45 yr-old man dies after drinking 6 litres of beer during a contest in Spain

A 'beer drinking king' has died in Spain moments after lifting the trophy of a tournament where participants vie to swill the most pints of lager in 20 minutes.

Spectators in Murcia watched with open mouths as Joaquín Alcaraz Gracia, 45, knocked back six litres of beer in record time last Wednesday.

But their awe turned to horror as he lifted the coveted trophy and immediately began to vomit 'without stopping'. Minutes later he passed out and never woke up, according to witnesses.

Antonio Alcaraz told Spanish newspaper Hoy that Gracia 'seemed fine' right up until the award ceremony when he was presented with his prize.

'He had drunk six litres of beer, and when he won he lifted the trophy,' Alcaraz said. 'Then he just started to vomit without stopping and he never spoke again.'

The traditional knees up, in Murcia's Gea y Truyols district, sees competitors attempt to down as many litres of beer as they can in 20-minutes.

Heart attack: New of Gracia's tragic death comes days after Australian Bruce Holland died taking part in a pie eating contestin a Queensland pub

'But it seems Joaquín's body said enough was enough,' said witness Santiago García of the man emergency officials later described as 'obese'.

'He started to vomit in his chair. I was one of the people who held him upright,' he said.

Municipality vice president Pedro Rodríguez added: 'He vomited a lot but I sat with him for ten minutes, and he was sleeping and snoring away.'

However, he was not sleeping but suffering from a massive heart attack. Paramedics were called and he was rushed to hospital. But medics were unable to revive him.

Officials in the area defended the event, saying it has a long tradition in the area. But they added that further festivities have been suspended and called for a three-day official period of mourning.

New of Gracia's tragic death comes days after an Australian man died taking part in a pie eating contest in a Queensland pub.

Bruce Holland, 64, collapsed while taking part in the food contest moments after declaring: 'Jeez, this chilli pie is hot.' He died in hospital 90 minutes later.

Friends who were with him at the Bushland Beach Tavern, near Townsville, said they believed he suffered a heart attack after eating just a few mouthfuls of a pie.

The pie-eating contest was held during the half time break in a rugby match which Mr Holland and his friends were watching on the tavern's TV.

Arthur McMahon, a spokesman for the tavern, said it was the first time the pub had hosted a food competition and Mr Holland was the first to put his hand up to take part.

'He was always up for raffles or anything and used to like winning things,' Mr McMahon told Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper.

'At half time they had this chilli pie competition and people were asked to volunteer and Bruce put up his hand.'

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Rape victim who was jailed in Dubai for 'having sex outside of marriage' is finally pardoned after global outcry

Relief: Marte Deborah Dalelv said she was given back her passport on Sunday by the public prosecutor's office and that her 16-month sentence for having sex outside marriage has been dropped

A Norwegian woman at the center of a Dubai rape claim dispute says she has been pardoned and is free to leave the country.

Marte Deborah Dalelv said she was given back her passport Sunday by the public prosecutor's office and that her 16-month sentence for having sex outside marriage has been dropped.

The 24-year-old designer claimed she was raped in March by a co-worker, but she was charged with the sex offense after going to police in Dubai in a case that highlighted the clash between the city's Western-friendly atmosphere and its Islamic-based legal codes.

Her sentencing last week stirred outrage in the West.

Speaking this weekend of her ordeal, the Norwegian claimed during an interview about the assault police asked her: 'Are you sure you called the police because you just didn't like it?'

They took her passport away and she was convicted and sentenced on charges of having unlawful sex, making a false statement and illegal consumption of alcohol.

Her alleged rapist was sentenced to three months less prison time than she got.

Norwegian businesswoman Marte Deborah Dalelv, 24, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for extramarital sex after she reported being raped

Ms Dalelv said the attack happened after she had been out at a bar with her colleagues and friends. 

She told CNN that she had a male co-worker to escort her to her room as the hotel was 'large and confusing' and she did not want to be wandering aloe as she had been drinking. 

She said she realised the room was not hers, and after initially objecting when he pulled her inside by her handbag, she agreed to go in 'to calm the situation down'.

