Journalist Dom Phillips, Murdered at Age 57, Loved Brazil and The Amazon

The British man who lived in Brazil since 2007 was killed in Vale do Javari

Living in Brazil for 15 years, British journalist Dom Phillips, 57, murdered in Vale do Javari, in Amazonas, was writing a book that had everything to do with his trip to Atalaia do Norte (AM): "How to Save the Amazon".

Described by friends as generous, caring, kind, and solicitous, Dom, who was killed along with indigenous activist Bruno Pereira, 41, grew up in Bebington, a town 8 km south of Liverpool, England.

As a young man, he played music on the streets for money. He began his journalistic career covering the electronic music scene.

Veteran foreign correspondent Dom Phillips (C) talks to two indigenous men in Aldeia Maloca Papiú, Roraima State, Brazil, on November 16, 2019. - Phillips went missing while researching a book in the Brazilian Amazon's Javari Valley with respected indigenous expert Bruno Pereira. Pereira, an expert at Brazil's indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, with deep knowledge of the region, has regularly received threats from loggers and miners trying to invade isolated indigenous groups' land. (Photo by Joao LAET / AFP) -

He wrote a book about the birth of DJ culture and, in 2007, traveled to Brazil, drawn by colleagues in the music field.

The idea was to stay a few months, but he felt at home and decided to move for good. He lived in Bahia, the home state of his wife, Alessandra.

Dom knew the Amazon very well and had a great deal of experience working with indigenous peoples, skills he acquired from having dedicated himself to this coverage from the moment he arrived in the country.

_{Translated by Cassy Dias}