Brazilian police have arrested the man suspected of killing three Finns near the city of João Pessoa in the state of Paraiba at the beginning of December.

The victims, a retired married couple from Savonlinna, were selling their winter home on the Brazilian coast when they and a friend were killed.

The police found the suspect in São Paulo after having been given a tip-off as to the man’s whereabouts.

According to the media, the 58-year-old mechanic was found in a flat on the northern side of the metropolis on Wednesday.

Head of the investigation Rodolfo Santa Cruz confirms to Helsingin Sanomat that the man has been apprehended.

A number of credit cards belonging to the murdered Finns were found in his possession.

The arrested man was a prospective buyer of the Finnish couple’s house, and the motive of the killings apparently involves financial problems linked with the sale of the house.

The police interrogated the mechanic soon after the discovery of the bodies, but he nevertheless managed to leave for São Paulo, which is located more than 2,000 kilometres away from João Pessoa.

The police have already earlier arrested a 51-year-old man who is suspected of helping the mechanic commit the crimes.

According to the head of the investigation, the police have no other suspects.

The mortal remains of the deceased Finns are still in Brazil, but preparations are being made to bring the bodies back to Finland.

Jari Luoto, the Finnish Ambassador to Brazil, says that a date for the transportation has not been set yet. The paperwork for the move has not been completed.

”The arrangements are under way”, Luoto reports.

Markus Talvio, the lawyer representing the victims’ families, says that once the deceased are in Finland, a new forensic examination will be performed on them.

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is helping Brazilian authorities in the investigation into the murder of three Finns near the city of João Pessoa in the state of Paraiba on Friday last week.

“The local police have told us that the investigation has proceeded well. The police have continued their investigation by interrogating people”, says Jari Luoto, the Finnish Ambassador to Brazil.

The victims, a retired married couple from Savonlinna, were selling their winter home on the Brazilian coast when they and a friend were killed.

The NBI confirms that the theory that the killings may have involved difficulties that a prospective buyer of the property may have had in getting the money to pay for the house.

The victims were a retired surgeon and his wife, a retired gynaecologist from Savonlinna, as well as a friend, a semi-retired nurse.

A friend of the victims, anaesthesiologist Pekka Mononen, said that the couple had acquired property in Joao Pessoa Brazil for health reasons, and because cheap housing was available there. However, they had grown tired of constant problems in Brazil.

“They had been robbed once, and they have had money and goods stolen. They were also let down by a person whom they trusted.”

Authorities in Brazil reportedly suspect that two people were involved in the triple murder.

According to the head of the investigation, who was interviewed by the Finnish television network MTV3, police have one suspect, but nobody has been arrested yet.

Police believe that the three were killed in the house, and that the bodies were taken to a nearby sugar cane field where they were found.