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A Peruvian prosecutor says a Canadian man killed in a brutal lynching in the Amazon is believed to have shot and killed an esteemed indigenous leader days before.
Ricardo Jimenez is the chief prosecutor in the remote Ucayali province and says all evidence now gathered indicates Sebastian Woodroffe did kill an 81-year-old traditional healer.
Bullet cartridges found near the body of Olivia Arevalo were traced back to a gun the 41-year-old had purchased earlier in April and gunpowder was found on his clothes.
Woodroffe had gone to Peru to learn about medicinal plants in order to help people suffering from addiction. He was one of Arevalo’s students at the time of her death.
Authorities in Peru have ordered the arrest of two men suspected in Woodroffe’s death.
The suspects were identified through a video posted on social media that appears to show the killing of Woodroffe.
There is now a reward for about CAD $8,000 for their arrest.