Murder 'not linked' to organs

2004-02-28 22:08

Maputo, Mozambique - Police have denied links between the killing of a Brazilian missionary and allegations she made that an organ trafficking syndicate was operating in the country, newspapers reported on Saturday.

Duraci Epinger of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the northern Nampula region was found dead in her home on Tuesday. She is believed to have been beaten to death with a hammer found next to her body.

Epinger was reportedly one of a group of missionaries who raised alarm bells in 2001 when she wrote a letter to church authorities saying she had received death threats from suspected organ smugglers.

"The murder has nothing to do with the kidnapping and the trafficking in of human organs", the daily newspaper Noticias quoted an unnamed police source as saying.

Authorities said the death is instead linked to the theft earlier this year of 140 million Meticais (about R38 000) from the church. Epinger had been questioned by police seeking to determine the identity of the thief, a fellow nun told the newspaper.

Earlier this month the attorney general's office launched an investigation into the organ trafficking allegations. Fourteen bodies were exhumed in the Nampula region but no evidence of organ harvesting was found.

- AP