Canadian lynched over death of Peru healer
Villagers accuse father who had left his home to study Amazon plant medicine of murdering wise woman
POLICE in Peru were last night preparing a series of arrests over the lynching of a Canadian man accused by villagers of murdering an 81-year-old medicine woman.
Sebastian Woodruffe’s body was found in a shallow grave on Saturday in a remote village in the Amazonian region of Ucayali.
The 41-year-old had been accused by locals of the murder of Olivia Arevalo, a traditional healer of the Shipiboconibo tribe. She was shot twice and died on Thursday near her home, said Ricardo Palma Jimenez, the head of a group of prosecutors in Ucayali. Arevalo had been working with traditional plant medicine since the age of 15, and came from a long line of healers, according to the Temple of the Way of Light centre, where she worked.
Ricardo Franco, Arevalo’s nephew, described her as “the mother that protects the Earth in the jungle”. Woodruffe was believed to have been one of her clients, and some reports on social media suggested that she was killed for refusing to perform an ayahuasca ceremony – a hallucinogenic spiritual ritual increasingly popular with Westerners. Other reports indicated a row over debts.
Arevalo’s sons disputed both versions, however, saying that she had stopped performing ayahuasca ceremonies due to her health.
Locals told an indigenous news outlet that witnesses saw Woodroffe shoot Arevalo multiple times after she sang an ikaro, or curing song. He then fled, residents alleged, prompting Arevalo’s family members to post a “wanted” bulletin online, showing Woodroffe’s photo, identifying him by name and nationality and offering a reward.
Distressing mobile phone footage, shared on social media, showed the attack on Woodruffe.
He is seen in the film groaning in a puddle near a thatched-roof structure, as another man puts a rope around his neck and drags him, with others looking on.
Peru’s ministry of the interior said yesterday that they were close to making arrests in the case.
Woodruffe, who had a nine-year-old son, grew up on Vancouver Island. In a Youtube video in 2013, he said that he had decided to leave his job and his home in Canada to study plant medicine in Peru. A relative’s battle with alcoholism had inspired him to “fix the family’s spirit” and pursue a career as an addictions counsellor. He began raising money for an apprenticeship with traditional healers in the Amazon, writing on his fundraising page that he felt a responsibility to “support this culture and retain some of their treasure in me and my family, and share it with those that wish to learn”. Yarrow Willard, a friend, said: “We’ve just been in shock… there is no way this person is capable of that.” Mr Jimenez said: “We will not rest until both murders, of the indigenous woman as well as the Canadian man, are solved. We want the people of the Amazon to know that there is justice, but not justice by their own hands.”