Volume No. 2 Issue No. 63 - Monday, December 29, 2008
Human Sacrifice to Obeah-Negro in Dominica is charged with murdering a child
 Reprinted from the New York Times - November 1, 1899
Black Caribbean woman.
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Kingston, Jamaica, October 24 A sensational story of obeah or voodoo in its most extreme development comes from Dominica, the British island in the Leeward group.
According to the official reports of the circuit court of the Leeward Islands, a negro is in custody charged with having deliberately murdered a child for the purpose of offering a human sacrifice to his �Mumbo-Jumbo� in connection with a search for alleged hidden treasure.
It appears according to the reports that in view of the enormity of the offense and the extreme penalty involved, the jurors felt some hesitation, and concluded not to agree on any verdict, thus causing the trial to be postponed to a subsequent session. This, however, in no way affects the facts of the case.
The Attorney General said that there was no doubt that the child had been made a victim of a grave and barbarous superstition which exists in the islands. This the counsel for the defense freely admitted, but he argued that the prisoner was not the person who committed the murder.
Published November 1, 1899 � The New York Times
Editor�s Note: In this special series of articles, we will revisit press coverage of historical events in Dominica to give our readers a glimpse of what life was like in the country many years ago.
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