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Exorcism Murders

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Anonymous

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Boy's 'exorcism' death ruled homicide

Another example of religious fervour gone bad. Poor kid must have been terrified...

The death of an autistic eight-year-old boy during a prayer service to drive out the evil spirits supposedly causing his condition has been ruled a homicide.
Terrance Cottrell, from Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin, suffocated after his chest was restricted, the local coroner said.

Members of the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith had been meeting regularly to pray over the young boy after his mother reportedly became concerned that he had been possessed by an evil spirit.

Local news reports said the members had wrapped him in sheets and held him down during the service last Friday.

However during the service - which his mother attended - they noticed the boy was not breathing and called paramedics, who failed to revive him.

Police sources told the Milwaukee Channel television station on Tuesday that the boy had been found dripping with sweat and with marks on his arms.

The brother of the church's pastor, Ray Hemphill, who was also present at the ceremony, was arrested shortly after the incident on suspicion of physically abusing a child, local police said.

'Brainwashing'

The church pastor, David Hemphill, said that his church members had done nothing wrong, adding that they had only prayed for God to "take this spirit that was tormenting this little boy to death".

However the boy's father, Terrance Cottrell Senior, condemned the church's actions.

"Their whole theory was wrong, everything they did was wrong," he told the station.

"It was brainwashing... it was evil and not good and not of God."

Terrance's severe autism meant he could talk little and left him with difficulties in communicating and relating to people around him.

In interviews with local newspapers, neighbours of the Cottrell family alleged that Terrance hated being touched and said that having people restrain him would likely have caused him a great deal of stress.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3181637.stm
 
There are some good examples of this in the book Charismania by (i think) Roland Howard, including that of an epileptic woman who had a siezure and drowned in the bath after she stopped taking her anticonvulsant because she had been told that she was cured, and a woman who was repeatedly violated sexually by her pastor in the name of 'sexual healing'.

I'd cite some more but my copy of Charismania seems to have gone walkabout.

A similar type of exorcism is shown in the series Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit.

Marie
 
I find it hard to believe this kind of thing can still go off in what's supposed to be the most advanced country in the world. :rolleyes:
 
Exorcism Murder: Naked Wanderers Kill

I removed my earlier version of this to add the exorcism information.

Dead Child Found at Downtown Hotel

Hours after spotting two adults and two children walking naked down Piedmont Avenue in near-freezing temperatures, Atlanta police discovered a 6-year-old girl murdered in the family's hotel room.

After interviews at Grady Memorial Hospital, police said the girl's death may be connected with the adults' belief that she had been possessed by demons. Pages of the Bible were found scattered near her body, in which the girl's arms and legs were broken.

The man, woman, and the two children, ages 2 and 7, were seen about 12:30 a.m., wearing no clothing. Police were called and, after questioning the adults, learned that they had been living in a downtown Atlanta hotel room.

When investigators searched their room at the Savannah Suites Hotel, located at 140 Pine Street between Piedmont and Courtland avenues, they found the deceased girl covered with a blanket. She had apparently been beaten, police said.

The two children were placed in the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services.

Police were investigating two rooms at the Savannah Suites. The family has reportedly been living at the hotel since last July.

Atlanta police Det. R.C. Robinson said, “We’re just going by what neighbors at the hotel have told us at this point, that they did see these two adults with three children, so we’re putting that together.”

“Now, as far as positively identifying whether if that’s a child of theirs, that’s going to take a little bit of time,” Det. Robinson said.

Police did not comment on the adults' or children’s state of mental and physical health. Names have not been released, either.

"Sometimes you see people walking around here half-naked anyway and there's a lot of people who are homeless around here too. The whole thing is, I don't know what to put on it, it's strange," said Alston Jordon, a neighbor who had come to know the family.

The adults were charged with cruelty to children, public indecency, and obstruction of justice. Charges related to the girl's death are pending.

Source
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=41722
 
Her back was broken too:

Exorcism Suspected After Girl Found Dead

By HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writer


ATLANTA - A 6-year-old girl was found dead in a motel room with a broken back Monday after what police said may have been an exorcism. Two adults were arrested after they and two children were spotted on the street naked in the freezing cold.

The adults, who had been staying in the motel room, were charged with cruelty to children, public indecency and obstruction of police and were taken to a psychiatric ward.

Police said the girl had been brutalized and suffered a broken back and other broken bones. An autopsy was planned.

Based on what the adults told authorities, investigators believe "they were involved possibly in a ritual of some sort," police spokesman John Quigley said. "It may have had something to do with undemonizing the child in some manner."

Police learned of the death around 12:30 a.m. when the unidentified man and woman were seen walking naked down a city street with two children, a 2-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, Quigley said.

The 7-year-old provided investigators with information that led them to the motel, where they found the girl's body.

