We'll miss you James

My heart is saddened with this senseless barbaric act.  Me and my wife planned to visit James and his family  this summer just to stop in and say hello while we were in Rio getting her visa for the US.  I knew James as a kind and caring person he has helped many ex-patriots with his tutorials on Portuguese and other things. I for one will miss him.

My condolences go out to his wife and family.  Who is to blame for this of course the people who committed this heinous act. But I also blame Brazil for their coddling of criminals especially juveniles who commit serious crimes. 
In my opinion I think the Canadian consulate should lodge a formal complaint with Brazil on the murder of one of her citizens and demand a thorough investigation and arrest of the people involved.

James often commented on how murders go unsolved even against their own citizens.  The punishments for these kind of things should be severe even to include the death penalty with public execution.  It really needs to stop and this would demonstrate to the  world and to Brazil 's citizens that the crime of murder will not go unpunished. 
In what civilized country do they release people convicted of crimes on Christmas to visit with their families with the promise they will return to prison after the holidays.  Then they wonder why crime is so rampant.  Gross incompetence and a plain They don't care attitude for the victims. The victims of these crimes cry out for justice but it isn't heard by the politicians here.  I pray something is done about this.

Rest in peace my dear friend. I pray to God for justice on your behalf and that the ones responsible face your judgement

John Cherish

The whole thing seems very odd , no mention at all of it in the Brazilian or Canadian news...
Does the Canadian government even know? Please keep us posted on any info so we can get some sense of closure , this is extremely troubling.

So sad to read this news. Condolences to his family and friends. James was always so helpful in answering questions on various topics in relation to Brasil - thanks to him and his willingness to share his immense knowledge my move here was made considerably easier. RIP James.

James RIP my dear friend.
You will be missed greatly. It was very sad to read about you on this chat. Does someone know the circumstances since I just read 1 pm local time in front of his house? He was always giving a lot of information about Brazil and other countries. He will live on this forum forever.
You left your marks all over these chats, in my inbox messages where we delightfully debated about certain laws but we always gained knowledge from each other. I know I will miss you greatly. For those of you all over the world on this forum, please be safe and have a nice life. Keep helping each other and help James's legacy to give advice when needed.

Not sure how many of you expats are aware of this but James was very active across the entire expat site ....on the occasions I ventured into other country forums on Expat.com James was  there surprisingly often giving his 2 cents on the matter

Wow. I am very shocked just waking up to read the email from expat.com. James was such a help to us all. He helped me a lot last year when I was panicking about my visa. His advice was spot on and helped me calm down and make a right decision. I really cannot beleive this happened to him. He seemed so cautious and knew so much about this country and its people. I wish his family peace and hope they are safe. Very sad indeed. Rest in heaven, my fellow Canuck.

Lola

This is so sad. RIP James. He wanted a Labrador to train as his own guide dog and I finally found one and wrote to him a week or so ago. I am shocked and sad.

Read this article James wrote a response in the comments and one guy said he was beaten and shot to death last week.  His name is Mathew Shepley https://www.opendemocracy.net/jaime-alv … -in-brazil

The minimum I could do is drop a line to appreciate James' help through the last few years. He was a mentor and giver per excellence. I am saddened...and quite frankly, discouraged. If it could happen to James, it could very well happen to any of us. He knew the country and the people inside out. Death respects no place or person...but I'm beginning to doubt if my stay here should continue. It's one thing to read these sad stories in the news. It's another when it happens very close to us.
God bless your family James. Farewell, and fly well....wherever you fly.

I'm getting bits of information from many places, all slowly helping to build up a picture of what happened, and it isn't a pretty picture at all.
Various web sites and conversations have given me a vision of a terrible scene where James was deliberately targeted for assassination by two men who wanted to close his mouth.
It seems his home was broken into during the day, he was beaten then  shot twice, making this sound very much like a warning to anyone who dares to speak out against whoever they were.
His body was taken away by civil defence, but it's unclear if he has had a funeral at this point.
I have now read/heard two reports the case is closed, and there will be no further investigation.
In a country with around 50,000 murders per year, this is hardly a surprise - it's rubbish, but not a shock.

It strikes me when murders hardly make the local newspapers, there's something very wrong in that country.
More so when the police don't seem to care.

I just got to know about this news. RIP James.

