PF indicts suspect of being responsible for the murder of Bruno and Dom

The Federal Police indicted Ruben Dario da Silva Villar as one of the masterminds of the murder of indigenist Bruno Pereira and English journalist Dom Phillips, shot dead on June 5, 2022, in Atalaia do Norte (AM). The information, which is being processed in court secrecy, was confirmed by Villar’s lawyer, Eduardo de Souza Rodrigues, this Monday (5), the day the double homicide completes one year. “He [Villar] was indicted as a possible mastermind, but we have not yet been subpoenaed [a nos manifestar sobre as acusações de homicídio]”, said the lawyer to Agência Brasil, by telephone. “Especially because, the fact that he is indicted does not mean that he has already become a defendant. And as the survey [sobre os assassinatos] it is confidential, we do not have access to it until it is formally notified and I qualify in the records”, added the defender. The indictment is a formal act with which the police authority responsible for the investigation points to the Public Ministry (MP) and the Judiciary that already have evidence of the authorship of a crime or infraction. Formally, while not indicted, an investigated person is only a suspect. The indictment, however, can be filed at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, if he deems that there is not enough evidence to point out the guilt of the accused. If the MP sends the complaint to the Judiciary and this is accepted, the accused becomes a defendant, having to respond to the judicial process. Along with Villar, the PF indicted Jânio Freitas de Souza, suspected of being part of an alleged criminal organization dedicated to illegal fishing in the western region of the Amazon, close to the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, around which Bruno and Phillips were killed. Villar, who is known in the region by the nickname Colombia, is suspected of leading that organization and having links with drug trafficking. The report was unable to contact Souza’s defense. Also according to the lawyer, the PF announced the indictment of Villar in January of this year, when the corporation revealed that the investigators of the case were convinced that Villar was the one who ordered the crimes. In fact, at the time, the PF superintendent in Amazonas, Alexandre Fontes, participated in a press conference during which he made statements in this regard. “We have evidence that he [Colômbia] supplied ammunition for Jefferson and Amarildo, the same ones found in the case,” said the superintendent, stating that Villar paid the initial expenses with the defense of Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as Pelado, the first suspect to be arrested, on June 7, 2022. Although Rodrigues assures that the indictment is “old information”, the MPF informed the report, through its advisory, that until this Monday it had not received any document on the “possible indictment of alleged masterminds” of the homicides of Bruno and Dom. The PF said it does not comment on ongoing investigations. Villar, or Colombia, is already a defendant in two other lawsuits. One of them even resulted in a conviction in the first instance, which he is appealing. This is the inquiry to which he responds for ideological falsehood. In July 2022, when giving testimony to the Federal Police as a suspect of involvement in the murders and concealment of the bodies of Bruno and Dom, Colombia presented an identity document that the PF claims to be false and in which he is identified as Rubens Villar Coelho – There are, in the Federal Court, cases in which Villar appears now under one name, now under another. As a result, Villar spent nearly three months in detention. Until, on October 22, the Federal Court in Amazonas authorized him to leave prison, upon payment of a bail of R$ 15,000; the use of electronic anklets; the delivery of their passports and the commitment not to leave Manaus. In December, however, Villar was arrested again for failing to comply with the conditions imposed by the Justice and, since then, he has remained in prison. Three other suspects of participation in the murders of Bruno and Dom and in the concealment of the corpses are under arrest: Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as Pelado; Jefferson da Silva Lima, known as Pelado da Dinha, and Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as Dos Santos. Amarildo and Jefferson had already confessed to the murders. In May of this year, they modified some points of their reports, accusing Bruno of having threatened and shot them, who would have reacted, in self-defence. The two also cleared Oseney, who is Amarildo’s brother. Timeline – Bruno Pereira and Dom Philips – Arte/Agência Brasil

Agência Brasil