The two adults had apparently been living there for some time, possibly through assistance from a church, Quigley said.
Click to expand...

http://www.ftimes.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=19796

Emps
 
A longer report:

Girl, 6, found dead in motel 'Severely broken'
Detectives believe case involved 'some type of ritual to get rid of demons.'

By MIKE MORRIS and CRAIG SCHNEIDER and MILO IPPOLITO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


A 6-year-old girl found dead in an Atlanta motel was the victim of an apparent ritual, police said.

The child was found Monday in a room at the Savannah Suites, an extended-stay motel in downtown Atlanta. She had been strangled and stabbed, and her back was broken, police said.

"She had numerous broken bones and compound fractures," said Atlanta police public information officer John Quigley.

"The child's body was severely broken."

A husband and wife, Christopher Carey, 29, and Valerie Carey, 27, were charged with murder.

Police discovered the dead child after finding the couple and two children, 2 and 7, walking nude down Piedmont Avenue in the near-freezing cold about 12:30 a.m. Monday.

Several 911 callers had alerted police to a nude family, said police Lt. R.C. Robinson.

The surviving children were placed with the Division of Family and Children Services.

Based on statements made by the family, detectives "believe that the couple acted out some type of ritual to get rid of demons of some sort," said Quigley. Pages ripped from a Bible were found on the floor, he said. He would not elaborate on other evidence.

Police determined through interviews with the man and woman and the oldest child that they were living downtown at the Savannah Suites on Pine Street. Officers went to the motel about 5 a.m. and found the partially covered body of the 6-year-old girl.

The man and woman originally were taken to the psychiatric unit at Grady Memorial Hospital, where the woman remained Monday night, Quigley said. The man later was taken to the Fulton County Jail.

The 2-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl did not appear to be physically harmed, said Quigley. "I would be concerned about what the 7-year-old witnessed," he added.

Quigley said police will use DNA testing to determine whether the 6-year-old girl is the Careys' daughter because Christopher Carey made statements questioning her identity.

Investigators said the adults and children had been staying at the Savannah Suites since last July. Police had not determined why the four were walking down the street unclothed on a night when temperatures dipped into the low 30s.

The family had received assistance from several Atlanta charities.

"They told us a vague story," said Dominic Heard, director of social service for Crossroads Ministries. "They were new in town and they needed shelter until he found work."

Crossroads and Travelers Aid each paid one week's rent at the extended-stay facility for the family last summer, Heard said.

St. Mark United Methodist Church also provided assistance to the family.

A pastor at the church, Phillip Thomason, said the church has worked with the family since summer providing rent assistance, a Publix supermarket gift certificate and most recently Christmas presents.

"I asked the family for a wish list for the children," said Thomason. The church bought both of the girls a Swan Lake Barbie, and a remote-control car for the boy. All of the children received coloring books and crayons.

"I asked if the children needed coats and he said no," said Thomason.

Thomason said Christopher Carey was always "respectful and thankful," and he saw no evidence of alcohol or drug use. Carey told Thomason the family came from North Carolina for a job that didn't pan out. "He said he was in computers."

Motel neighbor John Thompson said he knew the family by sight but not by name.

"They seemed normal," Thompson said. "They weren't in the drug crowd. They didn't have people in and out."

He said he used to see the couple walking up the street pushing a baby stroller. The children appeared well cared for, he said. "They weren't kids you would think would be abused. They were happy kids."
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http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/20childdeath.html
 
Ritual Murder in Atlanta

For those who don't know, Atlanta is in the southeastern US. Be forewarned that the article goes into rather gruesome details in describing the child's injuries.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/20childdeath.html

A 6-year-old girl found dead in an Atlanta motel was the victim of an apparent ritual, police said.
[...]
Police discovered the dead child after finding the couple and two children, 2 and 7, walking nude down Piedmont Avenue in the near-freezing cold about 12:30 a.m. Monday.
 
The case only gets weirder:

From The AJC, edited for the new content:

Father hit slain girl, mom told co-worker
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Years before he allegedly murdered his daughter during a possible exorcism, Christopher Carey was a controlling husband and religious fanatic who once punched the young girl in the chest, a family acquaintance said Wednesday.

Dina Allen, 34, worked with Carey's wife, Valerie, at a Philadelphia water company about five years ago, and said the woman shared disturbing stories about her husband.

"He was very controlling. I think I was her only friend," said Allen, who lives near Philadelphia. "She told me he punched the girl in the chest. She had to be only 2. I was like, 'Oh, my God.' "

The Pennsylvania Corrections Department had no criminal record for Christopher Carey, and child welfare officials in that state refused to comment on whether any complaint was filed. Allen did not say how hard the child was hit, but said it was done to discipline her.

(snip)

When police attempted to stop the couple on the street, they simply kept walking. The couple said an officer who approached them did not exist and that God had commanded them to walk in the nude, according to a police report.

