Pastor, 4 congregants get 30 years in exorcism death

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – A Nicaraguan judge has sentenced an evangelical pastor and four members of his congregation to a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the February killing of a 25-year-old woman who was thrown into a fire to drive “demons” from her body.

A week ago, a jury found pastor Juan Gregorio Rocha Romero and the others guilty of homicide in the death of Vilma Trujillo Garcia, a mother of two. Her husband, Reynaldo Peralta, told local media Tuesday that the sentence won’t bring his wife back, but is just.

The killing occurred in Rosita, a poor mining township about 300 miles (480 kilometres) northeast of Managua.

Rocha and the other defendants maintained that a divine revelation led to the act and that she was not pushed into the fire.