Peruvian mob kills Canadian blamed for shaman's killing

LIMA, Peru – Peruvian authorities say a Canadian who traveled to Peru to study hallucinogenic medicine was killed by a mob in the Amazon rain forest after people blamed him for the slaying of an elderly shaman.

Peru's attorney general's office said Sunday that Sebastian Woodroffe was dragged by the neck shortly after the killing of Olivia Arevalo, an octogenarian plant healer from the Shipibo-Konibo tribe of northeastern Peru.

Officials have backed away from initial reports that Woodroffe was the principal suspect in Arevalo's killing.

Arevalo and Woodroffe were both killed Thursday in the indigenous community of Victoria Gracia. But police did not begin to investigate until a cellphone video appeared in local media showing a man purported to be Woodroffe begging for mercy while being dragged between thatch-roofed homes.