Both resisted arrest, punching and kicking at the officers, and, once subdued, refused to give information about themselves, police said. "Instead they just constantly stated the words 'love' and 'Michael Jackson,' " the report said.

An Atlanta police spokesman, Sgt. John Quigley, said he had no explanation for the parents' behavior. Although police are skeptical about the family's story concerning an exorcismlike ritual in which the girl was strangled, stabbed and beaten, Quigley said, "In their minds there's some religious connection."

(snip)

Police said the two other children may have been involved in some kind of defiling of the girl's dead body. Both were placed with the state Division of Family and Children Services.

(snip)

Allen, who worked with Valerie Carey from about 1996 to 1998 and never met her husband, said the family's religious obsession began years ago. Christopher Carey had been deeply involved with a church that was teaching him to be a preacher, she said. "I don't think it was a legitimate church," she said.

At one point, he apparently had run afoul of the church, and Valerie Carey told her that the church members were after them and watching their home.

"She was worried," said Allen, who added that she has not spoken with Valerie Carey for about two years.

The Carey family moved around a lot, she said. Sometimes Valerie Carey would ask her for a particular favor -- to lie and say Allen was a former landlord or boss, and vouch for the family so they could move into a new place, Allen said. Within the past five years, the Careys moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to Georgia, and lived at various addresses in at least six towns along the way, a database search showed.

Allen said she was shocked to read in a Philadelphia newspaper that the Careys had been charged with murdering Quimani.

Both of the Careys grew up around the northwest suburb of Philadelphia called Mount Airy, she said. She said Valerie Carey was an insecure, sweet-natured girl who married Christopher Carey when she was a senior in high school.

"She loved him. She was very young," said Allen.

Valerie Carey told her that her husband made her feel more secure, but as Allen saw it, the man's influence became overwhelming, to the point that it seemed "every thought of hers was a thought of his."

She added, "Her husband was a religious fanatic. Everything was a sin."

Source:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/22deadchild.html
 
Makes one wonder if this is an exorcism murder too:

Family refuses funeral nearly a year after woman's bizarre death

A 20-YEAR-OLD woman who, according to her brother, was "possessed by evil spirits" died within hours of being admitted to hospital in a severely emaciated and anaemic state.

And at an inquest at Hornsey Coroner's Court, police described events surrounding Dina Mahanlal Premgi's death as "bizarre".

More than ten months after her death, her body is still in the mortuary as her family has not organised a funeral.

Dina, who lived with her family in Clayton Avenue, Wembley, was admitted to the Central Middlesex Hospital in Park Royal with heart failure on July 24 last year. Police officers and hospital staff were alarmed by her condition and an investigation was launched.

DI Tony Barker told the court that her family had extreme Hindu-based religious beliefs and when officers visited their home they found Dina's mother in bed, also in a very malnourished state.

Shortly after Dina's death, her father and brother lay beside her, trying to warm her up and saying she could be revived. Crosses and chains had been placed on her body.

The police's family liaison officer Parminder Brar said that everything had been tried to persuade the family to hold a funeral, including bringing in members of the local community and representatives of Hindu temples, but to no avail.

Pathologist Dr Robert Chapman said he had never seen a body so pale. Even blood sent for analysis had so few red blood cells it was almost clear.

He gave the cause of death as bone marrow failure and a disorder in which the blood cells destroy themselves, but added this was only a mechanism and not an underlying cause.

He could not identify a cause for the bone marrow failing, a chronic process which would have been going for months, but it could have resulted from a viral infection or toxin.

Dr Chapman added that although malnutrition may have played a part, it would not have accounted for all the changes he found.

Coroner Dr William Dolman recorded an open verdict.

3:39pm Tuesday 8th June 2004
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http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/l..._nearly_a_year_after_womans_bizarre_death.php
 
re: the first story in this thread

For US viewers, the murder trial regarding the Wisconsin exorcism is currently (8 July) being broadcast live on cable network CourtTV.

Noticed this entirely by happenstance, day off from work and flipping channels. It seems to be somewhere in the middle of the proceedings.
 
Re: re: the first story in this thread

lopaka said:
For US viewers, the murder trial regarding the Wisconsin exorcism is currently (8 July) being broadcast live on cable network CourtTV.
Click to expand...

Gulity verdict


Jurors Find Preacher Guilty Of Child Abuse In Boy's Death
Ray Hemphill Faces 10 Years In Prison

POSTED: 2:13 pm CDT July 9, 2004
UPDATED: 5:28 pm CDT July 9, 2004
MILWAUKEE -- Jurors found a Milwaukee preacher guilty of abuse in death of 8-year-old autistic boy.

Ray Anthony Hemphill was charged with felony abuse of a child-recklessly causing great bodily harm for Terrance Cottrell Jr.'s death in a ritual at Faith Temple Church in Milwaukee last August.

