Photo: U.S. Marshals Service

Former used car dealer Ruben Hernandez from Downey, California, tried to practice magic similar to vodun and Palo Mayombe in order to try to make his enemies see him as a good guy.

Marshals arresting Hernandez on charges of home-buying fraud, defrauding banks of approximately $4 million, found an altar/shrine in his bedroom. On it there were crosses, animal skeletons, and effigy dolls with the names of investigators on them.

Officials were fairly freaked out by Hernandez’s altar, but it didn’t stop them from throwing the book at him. Hernandez has been convicted and will be going to jail. The prosecutors said they weren’t afraid of Hernandez’s spells, despite seeing case-related figures on the altar, though one of the prosecutors said his left foot swelled unexpectedly during a preliminary hearing.

Maybe not leading a life of identity theft and bank-bilking crime would have served Hernandez better than some after-the-fact spells to try to fix his image.

- Julie

Sources:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/man-tried-voodoo-black-magic-against-prosecutor-investigators-authorities-allege.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37478125/ns/us_news/