Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 2, 2012 / 13:15 pm
Eight people in the Mexican state of Sonora were detained on March 27 as suspects in the murder of two children and an adult woman during a ritual sacrifice to “Saint Death.”
The spokesman for the Sonora Attorney General, Jose Larrinaga, told reporters that the suspects had confessed to the three murders which included two children, aged six and seven, and a 55 year-old woman.
He also revealed that the suspects were believed to be involved in the disappearance of another seven year-old boy.
The devotion to “Saint Death” has become popular in some parts of Mexico, especially among drug traffickers, criminals, former convicts and kidnappers, who pray for the success of their actions.
The controversial practice is linked to witchcraft and intensifies around the feast of All Souls.
Larringa said authorities were able to locate the remains of the victims from information provided by the suspects.
“They were stabbed to death. They said they offered their blood to Saint Death. They stabbed them in different parts of their bodies,” he said.
The spokesman noted that investigators are currently excavating the area for more possible victims.