Authorities said the boy died when Hemphill laid across the child during an exorcism.

Defense attorney Tom Harris told jurors Friday it was a combination of drugs in the boy's system that caused his death, not Hemphill.

During closing arguments, prosecutor Mark Williams said Hemphill knew he was hurting the boy because the child was struggling to break free. Williams said Hemphill simply didn't care.

The medical examiner ruled the boy died of suffocation.

Hemphill did not take the stand during the trial.

He could get a maximum penalty of five years in prison and five years of extended supervision.

Previous Stories:

* July 7, 2004: Trial Begins For Preacher Accused In Boy's Death
* September 18, 2003: Pastor Pleads Not Guilty In Death Of Autistic Boy
* August 27, 2003: Minister Charged In 8-Year-Old's Death


Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press.
.
http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/3511927/detail.html

Also some things about this were posted in the general Exorcisms thread
 
Exorcist's brother says God claimed autistic boy's life, not defendant

Lisa Sweetingham
Court TV
Friday, July 9, 2004 Posted: 1429 GMT (2229 HKT)



MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (Court TV) -- The brother of a minister on trial for suffocating an autistic child during an exorcism told jurors Thursday that it was God who "took" the child, not the defendant's intense ritual.

"I'm the pastor and God has ordained my brother to be an evangelist, he has the gift to cast out devils," David Hemphill testified.

Ray Hemphill, 47, who prayed and sang over 8-year-old Terrance Cottrell's chest as parishioners held him down on August 22, 2003, stands trial for felony physical child abuse. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

On Thursday, the defense called David Hemphill, known as Bishop Hemphill to his flock. He is the pastor of the independent Faith Temple of the Apostolic Faith Church, which he founded in 1977. He also ordained his brother into the church.

A medical examiner ruled Terrance's death a homicide by asphyxiation, due to intense pressure on his chest.

Terrance, who was diagnosed with autism at age 2, hated to be touched and was often unable to express his needs, according to previous testimony. Terrance died after receiving the 12th in a series of prayer services from Ray Hemphill.

The boy's mother, Patricia Cooper, and two other female parishioners told investigators that they made the child lay on his back on the floor of the strip-mall based church. They then helped to restrain him while the defendant laid perpendicular across Terrance's chest for almost two hours, praying and whispering aspersions at the devil into the boy's ear.

David Hemphill, 63, was not in attendance that evening, but he told jurors he gave his brother permission to perform the exorcisms as an attempt to save the boy from what they believed was demonic possession.

"I've seen God heal some people, and then I've seen God didn't heal some. So all we're asked to do is to believe in the word of God," David Hemphill testified during direct examination by Hemphill's attorney, Thomas Harris.

Hemphill told jurors it was his church's belief that God sent Jesus to heal those who are sick, and in turn, several members of his church, have been given the "gift" of healing hands.

"Is there any sickness or disease that's too hard for God or believers [to heal]?" Harris asked.

"No, there's nothing too hard for God, and nothing too hard for his believers," Hemphill testified, adding that they only pray for sick people who ask to be healed.

In Terrance's case, his mother told investigators she joined the church several months before her son's death in the hope that appealing to a higher power would help him, as medication alone did not seem to be working.

Terrance had been taking the antipsychotic drug ziprasidone, also known as Geodon, at a dosage of 200 milligrams per day. The defense has asserted that it was the medication, not Hemphill's actions, that killed the boy.

God's work

A testy exchange on cross-examination began when prosecutor Mark Williams opened by asking, "Your church doesn't have a philosophy about hurting children does it?"

"No, sir," Hemphill said.

"And I assume it frowns on restraining children against their will ... lying on top of children so they can't move?" Williams said.

Hemphill said no one in his church would ever hurt a child, but that God did his work through them.

"My church is going to do exactly what the word of God tells us to do," he told jurors.

"So, you're saying God is giving you the power to take away" the prosecutor began to ask.

"I say, He has the power. If I lay down on someone and he passes away ? God took him, I didn't!" Hemphill interjected.

The prosecutor yelled back, "He did it to Terrance, didn't he? Your brother did it!"

"No, he didn't!" Hemphill said.

The boy's mother, in tears as she watched from the gallery, rushed out of the courtroom and could be heard sobbing in the hallway as family members tried to comfort her. Cooper is no longer attending services at her former church, and has been sitting behind the prosecution throughout the case.

Dueling experts

Jurors on Thursday also had to decide for themselves which side's expert witness was more credible, as two different toxicologists gave vastly different characterizations of the toxicity of the three drugs present in Terrance's system at the time of his death.

Based on toxicology reports, in addition to Geodon, Terrance also had over-the-counter medications dextromethorphan (a cough suppressant) and brompheniramine (an antihistamine) in his blood at elevated levels.

