Local man accused of killing Briton after ‘bad trip’

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This article was published 18/12/2015 (3760 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LIMA, Peru — A 29-year-old man from Winnipeg allegedly stabbed to death a British tourist after the two drank a hallucinogenic brew at a spiritual retreat in the Peruvian Amazon.

Local authorities said the incident of which Joshua Andrew Freeman Stevens is linked to happened Wednesday night at the Phoenix Ayahuasca spiritual retreat near the town of Iquitos.

It’s not clear what led to the death of Unais Gomes, 25.

Local police chief Normando Marquez said witnesses described a fight breaking out between Gomes and fellow tourist Freeman during which a knife was pulled against the Canadian.

The chief said the same knife was used by Stevens to kill Gomes.

In a video, Stevens can be seen being taken away in custody by a police truck. Martín Manrique from the Iquitos prosecutor’s office says Stevens was later released but must remain in Peru while he is being investigated for homicide.

However, the Guardian reported police concluded all the evidence showed Stevens acted in self-defence after Gomes tried to attack him with a knife.

The British newspaper also quoted Stevens’ fiancée Sarah-Anne Allen as saying all charges had been dropped and he would be returning to Canada soon.

“He is very shaken and sad, but he is coping,” Allen told the British newspaper in an interview posted on its website Friday.

The hallucinogenic cocktail ayahuasca, also known as yage, has been venerated for centuries by indigenous tribes in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia as a cure for all sorts of ailments. But it’s also increasingly consumed by western tourists looking for mind-altering experiences, sometimes with deadly consequences.

The two men were guests at Phoenix Ayahuasca, a self-described “shamanic healing retreat” owned by a sister and brother from Australia. It describes itself on its website as “a safe and supportive place to experience plant medicines and explore the true nature of the self.” Phoenix didn’t return emails and phone calls requesting comment.

The London-based Telegraph newspaper described Gomes as a Cambridge University gradute and a “high-flying London financier.”

A neighbour of Gomes told the Telegraph: “He was very spiritual, it was a very big part of his life and he was very dedicated to it. It really is very sad, he was such a kind person.”

Gomes graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2010 with a 2.1 in Economics, where he had was a member of the rowing team and the Cambridge Investment Club, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He went on to work at Goldman Sachs and then joined Citigroup on the competitive graduate program. He then worked at MVision, a private equity advisory firm based in Green Park and SAV Group, a property development company in Pall Mall.

Companies House records show Gomes briefly held a directorship at UFuture, but stood down in May of this year when the company was dissolved.

 

— The Associated Press