Four confess to yachtsman Blake Amazon attack

Four Brazilians confessed on Friday to attacking the moored vessel of New Zealand yachtsman Peter Blake at an Amazon River outpost, saying they fired the shots that killed Blake in self-defense, police said.

Federal Police in Macapa, the last major stop on the Amazon River before it meets the Atlantic Ocean, arrested seven men in the death of the world-renowned sportsman after police launched a manhunt on the "express orders" of Brazil's president.

Police freed three suspects later on Friday. The remaining four, aged between 21 and 27, said they boarded Blake's Seamaster vessel late on Wednesday night to loot it but said they never intended to kill.

"They all confessed to attacking the boat, but they won't say who was responsible (for Blake's death). They all said they shot," said Federal Police spokesman Jose Araujo in Macapa, capital of the poor Amazon state of Amapa in northern Brazil.

Three of the men have previous convictions for assault, robbery and drug trafficking. Police continued to scour the rainforest and waterways of Amapa for an eighth suspect.

The murder of one of the most successful sailors in history by Amazon pirates known in the region as "River Rats" stunned the world and Blake's native New Zealand, where he was a national hero.

Blake's body is expected to be released Monday to New Zealand Ambassador Denise Almao in Macapa, police said.

The hooded pirates caught Blake, 53, and his crew by surprise, soon after they returned from dinner on land. The towering sailor, two-times winner of the prestigious America's Cup, fired a rifle at the bandits before being shot twice in the back, police said.

The Seamaster was on a two-month environmental awareness expedition thousands of miles up the Amazon and was on its way back to sea when the attack occurred near Macapa, a city of 220,000 people that sits on the equator.

Local television showed images of four burly, unkempt men handcuffed in police custody, one wearing a bandage over a bleeding hand wound. A finger was found on the boat's deck which was believed to belong to the wounded suspect.

"I fired twice but I don't know if those were the ones that killed the guy," suspect Ricardo Tavares, 23, told reporters.

Police found watches and about $625, allegedly taken from the Seamaster, at Tavares' home, and seized guns from the suspects. The three freed men had helped to set up the robbery but were not involved in the shooting, police said.

STREAM OF TRIBUTES
The death of Blake, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, prompted a stream of tributes from around the sailing world and messages of condolence from Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso the government of Amapa to New Zealand.

"He was an unusual sort of guy, as many great men are," sailing friend and compatriot Grant Dalton told Sky TV.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who visited Blake last month during a trip to Brazil, said in a telegram to Cardoso on Friday that all those who knew Blake were "shocked by this tragedy."

"He was a passionate ambassador for the protection of natural resources, like Antarctica and Amazonia," Clark said, in response to an official message from Cardoso.

Clark compared Blake's feats to those of compatriot Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest.

In Macapa, Ambassador Almao met with Amapa Gov. Joao Alberto Capiberibe, who said in a statement his poor state was doing everything possible to help.

"It is lamentable that sailor Peter Blake met his death in Amapa, a state that respects life and is concerned with preserving the environment," said Capiberibe.

Experts say piracy on the Amazon River is not common although the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest, covering an area bigger than Western Europe, is a perfect cloak for drug and arms traffickers.

Authorities fear the killing could set back the impoverished region as it works to draw foreign travelers.

"At a moment when we were expecting a rise in foreign tourism to Brazil something like this happening is very negative," said Roberto Macedo, sales director at Varig, the country's flagship airline.

Amyr Klink, a leading Brazilian adventure sailor who met up with Blake some weeks ago, said the murder underscored the need for more safety and organized marinas.

"Sadly Brazil is entering on to the map of risky countries for sailing," Klink said. "This map includes some places like Venezuela, parts of Panama, the China Sea, and now Brazil, which was considered unique, will become part of this map."