Mourão says that the eventual mastermind behind the deaths of Dom and Bruno “must be a merchant”

The vice president of the Republic, Hamilton Mourão, said this Monday (20) that, if there is a mastermind behind the deaths of journalist Dom Phillips and indigenist Bruno Pereira, it must be a “merchant in the area who was feeling harmed”.

“No one is happy with a stupid death like Bruno and Dom did. Now, it is a poor region, Atalaia do Norte, a municipality of 20,000 inhabitants with innumerable needs, lives on a small trade, on the municipality’s participation fund. These people who cowardly murdered the two are riverine people, people who live there on the edge of having access to better living conditions and live from fishing,” said Mourão.

Mourão also said that the murders were motivated by Bruno’s actions and not by Dom’s: “Dom was a joker in this story, it was collateral damage”.

According to the vice president, the crime must have occurred on a Sunday and by drinking alcohol. “On Sundays, the gang drinks, gets drunk, the same thing that happens on the outskirts of big cities. […] The same thing must have happened there.”

The statements were made one day after the vessel on which Dom and Bruno were traveling was found by search teams. According to the crisis committee coordinated by the Federal Police, firefighters and navy soldiers located the sunken vessel in the region of Atalaia do Norte (AM), in an attempt to hide the crime.

So far, three suspects have been arrested for the death of Bruno and Dom. They are: Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, 41, known as “Pelado”; Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, 41, the “Dos Santos”; and Jeferson da Silva Lima, called “Pelado da Dinha”. In a statement released on Sunday (19), the PF said that investigations are continuing.

*under the supervision of Noeli Menezes