Her next memory, she says, is waking up on her front while he was raping her. 

When the hotel wake-up call knocked on the door, she dressed and went down to reception to call police.

Up to a dozen make officers arrived and took statements from Ms Dalelv and her alleged attacker. 

When she arrived at Bur Dubai police station, she said police asked her of events to officers, 'Are you sure you called the police because you just didn't like it?' 

She replied: '"Well of course I didn't like it." That is when I knew, I don't think they are going to believe me at all.'

She was then examined and tested for alcohol and locked in a prison cell for four days without explanation. 

Eventually she was able to contact her parents on the third day and ask them to contact the Norwegian Embassy who arranged her release. 

She claims she was advised to claim that the rape was in fact voluntary in order for the issue to 'go away'. 

But she was then charged with making a false statement.

Ms Dalelv claims she was fired from her position with Al Mana Interiors - which is owned by Janet Jackson's husband, Wissam Al Mana -  during the ordeal.

A spokesman for the Qatari billionaire's company, Al Mana Interiors, strongly denied the claims from Marte Deborah Dalelv, saying instead its representatives were 'by her side' throughout the 'ordeal' and that the firm was forced to let her go after she 'declined to have positive and constructive discussions about her employment status.'

Dalelv was sentenced to one year and four months in jail but as Norway has no extradition treaty with Dubai, her future is uncertain.

Janet Jackson married the Qatari billionaire in a secret ceremony last year. The pair have been together for three years after meeting in 2010.

The young Norwegian woman's horror story is not unique.

Earlier this year Australian Alicia Gali, 27, spoke of how she was thrown in a Dubai jail for eight months after she reported a rape.

Gali was working at hotel chain Starwood when her drink was spiked in the staff bar.

She awoke to find that three colleagues had raped her, but when she went to a hospital for help, they turned her over to the police and she was charged with illicit sex outside marriage.

Under UAE law, rapists can only be convicted if either the perpetrator confesses or if four adult Muslim males witness the crime.

Under the Sharia-influenced laws, sex before marriage is completely forbidden and an unmarried couple holding hands in public can be jailed.

Foreigners jailed in Dubai are deported immediately after completing their sentences.

Culled from DAILYMAIL

GREEN Coke launched in Argentina with natural sweetener and fully recyclable bottle

Going green: Coca Cola has gone for a striking new look with a product just launched in Argentina

Coca Cola has used their familiar and distinctive curved script since 1887. And since the 1920s their famous logo has been placed on a red background on the company's classic cola. 

But the soda brand is now going green, at least in Argentina. The drinks giant has launched Coca Cola Life, which is sweetened with sugar and the naturally occurring, no-calorie sweetener stevia.

The new product features a striking green label and is packaged in the award-winning PlantBottle. This is made with 30 percent plant material and is fully recyclable.

Turning tradition on its head: Coca Cola has long been associated with the classic logo on a red background, but the new drink has a different palette

Coca Cola says the bottle 'looks, functions and recycles just like traditional PET plastic, but does so with a lighter footprint on the planet and its scarce resources.'

The new drink has 108 calories in a 600 milliliter bottle - between classic Coke with 250 calories and the zero-calorie Diet Coke. 

'Coca-Cola Life is the first soda from the Coca-Cola family that is naturally sweetened with sugar and Stevia, which adds to our portfolio a delicious taste with a proposed low in calories,' Coca-Cola stated on its Argentinean website.

The world's largest soda company has used stevia in 45 products, such as Vitaminwater Zero and Fanta Select, but never in its flagship cola.

There is no date for introducing the product elsewhere. Company executives at a news conference in Buenos Aires likened the launch with the 2005 debut of Coca-Cola Zero, which was first introduced in Australia and later sold elsewhere.

Consumer Edge Research analyst Bill Pecoriello said a global roll out seemed likely because it would also preempt PepsiCo's sweetener innovation.

'A healthy dose of skepticism as to the long-term success potential is warranted, given past introductions,' he added.

There has been a recent wave of mid-calorie sodas such as Pepsi Next and Dr Pepper 10, but they have not maintained market share, Pecoriello said.

