Brazilian Supreme Court justice Teori Zavascki died [NYT report] in a small plane crash Thursday. Also aboard the plane [Reuters report] were Alberto Filgueiras, a longtime friend of Zavascki and owner of the aircraft, as well as the pilot, a personal massage therapist for Filgueiras and her mother. As of Thursday night the cause of the crash was unknown. Given Zavascki’s recent involvement in some of the boldest moves in Brazil’s judiciary, investigators are under pressure to determine the cause quickly. He was expected to rule soon on the admissibility of dozens of plea bargains that would implicate over 200 politicians and business leaders in a massive graft probe. Zavascki was overseeing Operation Carwash [JURIST report], the judicial inquiry of government-controlled oil giant, Petrobas. President Michael Temer will nominate a successor, but the Senate hearings that follow could take over a year and cause delays that would possibly allow legislators to avoid going to jail.

Brazil’s political establishment has been in turmoil as many powerful politicians have been brought to the center of embarrassing corruption investigation and trials. Charges have been filed against some of Brazil’s most powerful politicians, including [JURIST report] former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In August the Brazil Senate voted to convict [JURIST op-ed] former president Dilma Rousseff on allegations that she used improper accounting to cover-up a growing budget deficit and illegal loans from state-owned banks. In November Rousseff’s lawyers filed documents [JURIST report] with the Superior Electoral Court in Brazil alleging that her former vice president and current President Michel Temer took a large bribe.