “two distinct genetic profiles” in the “human remains” found by the Federal Police forensics.

The investigations also indicated that “the work of the experts from the National Institute of Criminalistics will continue over the next few days, focusing on the analysis of various traces of the case”.

Last Sunday, 21, Bruno’s wife, Beatriz Almeida, said in the show Fantástico, of Rede Globo: “Someone had to prove to me that he really wasn’t alive. Now that I know, I am in this phase of mourning, of explaining to my children, and elaborating this with them. It is very hard. This mourning phase is also a phase of really seeking justice. Justice in the sense of clarification and in the sense that this should not happen again”, she said.

Alessandra Sampaio, Dom Phillips’ wife, also spoke about the death of her husband: “Today, our journey in search of justice also begins. I hope that the investigations exhaust all possibilities and bring definitive answers, with all the pertinent developments, as soon as possible”, she told O Globo newspaper.

Deaths of Bruno and Dom

Bruno and Dom were dismembered and burnt after receiving threats in the field. The pair was navigating on the Itaquaí river, in the municipality of Atalaia do Norte, when they caught the brothers Oseney and Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira fishing pirarucu in an illegal fishing region. Jeferson da Silva Lima, known as “Peladinho”, was also arrested.

The boat used by the journalist and the indigenist was found on Sunday, 19, by the Amazonas Military Police (PM-AM) search team, with the support of firefighters and Navy personnel. The boat was in the Itaquaí river, near the community of Cachoeira. The transport was found after the indication of Jeferson da Silva Lima, the “Pelado da Dinha”, arrested on Saturday, 18, suspected of participating in the crime.

Last Saturday, the 18th, experts from the Federal Police (PF) indicated that the murder of british journalist Dom Phillips was caused by “thoracoabdominal trauma”, caused by a firearm shot with “typical hunting ammunition, with multiple bullets”, which caused injuries mainly in the abdominal and thoracic regions.

Bruno Pereira, on the other hand, died from “thoracoabdominal and cranial trauma”, also caused by the shooting of a typical hunting rifle with several projectiles. The shots caused injuries in the chest/abdomen, where he was shot twice, and in the face/cranium, where he was shot once.