Middle ground: Coca Cola Life has 108 calories per 600ml, in between the classic product with 250 calories and Diet Coke with none

Coke and Pepsi have been using stevia, a plant native to Paraguay, in drinks for years, but mostly in noncarbonated, fruit-flavored drinks. 

As recently as May, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said stevia did not work well in colas, even though Pepsi Next in Australia uses stevia. 

Pepsi Next in other markets, including the United States, uses a mix of high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.

This latest offering from Coca Cola comes hot on the heels of the company releasing a new bottle made entirely of ice.

Currently only available in Colombia, the design is being marketed as eco friendly since it melts after the coke is consumed, meaning there is nothing left to throw away or recycle.

A Spanish advertisement for Botello de Hielo (bottle of ice) shows beach-goers enjoying the ice cold beverages on a hot day, and then letting their bottles melt away in the sand.

The bottles are wrapped around the middle with red rubber labels in order to prevent frozen fingers. Once the bottle disappears, the labels double as snap bracelets.

To create the bottles, the company fills silicone molds with water, freezes them at -13 degrees Fahrenheit and then fills the ice bottle shapes with Coke.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Father of five who 'died' 16 yrs ago reappears alive after starting a new life as a gay man

Eric Myers, right, disappeared without a trace in 1991 to start a new life. Now he has a new family - husband Sean Lung, left

A married father-of-five who went missing 16 years ago and was legally pronounced dead has reappeared alive and well having started a new life for himself as a gay man. 

In a report broadcast on ABC's 20/20, the man, Eric Myers, is described as having lived the American dream. 

The Arizona man married his high school sweetheart Anne, and they started a life having two daughters, Kirtsen and Erin, and adopting three boys from Vietnam. 

Big secret: Myers says he knew since he was 6-years-old that he was attracted to men, but hoped his religion and starting a family would stop the urges

Things seemed to be going well for Myers, who was working for his father's booming property business. 

But according to one of his friends, Myers complained about being in debt. 

Added to that stress was the fact that his marriage was on the rocks. 

Anne wanted to go to college, and that didn't fit into deeply religious Myer's idea of the ideal Christian housewife. 

Moved on: After Myers' inexplicable disappearance, his wife Anne moved on as well and has found a significant other of her own

Though he tried to find reasons in the bible to keep her from pursuing her education goals, he couldn't find a valid excuse and felt trapped. 

They talked about divorce, but Myers wanted to do the Christian thing and stay married. 

Soon after, Myers attended a real estate seminar in San Diego and never came back. 

At first authorities suspected foul play, but they couldn't find any evidence of a crime. Myers had completely vanished. 

They did find that he checked out of his hotel the first day of the conference, but kept going to the meetings.

No one knew where he was or where he went.

According to Myers, he was robbed the last day of the conference, so he spent the night in a seedy motel with only a few hundred dollars in his pocket.

The next morning he crossed the border to Mexico and took a bus to Cabo San Lucas. 

It was there that he decided to unwind on the sandy beaches and escape from his life for a little bit. 

Myers said he was dealing with the stress of keeping a long-hidden secret: the fact that he was attracted to other men. 

But the trip to Cabo wasn't meant to be forever. 

'I'm sitting there, saying, You can do this and still go back. You can still do this and still be OK. Maybe a week. Maybe two weeks,' Myers said. 

But a few weeks turned into four months and he never once called his family. 

At that point he reentered the United States and went to Palm Springs, California to search for work. 

In Palm Springs he met Sean Lung, a tourist from Canada and the two fell in love. 

They started a new life together and Myers would take odd jobs wherever he could that didn't require an ID. 

All the while, his family at home suffered from the sudden and inexplicable loss of their husband and father.

 

Not forgiven: Daughter Kirsten was only 8-years-old when her father disappeared, and she doesn't forgive him for the pain that loss caused her

Daughter Kirsten was only 8-years-old when her father left and remembers crying herself to sleep every night, and screaming that she wanted him back. 

Myers makes no excuses for the harm he caused his family when he left without a trace. 

