A man who strangled his mother and then dismembered her body
when he was 18 years old has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The murder by Moises Meraz-Espinoza was described as one of
the 'most disgusting, hideous and vulgar' cases the judge had ever seen.
A trail of blood and an electrical circular saw, with bone,
blood and flesh stuck to the blade, were found in Meraz-Espinoza's California
apartment after he confessed to the killing in February 2011.
Prosecutors said that Amelia Espinoza had been skinned,
filleted and dismembered as part of a satanic ritual, according to KTLA 5.
The 42-year-old woman's dismembered body was found in a
freezer in the Maywood apartment. Her skull, with the eyes and teeth removed
and two upside down crosses carved into it, was discovered in a backpack, but
her organs were never found.
According to CBS Los Angeles, he used box cutters to skin
his mother before freezing her, and got a tattoo of an upside down cross when
first in jail.
Prosecutor Heba Matta said Meraz-Espinoza had been motivated
by satanic beliefs, which he was 'heavily entrenched in', according to the Los
Angeles Times.
Mr Matta said Meraz-Espinoza has several tattoos with
satanic imagery, including upside-down crosses and a 666 behind his right ear.
A satanic bible was found near the crime scene and the date
of the murder, February 2, 2011, fell on a day in the satanic calendar that calls
for ritual human or animal sacrifice.
The date, which is celebrated as Candlemas by Christians,
and is also celebrated as Groundhog Day, falls halfway between the winter
solstice and spring equinox, and has pagan roots.
According to some satanist worshiping websites, it is
celebrated by oral or anal sex and human or animal sacrifice as a way to
initiate new members.
'This crime was not in the heat of passion or rash and
impulsive,' Mr Matta said. 'It was done for the purpose of devotion. That's
pretty much the ultimate sacrifice.'
Meraz-Espinoza, from east Los Angeles, was convicted of
first-degree murder by a Norwalk jury in June.
He had confessed to the murder two days after killing his
mother, when a cousin he confided in convinced him to go to police.
'I don't know what I can say to turn your life around, but
you'll have a lot of time to think about it,' Los Angeles County Superior Court
Judge Thomas McKnew Jr told the 21-year-old, who appeared in court with
foot-long braids and a partly shaved head.
Defense attorney Jonathan Roberts tried to play down the
connection, telling the court: 'The contemporary church of satan doesn't
believe in human sacrifice,. I never bought that an [18-year-old] kid would
adopt the principles of an organization from 50 years ago.'
He added that the factory worker lacked the expertise to
skin and dismember a person on his own and referred to Meraz-Espinoza's later
statements claiming two other people were also involved.
At the time of the murder, ABC 7 reported that he was
believed to be depressed after his girlfriend was knocked down and killed by a
car.
However, Mr Matta told the court: 'This was sheerly
motivated by evil.'
STORY BY DAILY MAIL REPORTER
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