Pirates confess to yachting hero murder
Seven men arrested Friday following the murder of New
Zealand yachting hero Sir Peter Blake on Brazil's Amazon
River have confessed to the killing, a federal police
spokesman said.
"For the time being, we call them 'suspects,' but they have
confessed to the crime," the spokesman said.
The suspects, all Brazilian, were detained in a dawn raid in
the town of Macapa, near the mouth of the Amazon where
53-year-old Blake was shot and killed by pirates late on
Wednesday aboard his yacht Seamaster.
Police said 23-year-old Ricardo Tavares from Amapa state admitted to pulling the trigger.
Also arrested were Janio Gomes, 41, Jucelino Rocha Filho, 24, Israel Pantoja da Costa, 27, Jose Irandi Cardoso, 25, Rene Macedo, 21, and Antonio de Lima, whose age was not provided.
The river pirates boarded the boat late Wednesday when it was moored 22 kilometres (14 miles) south of the Macapa, the capital of Amapa state.
They threatened the crew with guns and opened fire when Blake placed himself in front of his team, witnesses told police.
Wristwatches taken from the Seamaster, compact discs and 1,500 reals (600 dollars) in cash had been found on the suspects, the police spokesman added.
One suspect who escaped arrest was Israel's brother, Jose Pantoja da Costa, the spokesman said.
"The list (of suspects) could get longer," he added.
Blake's body was in the Amapa state police morgue on Friday, and would only be released to members of his family, news channel Globo News reported.
Law and order on the Amazon and its tributaries is a serious problem in Brazil. Pirates are known locally as "water-rats" and often target cargo ships travelling up the river.
Brazil's Justice Minister Aloisio Nunes Ferreira on Friday called for an increase in security across the nation. But federal police said they were hard-pressed to ensure security in the region, as they had only a third of the manpower needed.
Blake was one of New Zealand's sporting legends. He won the America's Cup twice, the Fastnet race in 1979 and 1989, was a two-time winner of the infamous Sydney-Hobart, and also won the Tour of Australia and the Whitbread in 1990.
His crowning glory was guiding Team New Zealand to retain the America's Cup in his hometown of Auckland last year -- the first non-American crew to manage the double.
Police said the men arrested for the murder were unaware of Blake's fame. "They had no idea who he was; they thought his boat and crew were tourists," the spokesman said.
Blake's death shocked New Zealand -- parliament came to a standstill as it held a minute's silence, flags flew at half-mast and thousands of New Zealanders donned old red socks to mark his death. Red socks are traditionally worn in New Zealand to support Blake when the America's Cup is under way.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said the murder was "too distressing for words."
Blake had been leading a sailing and environmental expedition up the Amazon river, where he was recently joined for a day by Clark, who called him "the Hillary of the seas", a reference to another New Zealand hero, Mount Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary.
Clark said commemoration books would be opened throughout the country and an appropriate state memorial event would be held, she said.
Blake was an impassioned ecologist and had set up "Blakexpeditions" with backing from the United Nations, his mission being to "help protect the waters of the world and, so, life in, on and around those waters."
He planned to visit areas key to the world's ecosystem, including major rivers, the Arctic and the Antarctic.
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