Thanks James for telling things like it is in Brasil. You did not hide fact but you were a great source of inspiration and information needed for expats planning to visit or make a new life in Brasil. You are already missed and I hope to continue to learn and exchange information and experience about Brasil. I will continue to be positive and open minded while in Brasil. Let's all keep sharing and learning more like the way James did. Thanks Bud!👍

dogs in Brazil wrote:

Read this article James wrote a response in the comments and one guy said he was beaten and shot to death last week.  His name is Mathew Shepley https://www.opendemocracy.net/jaime-alv … -in-brazil

There are UNCONFIRMED rumours the men were police officers, and that piece doesn't do anything to suggest otherwise.

This is disgusting. What can we do? Somebody mentioned speaking with the Canadian consulate to open an official investigation. They cannot just say case closed.

shocked by this news
  james was a real help to many people his knowledge was amazing and would always answer so quickly
  many gringoes in this world will miss you mate
RIP
gary

James was the best!  A true gift to Brazil and to expats.  I´m going to miss his insight.

So sorry for his lost. My prayers and blessings to his family. Rest in peace.

I'm just sick hearing about this. He was so kind, helpful and generous.

Hello to all, I know the time is of reflection and remeberance of "Our James", here is a link of his participation in Disqus If you have time to follow the link. It does not have any information on his passing away. Yet it shows how active and tenacious James felt about living and being apart of the Brazilian Life.

William James Woodward · Profile · Disqus

https://disqus.com/by/william_james_woodward/
He was Our James!

Wow... Sad news indeed. James was a very helpful guy. Very honest and to the point. He will definitely be missed.

This is very very sad.  Janes was such an intellegent man.  He will be very hard to replace.

there simply are no words.

james gave of himself more than could be expected of one, kind soul.

my deepest condolences.

Terrible. He helped me a lot. I can't believe this!!!

Fred, you need to put a case in Canadian consulate about this. I am sure they will investigate this matter

Tristan08 wrote:

Fred, you need to put a case in Canadian consulate about this. I am sure they will investigate this matter

I intend to call them later, but I don't expect they will have much other than a few basic facts.
They may not be able to pass much information as I'm not family, and they probably have very little  influence over the local police so they very probably won't be able to get anything moving anyway.
Sad as it is, there are something around a thousand murders every week over there, the police seemingly treating most as seriously as littering, so there's not a lot of hope of any justice.
Add the many unproven suggestions the police carry out a number of these murders, and the chances are pretty much zero.
My primary intention is to attempt to find out if there was a funeral, something that's unclear at the moment.

Fred let us know if you find out anything.

May God bless him and Mercy on him. He was very helpful.

I'm shocked and horrified to hear this. Deepest sympathies to his family and all who knew him. He provided such help to all of us and I was thinking, only a few weeks ago, before I return to Brazil later this year I'll have to send James a list of all my questions and doubts and he will sort it all out for me. RIP James. Xx

So sorry for family and friends of James.
I spent 11 yrs in Copa providing security and guidance to foreign vacationers and am painfully aware of the risks we take by living there.

Certainly the lack of juvenile justice was and is a major problem and current situation not likely to improve until they are held accountable for their actions.

However not knowing details of James' passing we can't draw conclusions and he may have had enemies he, himself, was unaware of.

Regardless, doesn't change what happened and heartfelt sympathy to those close.
:*(

I can tell you from too much experience as long as he had residency he likey was interred within 36 hours as are almost all deaths in Brasil.
Almost a certainty if his wife and children are Brasilian.

Sorry

What horríble news. My sympathies to his family. Though we only communicated on this blog, he seemed such a lovely man, always willing to help and incredibly patient.

I do hope he is in a better place.

I am so sad to hear about this tragic news. sir james  was such a kind and   good mentor.  until now i still can't believe  this had happen. i do want to send my
heartfelt sympathy to sir james family. he will always be in our heart.
thank you very much sir james for the warm welcome and  relevant informations you  gave me and to all the new comers here in brazil.
i salute you.

JOSEPHINE

This is really sad  . RIP James..

Something extremely creepy , Jame's last post was 7th April at 13:22pm
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 22#3181880

So if the info is correct posting this must have been the last thing he did before he died....spooky

The latest info I have is there has been no funeral at this time because of lack of money

Were you able to turn up any kind of police report or investigation?

If there is no money for a funeral, his poor family must be destitute. Have you been in contact? Can we help?

Still very little info.
Working on it

Unconfirmed.
Around $2,000 Canadian is required for the funeral, but this is not available at the moment.
I understand this is expected from the family but I only have a simple conversation with someone I don`t know to work on.

Fred is doing a tremendous job, considering that he is half way around the world from Brazil (in Indonesia). But can't somebody from the Brazil community just visit the family and talk to them in their own language to find out the status?
Once we know for sure, we can arrange an online fundraising to give James the funeral he deserves. I will surely contribute!