{"id":25997,"date":"2013-07-18T21:45:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T01:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=25997"},"modified":"2013-07-18T21:45:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T01:45:34","slug":"warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html","title":{"rendered":"Warning Graphic: Satan Worshiper Gets Life in Prison for Killing, Skinning Mom"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_26002\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26002\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/244\/2013\/07\/satanic-mom-murderer-Moises-Merza-Espinoza.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26002 \" alt=\"Moises Meraz-Espinoza, left, appears with his attorney, Jonathan Roberts, in a Norwalk courtroom. Meraz-Espinoza was convicted of first-degree murder\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/244\/2013\/07\/satanic-mom-murderer-Moises-Merza-Espinoza.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"166\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26002\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Moises Meraz-Espinoza, left, appears with his attorney, Jonathan Roberts. He was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years to life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div>\n<p>by <a href=\"http:\/\/ktla.com\/bio\/ktla-5-web-staff\/\" rel=\"author\">KTLA 5 Web Staff<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<p>Moises Meraz-Espinoza walked into the Huntington Park Police Department two years ago to report a crime: He had killed his mother.<\/p>\n<p>Officers went to the Maywood apartment that the then-18-year-old factory worker shared with his mother, Amelia Espinoza, 42, and found a gruesome scene. A trail of blood led to the bathroom, where plastic covered the walls and floor. There, they found an electrical circular saw with pieces of bone, blood and flesh stuck to the blade. Nearby, in a freezer, police found skin and muscles stored in plastic bags. The woman\u2019s skull, with all her teeth plucked out, her eyes removed and two upside-down crosses carved into the bone, was stashed in a backpack.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors say tha<a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/244\/2013\/07\/Satanic-murder-scene.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26008 alignleft\" alt=\"Satanic murder scene\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/244\/2013\/07\/Satanic-murder-scene.jpg\" width=\"299\" height=\"168\" \/><\/a>t Meraz-Espinoza strangled his mother and then skinned, filleted and dismembered her body as part of a satanic ritual. A Norwalk jury convicted him of first-degree murder in June.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Thomas I. McKnew Jr. sentenced Meraz-Espinoza to 25 years to life in prison, saying that the slaying \u201ccertainly ranks up there at the top\u201d of \u201cthe most disgusting, hideous and vulgar\u201d cases he has seen during his 50 years in the legal profession.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26007\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26007\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/244\/2013\/07\/amelia-espinoza-murdered-in-Satanic-ritual-by-son.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26007 \" alt=\"amelia-espinoza murdered in Satanic ritual by son\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/244\/2013\/07\/amelia-espinoza-murdered-in-Satanic-ritual-by-son.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"325\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26007\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amelia Espinoza murdered in Satanic ritual by her son<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Initial reports speculated that Meraz-Espinoza was depressed over his girlfriend&#8217;s recent death when he killed his mother. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Heba Matta, who prosecuted the case, said he was more motivated by satanic beliefs, which he was &#8220;heavily entrenched in.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Matta said Meraz-Espinoza has numerous tattoos that draw on satanic imagery, such as upside-down crosses and a 666 behind his right ear. Authorities recovered his copy of a satanic bible near the crime scene. The date he chose to strangle and dismember his mother, Feb. 2, 2011, also fell on a day in the satanic calendar that calls for ritual human or animal sacrifice.<\/p>\n<p>The woman&#8217;s internal organs were never recovered, Matta said.<\/p>\n<p>Meraz-Espinoza has no prior convictions, and prosecutors and defense attorneys said his relationship with his mother before the killing was typical for a teenager. His father was mostly absent from family life, Roberts said, which strained the mother-son dynamic. His mother disapproved of his listening to death metal music and he regularly disobeyed her, Matta said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was sheerly motivated by evil,&#8221; Matta said.