NEWS

Occult expert helps investigate animal decapitations

Greg Shillinglaw
gshillingl@lohud.com
  • New Rochelle police found a bag Tuesday containing a goat and five chickens%2C all of which had been decapitated.
  • The SPCA of Westchester has called in an occult specialist for help with their investigation.
  • Marcos Quinones says black magic is involved with animal remains discovered in Mount Vernon.

The SPCA of Westchester has called in an occult specialist for help investigating several "disturbing" discoveries of animal remains this summer, the latest of which, a decapitated goat and chickens, came Tuesday in New Rochelle, authorities said.

The remains of a black bird in the Willson’s Woods of Mount Vernon. It was wrapped in three layers of red, black and white cloth and had written symbols on it belonging to a “black magic” cult.

Marcos Quinones is reviewing crime scene photos after New Rochelle police found a black plastic bag in Long Island Sound containing the goat and five chickens, said Ernest Lungaro, the SPCA's Humane Law Enforcement Unit director.

A similar discovery was also made a day before by New Rochelle harbor cops, police said. The department was informed by New York City police that this could be a good-luck sanctity ritual, something the NYPD has seen before. The SPCA responded to the second incident and consulted Quinones after finding money, food and a blue shirt in the bag.

The discoveries come about a week after at least two decapitated goats and remains of several other animals were found in plastic bags near the New Croton Reservoir in Yorktown. Lungaro said that case, and another involving a bird in Mount Vernon, don't appear linked to what's happened in New Rochelle.

His agency is now determining if animal cruelty is involved in any of these incidents.

"Right now it looks like they're all separate, only based on the crime scenes," Lungaro said. "If you saw the photographs, you'd see they're all a little bit different."

Quinones, the occult specialist, was also contacted for help in July when the remains of a black bird were discovered in Willson's Woods in Mount Vernon. The bird was wrapped in three layers of red, black and white cloth and had symbols written on it belonging to a "black magic" cult.

"The white cloth contained the Palo Mayombe symbol of a circle intercepted by arrows," said Quinones, who has assisted more than 200 law enforcement investigations. "The colors of red and white may pertain to the Palo god Lucero who is the god of lightning, thunder and fire. This is not a good ritual but is black magic conducted to produce a desired effect on a person or group of people."

Quinones originally helped out the SPCA with the investigation into the gruesome discovery of 25 dead cats that were found in plastic shopping bags hanging from trees in Yonkers.

That case doesn't appear related to the incidents in New Rochelle, Yorktown and Mount Vernon — all of which have made for a busy summer for the SPCA's law enforcement unit.

A New Rochelle resident also says she discovered four geese beheaded and their bodies lined up on the grass in July in Huguenot Park. But the city said park workers only found one goose and believed it had been attacked by another animal.

They threw out the remains, which prevented a necropsy from being conducted to determine a cause of death. Lungaro said that incident doesn't appear related to what was found in Long Island Sound this week. A city spokeswoman couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

The cases remain open and anyone with information about these killings is asked to contact the SPCA's Confidential Animal Cruelty Hotline at 914-941-7797.

Twitter: @gshilly