"You're already starting with a person whose brain is clearly shown to be abnormal and now you're putting all these chemicals in there trying to rearrange things -- it's a daunting task," said John Bederka, an expert for the defense.

"These substances are very active in terms of having an effect on [Terrance]," Bederka said.

The state's rebuttal toxicologist, Laura Liddicoat, disagreed, saying that the drugs played no part in his death.

She explained a phenomenon called postmortem drug redistribution, in which "drug concentrations migrate into the blood specimen so that when a sample is drawn at autopsy, those levels are falsely elevated."

Liddicoat said that this occurs in about 90 percent of postmortem toxicology tests.

On cross-examination, Liddicoat admitted that very little was known about the effects of Geodon on children, as no pediatric clinical trials have been done.

Prosecutor Williams had a second heated exchange with a defense witness when he cross-examined Bederka.

"Mr. Bederka, you read the police reports didn't you?" Williams asked.

"I think I did," Bederka said.

"You think you did?" Williams barked.

The prosecutor took issue with Bederka's claim that the drugs alone caused Terrance's death. Williams pointed to police statements from four witnesses, including the defendant, who stated he laid on the child in an 80-degree room for almost two hours during the exorcism.

"I find it hard to believe," Bederka said.

"You weren't there," Williams said. "If the defendant says that's what happened, we're going to have to believe him, isn't that correct?"

"No, not exactly," Bederka said, explaining that he did not believe that the boy was completely restrained for such a long period of time. "Try it, you can't even lie in bed for an hour without moving."

"You're saying you don't believe that statement?" the prosecutor said.

"There are parts that are probably correct and probably well-meaning," Bederka said. "But I can't see that happening for that period of time without any uptick, and how could the child live for an hour and a half if he was being crushed?"

Ray Hemphill, who has sat quietly beside his attorney and spoken in a soft voice whenever addressed by the judge, declined to testify. Attorneys will deliver closing arguments Friday morning.

Court TV is broadcasting the trial live.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2004/LAW/07/09/exorcism/index.html
 
Although it might fit under cannibalism I suspect it fits better in here:

Man sacrifices wife for kali, eats her tongue

Press Trust of India
Posted online: Friday, July 09, 2004 at 1627 hours IST

Dehradun, July 9: A woman was hacked to death allegedly by her husband to propitiate goddess kali to "cure" their son who was said to be under influence of a ghost in the Rajpur area of the city.

Bharat Lal was offering prayers at the kali temple along with his wife Kamla Devi when he hacked her to death with a sharp-edged weapon on Thursday evening as the couple's three children watched, police said.

Lal also cut off his wife's tongue and ate it before setting her body afire. The gory incident took place in the presence of the couple's three children. Lal has been arrested and a case of murder has been against him.

During interrogation Lal admitted to killing his wife.
Click to expand...

Source

Man sacrifices wife at Kali's altar

July 09, 2004 15:33 IST
Last Updated: July 09, 2004 15:36 IST



The Dehra Dun police have arrested a man who killed his wife on Thursday evening to propitiate Goddess Kali in the Rajpur area of the town.

Bharat Lal told investigators that the sacrifice was aimed at getting rid of a 'ghost' bothering his 19-year-old son, Sandeep.

Lal was offering prayers at the Kali temple with his wife Kamla Devi when he suddenly took out a sharp-edged weapon and hacked her to death.

He then cut off her tongue and ate it before setting the body on fire.

All this happened in the presence of the couple's three children, Sandeep, Smita (17) and Saloni (13).

A case of murder has been registered against Lal. He has claimed he killed his wife on the directions of Goddess Kali.
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http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/jul/09kali.htm
 
Court hears 'exorcism' death case

A court in the US state of Wisconsin has heard how an autistic boy died while being held down by worshippers and a priest during an exorcism.

Terrance Cottrell, 8, died last year in a service at the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith in Milwaukee.

The minister, Ray Hemphill, who has no theological training, has been charged with felony child abuse.

He denies abuse, and is said to have thought the boy was possessed by demons - and to have offered to banish them.

'Possessed'

Terrance's severe autism meant he could talk little and had difficulties in communicating and relating to people around him.

Last year his mother took him to the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith, where members prayed over the young boy.

A detective said in court that Mr Hemphill told her that during the exorcism he lay across the boy's chest for more than an hour.

Several worshippers, including Terrance's mother, are said to have held his legs and hands to stop him from moving.

When Mr Hemphill stood up, he was told that Terrance was not breathing.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/3877421.stm

Published: 2004/07/08 14:50:39 GMT

© BBC MMIV
Click to expand...

and the verdict:

Minister guilty of child abuse for boy's exorcism death


By Lisa Sweetingham
Court TV

MILWAUKEE — A jury found minister Ray Hemphill guilty of felony child abuse Friday after he suffocated an 8-year-old child during an exorcism at his strip mall-based church.

