The Amazonian pirate who robbed and murdered a British kayaker was himself killed by a rival who wanted to get his hands on the stolen loot, police said.
Evanilson Gomes da Costa, aka Baia, was shot Tuesday night by rival gangsters who were after the items he and six others had stolen from Londoner Emma Kelty, the Guardian reported.
He later died at a hospital, according to a statement from one of the other pirates nabbed in Kelty’s murder.
Kelty was ambushed while camping near Coari Sept. 13, weeks into her solo journey kayaking 4,000 miles along the Amazon River, police said.
Gomes da Costa, 24, — one of the bosses of the drug-trafficking “Water Rats” gang — was the one who shot Kelty twice with a sawed-off shotgun, the other pirate told police.
Her body was dumped in the Solimões river and has yet to be found.
Members of the “Water Rats” stole her two mobile phones, drone, tablet, GoPro camera and money and tried to sell them.
Police have arrested four suspects so far — Jardel Pinheiro Gomes, aka Kael, 19; Erinei Ferreira da Silva, 28; Arthur Gomes da Silva, 28; and a 17-year-old man.
Gomes da Silva admitted to slitting the former primary-school principal’s throat, Coari Police Chief Jose Afonso Barradas Junior said, according to the Telegraph.
Gomes da Silva, known as Beira, and Gomes da Costa were two leaders of the “Water Rats.”
Two other suspects – Erimar and Nilson Ferreira da Silva, both brothers of Erinei – are at large.
Police were searching for the gang members when they learned Gomes da Costa was shot inside his house in Coari.
“According to investigations, people supposedly linked to the drug trade in the area were named as responsible for the execution of the offender, who was 24,” police said in a statement. “He was rescued, taken to a hospital in the municipality, but succumbed to his injuries and died around 8:30 a.m. [Wednesday].”
Villagers said the men, who are known drug users, tortured and raped Kelty as she died after being shot, the Telegraph reported.
One local said Gomes da Costa confessed to him what had happened in the hours after Kelty’s murder.
“When the men saw her tent they thought it belonged to a Colombian with drugs, so they started firing from about 50 meters away,” said the unidentified local. “The woman was hit in the arm. She started waving frantically and screaming for help.”
He said the men believed Kelty was carrying drugs and cut off her hair with a knife – before stabbing her and then sexually abusing her.
“The men fled into the forest after we all found out what they had done,” the local said. “We provided the police with the details and their identities. We’re all disgusted by what they have done.”
At first, investigators believed Kelty sent out a distress signal the night she died, but now say the “SOS” button was accidentally pressed around 10 p.m. Sept. 13 by one of her murderers an hour and a half after her death.
Police have recovered the GPS device, mobile phone and memory card.