Brazilian police name alleged ‘mastermind’ behind murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira

Police chief says Rubens Villar Coelho, whose nickname is Colômbia, ordered the murders of the British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous expert

Brazilian police have named the alleged mastermind behind the murders of the British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon last year.

Rubens Villar Coelho, whose nickname is Colômbia, was first arrested on separate charges last July – one month after the two men were murdered in the Javari Valley region of the Amazon. He was released in October but was rearrested last month for breaking his bail terms.