Hemphill stared wide-eyed at County Circuit Judge Jean DiMotto as she read the verdict, but he did not speak or betray emotion. DiMotto set bail at ,000, and Hemphill was handcuffed and led from the courtroom.

"It's minor justice to me," the boy's father, Terrance Cottrell Sr., told reporters.

Hemphill, 47, faces up to five years in prison for his role in the death of Terrance Cottrell Jr., an autistic boy who died last summer during an intense "spiritual healing" ritual at the Faith Temple of the Apostolic Faith Church.

Prosecutors argued Hemphill, who has no formal theological training, knowingly put Terrance at risk when he lay chest-to-chest across him for two hours in an 80-degree room, praying and singing, while the boy struggled to break free.

It was the 12th in a series of exorcisms he had performed on the autistic boy in a three-week period, and his defense argued that prescription drugs the boy was taking, not the prayer service, caused his death.

"The state did a good job, but they could have charged higher," Terrance's father said, referring to the fact that the district attorney, Michael McCann, did not press for more than felony physical child abuse. McCann has said he did not believe his team could prove the minister realized his actions would result in the boy's death.

Terrance's mother, Patricia Cooper, and two other parishioners helped to restrain the child during the exorcism on the night of Aug. 22, 2003. They were allowed not to testify during the trial after successfully pleading the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination.

Cooper did not return to the church after her son's death, and she sat on the opposite side of the gallery from the two female parishioners, Monica Tarver and Tamara Tolefree, who joined the defendant's family behind the defense table.

McCann has not decided whether he will charge the three women for their role in Terrance's death.

The jury of six men and six women reached a verdict after about four hours of deliberations.

When the verdict was read, the victim's cousin, Pelar Joy, thrust her fists in the air triumphantly.

Cooper held her hands to her face, and later cried in the bathroom as a dozen of the victim's aunts, cousins and nieces gathered around to comfort her.

"[Five] years is not enough for a life," said Cottrell Sr., who told Courttv.com he was looking for someone to write a book about his and Terrance's story. According to Joy and other Cooper-family members, Cottrell was not present in his son's life.

Hemphill's family declined to discuss the verdict. "On behalf of my client and his church," public defender Thomas Harris said, "we want to extend our condolences to Terrance Cottrell's family. We're disappointed with the jury's verdict and we have no further comment."

Sentencing was set for Aug. 18. The official maximum sentence Hemphill may receive is five years in prison with five years' probation. If he violates terms of the probation, however, the sentence could reach 10 years.
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http://courttv.com/trials/exorcist/070904_verdict_ctv.html
 
I have no idea what kind of assets this *church* posesses, but I haven't seen anything about a civil trial or damages being awarded the family for which the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith :)rolleyes: ) would surely be liable.
 
Milwaukee Preacher Sentenced For Exorcism

http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/3660562/detail.html

Milwaukee Preacher Gets Sentence For Exorcism
Hemphill Ordered To Not Perform Exorcisms Until Trained
6:02 pm EDT August 17, 2004

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee pastor was given a 2½ year prison sentence in an exorcism that caused the death of an 8-year-old Milwaukee boy.


Prosecutors say Ray Hemphill laid on Terrance Cottrell's chest for at least an hour while trying to release "demons" from him, before the boy died last August.

A Milwaukee County jury found Hemphill guilty of felony child abuse in the death of Cottrell, who was autistic.


Judge Jean DiMotto also sentenced Hemphill to 7½ years of extended supervision.

Hemphill also has to pay $1,200 in restitution, and the judge ordered him not perform any exorcisms unless he receives extensive training.

"You call it an accident, but it was your unreasonable and wreckless conduct that caused this child to die," DiMotto said.

Cottrell died at Hemphill's storefront church in Milwaukee.

The medical examiner ruled the boy died of suffocation.

"I'm hurt, and I'm sorry for Cottrell's family that thing happened, but I mean, it just happened," Hemphill's brother, David Hemphill said.
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New case, same Devil:

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20040816060015893C743000

TV actress held after son hacked to death
August 16, 2004

By Themba Sepotokele

A blood-splattered carpet and blood-stained axe on Sunday bore brutal testimony to the horror killing of a two-year-old boy - allegedly at the hand of his mother.

The 26-year-old woman - who has been seen on South African television screens in the top-rated SABC1 soap Generations, as well as the popular sitcom Emzini Wezinsizwa and the SABC2 drama Justice For All - was arrested on Sunday for murder.

The woman is said to have believed that her young son was "possessed by the devil" when she hacked him to death with an axe and gouged out his eyes with a screwdriver.

'His brain was scattered all over the floor and his eyes were gouged out'
The horror continued when she then allegedly placed a hot iron on the eyeballs.

