The prison authority of Chile reported on Monday the macabre discovery of a dead inmate and beheaded by his cellmate during an apparent “ritual” with “satanic symbols”which would be the product of an alleged “situation of mental derangement.”
According to the institution in a statement, the individual was found inside his cell in a Concepción prisonthe second largest city in Chilein the early hours of the morning. The man was attacked by his partner and would have been the victim of a ritual.
“According to the first information, collected by institutional personnel, a Bible and writings with satanic symbols were found at the site,” the prison authority said in a statement.
Added to the discovery is the statement of the alleged aggressor, who explained to the agents that “the events occurred in the context of a ritual, apparently motivated by a situation of mental alienation, of which there was no precedent.”
“They talked about a ritual as the motivation for this situation. And why? Because they say that inside this prison module, number 42, and very close to the victim’s body, items were found, such as a Bible and several items marked with satanic symbols. This whole situation is being investigated, but it appears as one of the theories that motivated this horrible crime inside the Biobío penitentiary center, that there was a motivation that was a ritual in this case,” said Colonel Rodrigo Campusano, regional director of Gendarmerie.
According to the newspaper The Thirdthe alleged aggressor would have acknowledged the crime, but under the context that the victim “the devil had entered him, that the devil had taken over him”.
The crime took place in a module of the Concepción Penitentiary Compliance Centerin the Biobío region, about 500 kilometers south of the capital.
“Currently, there is a procedure in full development in said unit, while psychosocial personnel from the gendarmerie (penitentiary authority) are in contact with the relatives of the deceased,” the entity stressed.
He added that the case was referred to the Public Ministry and that the Homicide Brigade of the Investigative Police will be in charge of the proceedings to find out the circumstances of the brutal murder. Likewise, he announced the review of security protocols in highly dangerous modules in order to avoid similar events in the future.
The weapon used would be a article “handmade cutter”indicated the police, who also explained that both the deceased and the aggressor are Chilean citizens who had been transferred to Concepción from a prison in Aricaa port city in northern Chile.
In statements to journalists, the Minister of Justice, Jaime Gajardo, explained that the inmates involved would be “one person convicted of homicide and another convicted of drug trafficking” and that “apparently, the person convicted of homicide would be the one who had committed ” the crime.
Gajardo described the homicide as “a fairly serious event” and “unprecedented” in Chile’s penitentiary history, which is why he instructed his staff to find out the conditions of the prison and “gather all the information to take quick measures.”
(With information from AP)
