RECOVERED OLD FILE, REPOSTED AUG 08.06

Teen died during rite: 'It's a real cottage industry'

Michael Cuneo, a Toronto-born professor of sociology at Fordham University in New York City, said these "home brew exorcisms" are very common. "It's a real cottage industry. People become convinced someone they knew or love is demonized so they sometimes take matters into their own hands."

Walter Zepeda died of dehydration Monday after being bound to a chair in his bedroom with neckties for three days.

Mr. Zepeda's brother, Diego Zepeda, told The London Free Press newspaper he believes it may have been an exorcism, and while he was shocked to find out his parents were charged in his brother's death, he said he is not surprised that his mother and father may have strapped his brother down to exorcize demons from him.

"That's what they believed ... he was possessed and they could get the evil out of him by praying," said Mr. Zepeda, who is in custody at the the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre on drug-trafficking charges. "I've seen it work."

Mr. Cuneo, who said he has personally witnessed many exorcisms, said its not uncommon for people to be restrained in some manner during an exorcism. "You want to prevent the so-called demons or evil spirits from lashing out and manifesting themselves in violent ways and to prevent the demons from causing damage to the person who is demonized -- the demoniac. Restrain the damn demons. That's the whole point."

Charged with first-degree murder are Mr. Zepeda's parents, Diego Cordero and Ana Meija-Lopez, and a family friend, Alex Osegueda. But Mr. Cuneo, who estimates there have been 10 exorcism-related deaths in the United States in the last five years, said getting a conviction has been virtually impossible in those instances.

In 1995, a two-year-old girl in Cambridge, Ont., died when she was force-fed water in an attempt to free her of an evil spirit. Her mother and a neighbour were later convicted of manslaughter.

Mr. Cuneo, the author of a book American Exorcisms: Expelling Demons in the Land of Plenty, said people are cashing in on the steady demand for this service. "Exorcism is a huge booming business in Canada and the United States. Tens of thousands of exorcisms are conducted below the radar."

While exorcism is most commonly associated with Roman Catholicism, Mr. Cuneo said very few of the rites performed are sanctioned by that religion. "The great majority of exorcisms carried out are pentecostal, charismatic, evangelical, and there are a lot of bootleg, underground Catholic exorcisms carried out by bootleg exorcists who are doing it without the authority of their bishops."

He said the modern popularity of exorcisms stems from the 1970 horror film, The Exorcist. "As recently as the 1960s, exorcism was dead and gone. People weren't thinking they were demonized. The popular entertainment industry has played a tremendous role in stimulating the popular market for exorcism."

Mr. Cuneo does not believe there is a need for exorcisms. "I err on the side of skepticism. These claims of demonization are simply preposterous. They're false."

• Story originally published by:
With files from the Ottawa Citizen National Post / Toronto - Jan 12.02

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