<\/p>\n<p>Click here to read the full story on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=moises%20meraz-espinoza&amp;source=newssearch&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CCsQqQIoADAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fla-me-satanic-killer-sentencing-20130718%2C0%2C5115380.story&amp;ei=mlfnUcboLeK5igKQzoG4DQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNFf-_MsbAGG6d2sz07tBCy86KtrPg&amp;bvm=bv.49478099,d.cGE\">LATimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"http:\/\/ktla.com\/2013\/07\/17\/satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom\/#ixzz2ZRmdTCv8\">http:\/\/ktla.com\/2013\/07\/17\/satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom\/#ixzz2ZRmdTCv8<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by KTLA 5 Web Staff Moises Meraz-Espinoza walked into the Huntington Park Police Department two years ago to report a crime: He had killed his mother. Officers went to the Maywood apartment that the then-18-year-old factory worker shared with his mother, Amelia Espinoza, 42, and found a gruesome scene. A trail of blood led to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":403,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1867,1502,355,1498,1620,2575,1430,244,108,5176,5003,1410,2838,3891,806,3237],"tags":[8504,8508,8497,8501,8499,8509,8507,8496,8505,8506,8502,8498,8503,8500],"class_list":["post-25997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evil-plot","category-godlessness","category-hate-crimes","category-insanity","category-moral-decline","category-murder-2","category-news-2","category-perversion","category-religion","category-shocking","category-terrfying-quotes","category-ungodly-new-age-religion","category-wake-up-america","category-war-on-christ-christians-christianity","category-warning","category-whackos","tag-666-tattoo","tag-death-metal-music","tag-killing-mom","tag-meraz-espinoza","tag-moises-meraz-espinoza","tag-motivated-by-evil","tag-ritual-human-or-animal-sacrifice","tag-satan-worshiper","tag-satanic-bible","tag-satanic-calendar","tag-satanic-imagery","tag-skinning-mom","tag-tattoos","tag-upside-down-crosses"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Warning Graphic: Satan Worshiper Gets Life in Prison for Killing, Skinning Mom - Watchwoman on the Wall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Warning Graphic: Satan Worshiper Gets Life in Prison for Killing, Skinning Mom - Watchwoman on the Wall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by KTLA 5 Web Staff Moises Meraz-Espinoza walked into the Huntington Park Police Department two years ago to report a crime: He had killed his mother. Officers went to the Maywood apartment that the then-18-year-old factory worker shared with his mother, Amelia Espinoza, 42, and found a gruesome scene. A trail of blood led to&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Watchwoman on the Wall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-19T01:45:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2013\/07\/satanic-mom-murderer-Moises-Merza-Espinoza.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Donna Calvin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Warning Graphic: Satan Worshiper Gets Life in Prison for Killing, Skinning Mom - Watchwoman on the Wall","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Warning Graphic: Satan Worshiper Gets Life in Prison for Killing, Skinning Mom - Watchwoman on the Wall","og_description":"by KTLA 5 Web Staff Moises Meraz-Espinoza walked into the Huntington Park Police Department two years ago to report a crime: He had killed his mother. Officers went to the Maywood apartment that the then-18-year-old factory worker shared with his mother, Amelia Espinoza, 42, and found a gruesome scene. A trail of blood led to&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html","og_site_name":"Watchwoman on the Wall","article_published_time":"2013-07-19T01:45:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2013\/07\/satanic-mom-murderer-Moises-Merza-Espinoza.jpg"}],"author":"Donna Calvin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html","name":"Warning Graphic: Satan Worshiper Gets Life in Prison for Killing, Skinning Mom - Watchwoman on the Wall","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2013\/07\/satanic-mom-murderer-Moises-Merza-Espinoza.jpg","datePublished":"2013-07-19T01:45:34+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-19T01:45:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/#\/schema\/person\/1470e1ef6765f8a27f970307b0835df1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2013\/07\/satanic-mom-murderer-Moises-Merza-Espinoza.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2013\/07\/satanic-mom-murderer-Moises-Merza-Espinoza.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2013\/07\/warning-graphic-satan-worshiper-gets-life-in-prison-for-killing-skinning-mom.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Warning Graphic: Satan Worshiper Gets Life in Prison for Killing, Skinning Mom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/","name":"Watchwoman on the Wall","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Donna Calvin","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/#\/schema\/person\/1470e1ef6765f8a27f970307b0835df1","name":"Donna Calvin","description":"In sixth grade my teacher told us that we were going to be the first generation to see the year 2000 and all things would be different. 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