Ringleader of pirate gang that killed British adventurer shot dead in gun battle

One of the Amazon pirates believed to have murdered British adventurer Emma Kelty was himself killed this morning, it has been claimed.

Evanilson Gomes da Costa, known as Baia, was one of seven gangsters who police said were involved in the murder of the 43-year-old canoeist.

He had been on the run since last Wednesday night, when Ms Kelty sent out a distress signal after pitching her tent on the banks of the Solimoes river, 150 miles west of Manaus.

According to three other suspects who have been captured, Da Costa was the ringleader who they claim stabbed to death the former primary school headteacher, who had already been injured by a gunshot.

Ms Kelty was 44 days into her attempt to row from the 4,000 miles from the source of the Amazon river in Peru, through Brazil to its mouth at the Atlantic.

It is believed Costa was shot by drug gangsters in an unrelated incident and arrived at the Regional Hospital in Coari in the early hours of the morning, later dying of his injuries.

Military Police Commander Colonel Alonso Ramos yesterday said the three men under arrest, two of whom are just 17 years old, had confessed to the crime and given details about what had happened.

He said: "They told us they stabbed her and threw the body into the water. The men who stabbed her body are two of the fugitives who are still on the run and have fled into the forest.

"During their statement the teenagers confessed to participating in the crime and said that those who had killed the British woman were hiding in the bush."

Police believe Ms Kelty was still alive when the gang took and threw her body in to Solimoes river.

Deputy Chief of Police, Ivo Martins said: "Emma was hit by two gunshots from a .20 calibre sawn-off shotgun, while she was resting in a tent she had pitched on the island.

"She had no chance to react to what happened to her.

"The gang operates like pirates and go out in a canoe looking and hunting for the chance to steal. It appears they did not have a predefined victim."

Ms Kelty's body has still not been found but military personnel are still searching the river, while a full-scale manhunt for the remaining three gang members continues.

Police have named them as brothers Arthur Gomes da Silva, known as "Beira", Erimar Ferreira da Silva known as "Chico" e Nilson Ferreira da Silva known as "Zé Preto".

Two 17-year-olds have been arrested and another man, Erinei Ferreira da Silva, who police say fired the shots into Ms Kelty's tent as she lay inside.