Two Florida men have been arrested for allegedly digging up people’s graves and stealing human remains for use in a religious shrine. The bodies include those of three military veterans.
Police with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office believe two men—43-year-old Brian Montalvo Tolentino and his suspected accomplice, 39-year-old Juan Burgos-Lopez—dug up and beheaded corpses on December 9 at the Edgewood Cemetery in Mount Dora, a central Florida city about 33 miles north of Orlando.
The sheriff’s office reportedly identified Tolentino from DNA found on a smoked cigar left at the crime scene, according to CBS Miami. Police also found candles, a sacrificed bird and orange peels at the unearthed gravesites.
When police investigated Tolentino’s home, police claim they found a shed with a religious shrine, and seven skulls: two fake, four taken from Mount Dora graves, according to the suspects, and one which came from an unknown location. He also had various other religious shrines in his home.
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The shrine also contained “bones, sticks, feathers, rocks, turtle shells, and small animal skulls,” according to CBS. Police County Sheriff Grady Judd believes the skulls are part of a “black magic” religion known as Palo Mayombe, which requires body parts for worship.
The two men reportedly confessed to visiting the Mount Dora cemetery, opening caskets with crowbars, removing the corpses’ heads, placing them in plastic bags and then returning to Tolentino’s home. Police say the men admitted to specifically taking the skulls of military veterans because body parts belonging to heroes and warriors have more power.
The desecrated graves and corpses were those of 54-year-old Korean war veteran Henry Brittain, 92-year-old World War I veteran Elbert Carr, 57-year-old police officer Calvin McNair and 53-year-old non-veteran caretaker Annie Faniel.
The remains have since been returned to their graves and the families of the deceased have been notified.
Police say that Burgos-Lopez is a religious leader known as a Tata who produces YouTube videos about his religion’s practices and also partly owns two companies that sell herbs, oils and other materials associated with Palo Mayombe religious practices.
Palo is a religion that developed in Cuba among enslaved Central African people. Its chief beliefs include great respect for spirits and belief in the powers of earth and nature. The religious shrine is a central feature of the religion and is believed to house a spirit of the dead.
The religions has been linked to grave robberies that resulted in a 1995 arrest in Miami, a 2002 arrest in New Jersey and a 2015 arrest in Connecticut.
