By CATHERINE MASTERS
Relatives of Sir Peter Blake's killers sat in the Macapa courtroom and wept.
None had expected the sentencing of those involved in the robbing of the Seamaster and the slaying of its famous captain to be so severe.
As the jail terms for the six river pirates were read - ranging from 36 years for Ricardo Colares Tavares, who pulled the trigger, to 26 years for the driver of the getaway boat - their initial air of calm confidence vanished.
It was replaced with despair and they filed out of the courtroom crying with heads bowed, most of them to catch the bus to their homes in one of Brazil's poorest states.
The Herald's interpreter in Macapa, Francisco Franca, was in court as guilty verdicts were declared and sentences handed down, changing the lives of girlfriends, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles and friends forever.
Under Brazilian law, the men who committed the terrible crime of killing an international hero last December will not be eligible for parole until at least two-thirds of their sentences have been served.
"Everybody's crying behind me," said Franca. "It's really sad. They seem to be surprised with the decision. They didn't expect the punishment to be so hard."
Murderers in Brazil usually do not receive such long sentences, and although they have five days to appeal, it is unlikely that this gang of six opportunistic but experienced robbers who encountered Kiwis on the Amazon will get anywhere.
They were not charged with murder but with latrocinio - armed robbery leading to death - after storming the Seamaster in the dead of night wearing balaclavas and helmets, yelling and waving guns.
Key decisions by Judge Jose Magno Linhares vindicate Sir Peter's actions when he raced below to get his rifle and protect his boat and crew.
* The judge rejected claims by some of the accused that Sir Peter fired the first shot.
* He said that, given the nature of the armed invasion of the boat, there was no scope in Brazilian criminal law for the men to claim self-defence in the face of crew reaction.
* He argued that it was "absolutely impossible" to characterise Sir Peter's reaction to the situation as "unfair" in the face of an "arbitrary and illicit" attack.
Sir Peter could claim "legitimate defence of himself and his companions".
The judge said the suggestion that if Sir Peter had not reacted as he did there would not have been a death was "absolutely unacceptable, pure conjecture and vain speculation".
He told the court the long sentences were not based on revenge but on justice and forensic evidence, and pronounced all the men guilty of latrocinio because under Brazilian law all members of the group are equally responsible for the crime, even though only one fired the fatal shots.
The men were also charged with attempted latrocinio in relation to a gunshot wound suffered by crew member Geoff Bullock during the getaway and faced a third charge of forming a gang to commit a crime.
The judge added a fourth charge of simple armed robbery against them all.
The second charge was dismissed, with the judge ruling that shots fired at the Seamaster during the getaway should be part of the simpler charge of armed robbery.
All the defendants were found guilty of nine counts of armed robbery each - one for each crew member other than Sir Peter.
The charge of forming a gang was thrown out because it was decided that these men were not a permanent criminal association but an opportunistic grouping.
The sentences for the nine counts of armed robbery will be served concurrently, but the others will be served cumulatively.
The sentences differ for each man because of mitigating and aggravating factors, such as parole violation, reoffending, whether they made a full confession and the fact that one was aged under 21 at the time.
Three accomplices were also charged and two convicted.
Antonio Goncalves De Lima was sentenced to two years' detention plus community work for receiving Sir Peter's rifle, which was stolen by the gang.
Janio Dos Santos Gomes received four months' detention for hiding Isael Pantoja da Costa, who was nursing a bloody hand and arm after he was shot by Sir Peter.
The third accomplice was a taxi driver, but a charge of aiding and abetting was dismissed.
Four of the men have been in medium-security jail at Amapa State Prison since the killing in December, but Tavares and his sidekick da Costa have been transferred to a maximum-security prison in the nearby Amazonian state of Acre and are likely to serve out their terms there.
They were transferred because Tavares was part of a group of prisoners who tried to dig their way out of Amapa State Prison this year.
Acre State Prison in Rio Branco is notorious for the escape of the father and son killers of Brazilian rainforest protector Chico Mendes in the early 1990s. They cut through bars and fled with seven others, with police blaming lax security for the breakout.
Judge Linhares implied that the gang of young men were motivated by greed, and said that Sir Peter was a good man who shot in self-defence but would usually never hurt anyone.
For the crew of the Seamaster, the sentencing is a relief. Leon Sefton was on board the night of the robbery and was the last crew member to see Sir Peter alive.
He had been below deck with Sir Peter when the fatal shots were fired, and tried in vain to resuscitate the man who had long been his hero.
He told the Herald yesterday that while happy with the long sentences, he did not know if justice could ever be served.
"Obviously, the tragedy is it doesn't bring Pete back, but I suppose all of us think the decision the judge arrived at - he's blown apart any insinuation that there was anything but an appropriate response from Pete and the crew.
"We take some comfort that the judge hasn't tolerated any of the ludicrous defence claims - he's thrown out the insanity pleas, he's seen the truth behind the lies."
Sefton said he believed "wholeheartedly" that Sir Peter had reacted to a direct threat on his life.
He had seen him flinch when confronted with the armed da Costa, then heard a rapid exchange of gunfire.
Sir Peter hit da Costa, blowing off two fingers and gashing his arm, but Sefton said Sir Peter had first given the bandit, who the court says opened fire first, the chance to leave.
"Then there was a gunfight, then there was an opportunity for the bandits to leave the vessel again and they didn't take it."
Instead, Tavares had stood looking down the stairs while Sir Peter's back was turned, taken aim and fired at him.
"He gunned Pete down. So really they had two distinct opportunities just to get the hell out of there, but they didn't."
Sefton says he may never fully recover from the ordeal, but the flashbacks have eased over time.
"But it's strange what you take from an experience like this. It teaches you to value life and value friends and value opportunities and value the way of life we have here. It really points out what really matters."
Treatment has been limited to psychiatrists and paediatricians until now.