Peruvian prosecutor names lynched B.C. man as killer of 81-year-old healer

Following an intensive investigation, Peruvian prosecutor Ricardo Jimenez says he’s convinced that lynched Comox Valley man Sebastian Woodroffe killed 81-year-old indigenous healer Olivia Arevalo Lomas on April 19. The Peruvian Ministry of the Interior also echoed this charge, naming Woodroffe as the principal suspect in a media release.

The B.C. man had been in the Amazon region to study ayahuasca and its benefits relating to addiction. The psychedelic plant, which has long been used by Amazonian tribes for medicinal and ritual purposes, has generated a significant amount of tourism in the area.

According to Jimienez, Woodroffe and Arevalo quarreled over money, leading Woodroffe to shoot and kill the healer with a 9mm Taurus pistol which he had purchased earlier in the month. Matching bullet cartridges were discovered at the crime scene and gunpowder residue was found on Woodroffe’s clothes.

Following Arevalo’s death, Jimenez alleges that members of her Shipibo-Conibo tribe targeted Woodroffe for retaliation. His subsequent lynching, also on April 19, was caught on a cellphone video which was later uploaded to social media.

The video, which appears to show Woodroffe pleading for his life, led police to identify two suspects in Woodroffe's lynching, Jose Ramirez Rodriguez and Nicolas Mori Guimaraes, who are now under arrest.