The human remains of two people were discovered in the basement of a Bridgeport, Connecticut, home by authorities who were conducting a narcotics investigation, police said Tuesday.
Felix “Cuba” Delgado, 40, was arrested by Bridgeport Police on drug charges Tuesday and was also charged with being a fugitive from justice, a felony, the Connecticut Post reported on Wednesday.
Authorities in Massachusetts had already been investigating Mr. Delgado as a suspect in a grave robbing, and a search of his residence one state over by Bridgeport’s drug detectives may have yielded new clues in their probe.
“We found two human skulls and bones that appear to have come from the remains of two people,” Bridgeport Police Capt. Armando Perez told the Connecticut Post. “This was like nothing we had ever seen before.”
Mr. Delgado practices a dark form of Santeria, a syncretic religion that blends elements of Roman Catholicism with traditional practices from West Africa, and had several blood-covered altars throughout his house, as well as carved figurines, candles, religious statues, chicken carcasses and other items typical of the religion, the police captain told reporters.
“Delgado is a high priest in the Santeria religion and practices the dark arts,” Capt. Perez said. “People in the neighborhood are either from Puerto Rico or the West Indies, where this religion is practiced, and they were afraid to say anything against Delgado for fear he would put a curse on them.”
Bridgeport Police had been investigation Mr. Delgado over allegations he had been selling heroin and prescription pills out of his home when the human remains were found, and he could face new charges for possessing the bones, authorities told News12 Connecticut, a local television network. The altar was discovered last month, News 12 added.
Charging documents were not immediately available, but the station reported that Mr. Delgado was expected to appear in a Connecticut courthouse on Wednesday and is being held pending extradition to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he’s accused of stealing bodies from a 112-year-old mausoleum.
Authorities in Worcester charged 32-year-old Amador Medina of Hartford, Connecticut, in December 2015 with five charges of disinterment of a body stemming from the grave heist, which he told police was related to practicing Santeria.
“Mr. Medina provided a statement to Hartford Police Detectives and indicated he directed an unidentified individual to secure a human body (remains) for Mr. Medina for an agreed upon payment,” Worcester Police Sgt. Gary Quitadamo wrote in a police statement at the time. “This individual subsequently broke into a locked mausoleum in Hope Cemetery and removed five skeletal remains.”
Public documents in the Medina case do not name the alleged grave-robber.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.