Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jan 28, 2008 / 09:34 am
In Argentina the trial of Cesar Beguiristain has begun, the 20 year-old leader of an Afro-Brazilian, satanic cult accused of carrying out the ritual killing of a 12 year-old street boy.
Last week Beguiristain confessed to killing “Ramoncito,” a street boy who the cult leader said “had agreed to sell his soul to the devil.”
He was captured in the city of Lomas de Zamora near Buenos Aires and had been on the run for over year after fleeing the city of Corrientes where he was accused by a 14 year-old boy of the murder.
According to prosecutor Gustavo Schmitt, Beguiristain “broke down and confessed to decapitating the boy, but he claimed that it was not his idea and that he was hired to do the killing during a satanic game.”
Schmitt said seven people have been detained in the case, but that authorities are still seeking other individuals “who organized and financed the murder.”
“Ramoncito” disappeared on Friday, October 5, 2006, and his body was found on October 7 in the morning near the bus station where he would often sell stamps and sleep on cardboard boxes.
According to the investigation, the boy was raped, decapitated and dismembered in an Afro-Brazilian ritual.
The witness to the crime said the method of killing caused the boy immense pain and was a source of excitement for his killers. “At that moment everyone was screaming and crying. Afterwards they all joined their hands bloodied by ‘Ramoncito’.” Before the boy died, two of the cult members performed a satanic dance and another member who still remains at large proceeded to decapitate the boy.
“The boy’s head was placed on top of a black host,” the witness said. Authorities say the boy’s description matches those found in a black magic manual obtained from the suspects.