The tragic events took place on Sunday morning, after which the woman was said to have remained in the house with the body.

Hours later, relatives and friends found her sitting and singing in her bedroom while her son lay in a pool of blood.

The crime was discovered when a friend, who lives in the house, went to the actress' bedroom and came across the gruesome scene. She said she saw the child lying on the floor with a Bible placed on his head.

The friend then ran to tell the woman's brother, who lives in a room outside the main house.

Still wearing the gloves he put on to clean up his nephew's blood, the woman's brother stood motionless next to the gate as neighbours and relatives streamed to the house to offer their sympathy.

He told how he ran into his sister's bedroom and was shocked to find her singing while her son was lying in a pool of blood.

"His (the baby's) brain was scattered all over the floor and his eyes were gouged out. She had put a hot iron over the tiny eyes," he said.

The actress's aunt said her niece allegedly killed her son because she claimed he was possessed. "It is suspected that the child had HIV, hence she claimed that he was possessed."

A woman is expected to appear in the Soweto magistrate's court on Monday.
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Romanian nun dies after being tied to cross in apparent exorcism ritual



Associated Press
June 17, 2005

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - A 23-year-old Romanian nun died after she was tied to a cross in an apparent exorcism ritual and left in a cold room for three days without food, police said Friday.

Maricica Irina Cornici of the Holy Trinity convent in northeast Romania died late Wednesday.

"An autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death," said Mihaela Straub, a police spokeswoman in the city of Vasului.

A monk and four nuns at the convent told police the young nun was chained to a cross and kept without food apparently because she was behaving violently.

"They all said that she was possessed and they were trying to cast out the evil spirits," Straub said.

The nun was bound with chains to a cross and a towel was stuffed into her mouth to stop her uttering any sounds, Straub said.

The local bishop's office of the Romanian Orthodox Church has begun an investigation. Police are also investigating, Straub said.

©2005, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved.
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http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/29165.html
 
Same case, English press report.

"Evil" Nun Crucified

Daily Mirror, Sat. June 18 2005

A nun died after she was gagged and strapped to a cross where she was left for three days without food and water as part of an exorcism ritual.
A monk and four nuns have confessed to crucifying 23-year-old Irina Cornici.
Father Petru Corogeanu, 29, of Sfanta Treime monastery, Romania said: "She was possessed by evil spirits."
But local doctors said the nun had been diagnosed as schizophrenic.
Click to expand...
 
Another UK version of the same story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4107524.stm

excerpt:
Father Daniel who is accused of orchestrating the crime is said to be unrepentant.

"God has performed a miracle for her, finally Irina is delivered from evil," AFP quoted the priest as saying.

"I don't understand why journalists are making such a fuss about this. Exorcism is a common practise in the heart of the Romanian Orthodox church and my methods are not at all unknown to other priests," Father Daniel added.
Click to expand...

Steve.
 
Priest unrepentent after crucifying of nun

Tanacu, Romania - A Romanian Orthodox priest who ordered the crucifixion of a young nun because she was "possessed by the devil" and now faces murder charges was unrepentant on Saturday as he celebrated a funeral mass for his alleged victim.

"God has performed a miracle for her, finally Irina is delivered from evil," Father Daniel, 29, the superior of the Holy Trinity monastery in north-eastern Romania, said before celebrating a short mass "for the soul of the deceased", in the presence of 13 nuns who showed no visible emotion.

He insisted that from the religious point of view, the crucifixion of Maricica Irina Cornici, 23, was "entirely justified", but admitted that he faced excommunication as well as prosecution, and was seeking a "good lawyer".
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=qw1119098341918B265&set_id=1&click_id=3&sf=
 
So Father Daniel's seeking a good lawyer, is he?

Isolation, simplistic faith, Debil-Obsession and ignorance are his justification for committing murder, but he's also sufficiently worldly-wise to appreciate the value of a lawyer because he (Father Daniel) does not want to die; does not want to go to jail. He enjoys locking young women up without food and water, before hanging them from chains, but having satisfied his own sadistic urges, he wants a lawyer to save him from the consequences of his crimes.

What a coward (amongst other things) he is. If he had a quarter of the faith he pretends, he would trust in his god to defend him in court.

What a hideous, depressing tale. I suspect that if Father Daniel's partriarchal beard were shaved away, he'd be found to have a small, weak chin with a flabby little pouch below. And there are probably several generations of sheep in his home village who bleat
' Daaaaaaady' whenever he goes home to visit his mother and aunts.
 
Nun dies during excruciating exorcism

Crucified nun dies in 'exorcism'

Father Daniel says the nun's death was justified
A Romanian nun has died after being bound to a cross, gagged and left alone for three days in a cold room in a convent, Romanian police have said.
Members of the convent in north-west Romania claim Maricica Irina Cornici was possessed and that the crucifixion had been part of an exorcism ritual.

