Amador Medina told Hartford detectives that he paid a man to obtain the bones, which he said he arranged in shrines for use in Santeria, an Afro-Cuban religion that originated in West Africa. Some of the remains police found in Medina's second floor apartment at 245 Preston St. had been taken apart. Investigators said Medina wanted the bones for medicinal reasons as part of his religion, and that older bones are preferred. Medina is a priest who practices Santeria, an Afro-Cuban religion developed from the beliefs and customs of the Yoruba people and incorporating some elements of the Catholic religion. Worcester police will charge Medina with five counts of disinterment of bodies, conspiracy to disinter bodies and accessory before the fact to breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony. Medina, the investigator wrote, then paid the man and took the five skeletons. Hartford police went to Medina's apartment Friday afternoon after a person called 911 to report seeing skeletons in the apartment.  WORCESTER - The man accused of possessing five skeletons stolen from a Hope Cemetery mausoleum told Hartford Police detectives he paid another man to get human remains for him, statements on file in a Worcester court said. Photo credit: Hartford Police 
 
 The missing remains were discovered Oct. 9, when a visitor to the cemetery noticed someone had broken into the mausoleum. Once inside the mausoleum, Worcester detectives found that several crypts had been forced open and that the skeletal remains had been removed. Police said they suspect the bones were removed months before the discovery of the thefts. Worcester police said the last set of remains was placed in the mausoleum about 71 years ago, and they have not been able to find any relatives. Medina allegedly admitted to using the remains to practice Santeria, a religion that contains some aspects of Catholicism and West African religions.
– Have skeletal remains lying around at home? Yeah, that's a bit of a problem—as Amador Medina learned when police accused him of keeping five disinterred bodies at his Hartford, Conn., apartment. Medina, 32, allegedly paid someone to dig up the three adults and two children for use in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria, the Hartford Courant reports. According to police, Medina is a Santeria priest who arranged the bodies into shrines with candles and statues. Some bodies were taken apart while others were mostly whole, kept in trash bags with holes ripped to show the skulls. Seems they were removed earlier this year from a mausoleum in Worcester, Mass., where they'd been for around 71 years, the Republican reports. No relatives have yet been found. "The age of the deceased, as well as how long they have been deceased, is relevant in how they use those remains in their medicinal value" in Santeria, a Hartford police deputy tells NBC Los Angeles. But Imna Arroyo, a professor at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, tells WTNH that the Medina case casts "a very negative light" on Santeria. She says the religion, which blends West African and Catholic beliefs, does use chickens during ceremonies—but only Medina can explain the use of human bodies. Medina will be charged with five counts of conspiracy to disinter bodies, disinterment of bodies, and accessory to breaking and entering with felony intent.