Murder by exorcism
• Superstitious Folly
Pentecostal church members murdered a 19 year old in trying to save him from the devil.
So Diego Zepeda-Cordera called his friend Alex Osegueda, a fellow member of the Missionary Church of Christ and a man of equal devotion, to help him rid his son of the evil. They had no idea the seven days of forced confinement it took to drive away the devil would also, literally, drain the life out of Walter. He lost nine litres of fluid as he lay strapped with men's ties to metal chairs in the basement apartment he shared with his family in this western Ontario city. Ultimately he died of dehydration.
Parents sentenced for exorcism gone wrong
The two men pleaded guilty last week to manslaughter in the death of Zepeda, who died of dehydration Jan. 8, 2002, after spending seven days tied down while members of his church prayed for him. Members of the Church of Christ Missionary in London believed Zepeda was possessed by the devil.