Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki had been strongly driving the #Carwash investigation. (Source: AP Photo/File) Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki had been strongly driving the #Carwash investigation. (Source: AP Photo/File)

A Supreme Court judge central to the huge corruption investigation roiling Brazil died in a plane crash on Thursday, casting doubt over the future of a probe that has reached to the top of the political and economic elite, threatening the president himself. Justice Teori Zavascki died when a plane carrying him and three others crashed outside Paraty, a popular coastal town about 155 miles (250 kilometers) west of Rio de Janeiro, according to his son and authorities.

While the cause of the crash had not been determined, Zavascki held such an important role in the “Car Wash” investigation into a multibillion-dollar bribe scheme at the state oil company Petrobras that many Brazilians immediately voiced suspicious of possible foul play and demanded a full investigation.

“Justice Teori Zavascki had been strongly driving the #Carwash investigation in the Supreme Court. It’s hard to believe this was a mere accident,” tweeted Alan Mansur, director of the National Association of Prosecutors. Federal police said on Thursday they were launching an investigation.

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Within an hour of the news of Zavascki’s death, President Michel Temer, who has been named by suspects caught up in the Petrobras investigations, addressed the nation. Zavascki “was a good man, and a (symbol of) pride for all Brazilians,” said Temer, who called for three days of national mourning. The justice’s son, Francisco Prehn Zavascki, was first to confirm that his father was killed in the afternoon crash. “Dear friends, we have just received confirmation that my father has died. Thank you for all the strength,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Authorities initially reported four people were on board but later raised the number to five and said three bodies had been recovered. The other two identified as deceased were businessman Carlos Alberto Filgueiras and pilot Osmar Rodrigues, according to the Brazilian military. The names and status of the remaining two were not released.

Images on Globo showed rescue workers pulling part of a small white airplane from the sea. Witnesses speaking to Globo said it was raining hard in the afternoon, which is typical during summers in the Southern Hemisphere. Calls and emails to the firefighters overseeing the recovery were not returned.

While the largest corruption probe in Brazil’s history has been led by a team of prosecutors and Judge Sergio Moro in the southern city of Curitiba, Zavascki handled cases involving politicians. Under Brazilian law, only the Supreme Court can decide to charge or jail federal politicians. Most recently, Zavascki had been reviewing the dozens of plea bargains of former and current executives of the big Odebrecht construction company, which was one of the main players in the kickback scheme that investigators allege involved more than USD 2 billion in bribes over a decade.

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