Authorities, who said that that remains came from five human bodies laid to rest in Hope Cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts, arrested Medina on Friday, charging him with being a fugitive from justice and disinterment of bodies, among other alleged offenses.
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The Hartford Courant reported that Medina waived extradition hearings during his court appearance in CT.
According to the police, the accused was cooperative and had shown them where the remains were stored at his apartment. “This individual subsequently broke into a locked mausoleum in Hope Cemetery and removed five skeletal remains”.
A CT man is due in court Monday on charges that he allegedly stole skeletal remains from a cemetery in Worcester. At least one of the remains was still clothed.
Medina is a practicing Santeria priest, a Caribbean religion in which remains are used for medicinal purposes. According to police, Medina is a Santeria priest who arranged the bodies into shrines with candles and statues.
Medina, the investigator wrote, then paid the man and took the five skeletons.
As an investigation in the case was on, Medina was in the custody of local authorities awaiting his hand over to the police in MA.
Police say that the remains of three adults and two children were taken from the family mausoleum of Charles Chandler Houghton, a boot manufacturer and real-estate developer; the mausoleum dates back to 1903. The religion combines Catholicism and worship of deities from West African religions, reported the Hartford Courant.
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A buildup of rust on the cut chain suggested that the bodies had been stolen some time ago, Worcester police said. Medina’s Facebook page lists that he studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.