Cornici was found dead on the cross on Wednesday after fellow nuns called an ambulance, according to police.

A priest and four nuns were charged with imprisonment leading to death.

Orphan

Police say the 23-year-old nun, who was denied food and drink throughout her ordeal, had been tied and chained to the cross and a towel pushed into her mouth to smother any sounds.

A post-mortem is to be carried out, although initial reports say that Cornici died from asphyxiation.

I don't understand why journalists are making such a fuss about this

Father Daniel

Local media reports that the young woman had arrived at the remote convent three months before, having initially gone there to visit a friend and opted to stay.

She grew up in an orphanage in Arad, in the west of Romania.

Mediafax news agency said Cornici suffered from schizophrenia and the symptoms of her condition caused the priest at the convent and other nuns to believe she was possessed by the devil.

"They all said she was possessed and they were trying to cast out the evil spirits," police spokeswoman Michaela Straub said.

Father Daniel who is accused of orchestrating the crime is said to be unrepentant.

"God has performed a miracle for her, finally Irina is delivered from evil," AFP quoted the priest as saying.

"I don't understand why journalists are making such a fuss about this. Exorcism is a common practise in the heart of the Romanian Orthodox church and my methods are not at all unknown to other priests," Father Daniel added.

If found guilty of killing Cornici, Father Daniel and the accused nuns could face 20 years in jail.


From the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4107524.stm
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Follow up on that (also check out his photo!! Awesome beard):

Priest jailed for exorcism death

A Romanian priest has been jailed for 14 years for conducting an exorcism that led to the death of a nun who he believed was possessed by devils.

Irina Cornici, 23, died after being starved and chained to a cross at a secluded convent in the north-east.

The ritual in 2005 was led by Daniel Petru Corogeanu, 31, the priest at the Holy Trinity convent in Tanacu village.

He and four nuns were convicted of manslaughter. The nuns got jail terms ranging from five to eight years.

Nicoleta Arcalianu got eight years, while Adina Cepraga, Elena Otel and Simona Bardana were given five-year sentences.

All the defendants plan to appeal against the verdict in a case which has shocked Romania.

The Orthodox Church, which described the Tanacu incident as "abominable", has promised reforms, including psychological tests for those seeking to enter monasteries.

It banned Corogeanu from the priesthood and excommunicated the four nuns.

In 1999, when the Vatican issued its first new guidelines since 1614 for driving out devils, it urged priests to take modern psychiatry into account in deciding who should be exorcised.

After hearing the sentence, Corogeanu said: "We will appeal and hope that it will succeed. We didn't expect this sentence, but this is the judge's decision. We will pray to God for help."

Dozens of Corogeanu's supporters packed the courtroom and several burst into tears when the verdict was announced, AP news agency reported.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 376211.stm

Published: 2007/02/19 16:29:36 GMT

© BBC MMVII
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What a waste of a life.

Morgan Freeman's step-granddaughter reportedly stabbed to death in 'exorcism'

The step-granddaughter of award-winning actor Morgan Freeman was killed by her boyfriend early Sunday in a disturbed attempt at an exorcism, according to a published report.
The New York Post reported that Edena Hines, 33, — whose grandmother was Freeman’s first wife — was stabbed 16 times near her apartment building on West 162nd St. in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan just before 3 a.m.

Police charged 30-year-old Lamar Davenport with second-degree murder early Monday after he underwent a psychiatric evaluation at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital.

George Hudacko, who witnessed the murder from his third-floor apartment and called 911, said that Davenport screamed "Get out, devils! I cast you out, devils! In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast you out!" as he attacked Hines.

"The girl was making a lot of noise, screaming," Hudacko told the Post, adding. "I called 911 — I was begging them to come."

The Post reported that police officers had to physically restrain Davenport from continuing his attack and further brutalizing Hines' lifeless body. A police source told the Post that the suspect "was still making a stabbing motion with his arm, but he had nothing in his fist — the knife was jutting out of her chest."

Davenport was described by law enforcement sources as an aspiring rapper who performed under the name Lyric. He is the father of two young children — neither with Hines — and has a history of abusing drugs and alcohol. He has six prior arrests, including for marijuana possession and petty larceny.

(con't at)
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/17/morgan-freemans-step-granddaughter-stabbed-to-death/
 
Oh gosh, that's horrible. :(

Erm...that wasn't the step-granddaughter that Freeman had the affair with, was it?
 
ramonmercado said:
Gawd! Makes MF sound like a hillbilly! I can hear the duelling banjos!
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Yes, I just checked, it was the same woman, though upon double checking it looks as if Freeman denied the affair, so who knows. Jeez, the last couple of years of this woman's life must have been quite a turmoil.
 
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