The Power of Possible Religious Mania
Juanita Gomez, an Oklahoman woman, was just recently charged with the first-degree murder of her daughter in a macabre way. One would assume must murders are at least a little macabre, but this murder involved beating the young woman while forcing a crucifix down her throat (in addition to another religious medallion) and then arranging her corpse like a cross.
The body was found by her daughter, Geneva Gomez's, ex-boyfriend, Francisco Merlos. The couple had only recently broken up earlier the past week. In fact, the elder Gomez convinced her daughter to break up with him, citing him as thief. To his surprise, her mother, Juanita, opened the door. He decided to have a discussion with her, and even bond a little, even though he blamed her for his and Geneva's breakup.
However, he did start to wonder where Geneva was. When asked, Juanita said she was in her room. Merlos opened the door and was shocked by the scene he found. In his own words, "...It looked, and she was laying on her back with the cross on her chest and you couldn't even recognize her face".
He then attempted to flee the scene, with Juanita trying to grab him in a choke-hold. Merlos then mentioned that she began screaming incoherently about the devil and money. He promptly called the police, who arrived shortly.
Geneva was found, by the police, splayed on the floor. Her arms extended to her sides and her legs were straight, similar to Jesus' body on the cross. Court documents can be cited which mention that "Blood was visible, and she had suffered severe trauma around her head and face"
So why did Juanita so brutally kill her own flesh and blood? Well, that was an easy answer for her: she claimed Geneva was possessed.
The Oklahoman reported, "she punched her daughter repeatedly and forced a crucifix and religious medallion down her throat until blood came out of her daughter’s mouth," and that "Juanita saw her daughter die and then placed the body in the shape of a cross"
As the arraignment ended, she said, “Thank you very much. Namaste. You believe in God? I do.”
This picture is from Flickr user Secret Pilgrim and is licensed under creative commons.