A new life: Myers and Lung started a new life with each other and traveled the world. Myers would take odd jobs that didn't require an ID

'I cannot say anything to deny that this is the most selfish thing in the world. And I will never be painted as a saint. But no one is all good, and no one is all bad.'

In 1996, Myers was declared legally dead and the family received a life insurance policy for $800,000 which they invested in a trust for the two daughters. 

But no money could replace the fact that their father was gone. 

Kirsten, now 30 and married with two children of her own, says that she retreated to alcohol at age 11 and found that it made her feel better.

She only quit drinking to comfort her mother who she describes as 'one of the most selfless people I've ever met.'

Sixteen years later the family had gotten used to life without dad when cryptic messages started popping up in the inboxes of Myers' friends and family, with questions like 'Would you be curious in knowing what happened to Eric Myers?'

Their father had returned. 

'There was never any plan to come back, just like there was never any plan to leave and it just happened,' Myers said.

He met first with his mother who forgave him after one hug. 

Eventually he was able to reconnect with most of his brothers and sisters, but his wife and children still haven't welcomed him back into their lives.

 

For Kirsten, she still can't grapple with why her father would have willingly left her. 

'I know how much I love my children, and if he loved me even half as much as I loved them, there would be no situation where he would even think that it was okay to leave me,' Kirsten said. 

Mother: 16 years later, and Kirsten is a mother of two herself. She says she can't imagine ever leaving them, or how her father could have left her

No regrets: Myers says he doesn't regret reappearing, since living a life in disguise was a 'horrible prison'

It doesn't help that once Myers reappeared, Liberty Life Insurance sued the Myers family for $800,000 plus interest for the plan they awarded them, which the family is appealing. 

While he knows that coming back into their lives is painful, Myers says he made the right decision to return since living in disguise is a 'horrible prison.'

Kirsten doesn't believe that her father's sexual orientation is an excuse for his disappearance. 

'I know a lot of people who would never do this...absolutely never blame it on their homosexuality. I don't believe that he is capable of love.'  

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Retroactive justice: Rape victim sentenced to jail in Dubai after reporting incident to police

Marte Deborah Dalelv

A Norwegian woman sentenced to 16 months in jail in Dubai for having sex outside marriage after she reported an alleged rape said Friday she decided to speak out in hopes of drawing attention to the risks of outsiders misunderstanding the Islamic-influenced legal codes in this cosmopolitan city.

The case has drawn outrage from rights groups and others in the West since the 24-year-old interior designer was sentenced Wednesday. It also highlights the increasingly frequent tensions between the United Arab Emirates' international atmosphere and its legal system, which is strongly influenced by Islamic traditions in a nation where foreign workers and visitors greatly outnumber locals.

"I have to spread the word. ... After my sentence we thought, `How can it get worse?'" Marte Deborah Dalelv told The Associated Press in an interview at a Norwegian aid compound in Dubai where she is preparing her appeal scheduled for early September.

Dalelv, who worked for an interior design firm in Qatar since 2011, claims she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker in March while she was attending a business meeting in Dubai.

She said she fled to the hotel lobby and asked for the police to be called. The hotel staff asked if she was sure she wanted to involve the police, Dalelv said.

"Of course I want to call the police," she said. "That is the natural reaction where I am from."

Dalelv said she was given a medical examination seeking evidence of the alleged rape and underwent a blood test for alcohol. Such tests are commonly given in the UAE for alleged assaults and in other cases. Alcohol is sold widely across Dubai, but public intoxication can bring charges.

The AP does not identity the names of alleged sexual assault victims, but Dalelv went public voluntarily to talk to media.

Dalelv was detained for four days after being accused of having sex outside marriage, which is outlawed in the UAE although the law is not actively enforced for tourists as well as hundreds of thousands of Westerners and others on resident visas.

She managed to reach her stepfather in Norway after being loaned a phone card by another woman in custody.

"My stepdad, he answered the phone, so I said, that I had been raped, I am in prison ... please call the embassy," she recounted.

"And then I went back and I ... just had a breakdown," she continued. "It was very emotional, to call my dad and tell him what happened."

Norwegian diplomats later secured her release and she has been allowed to remain at the Norwegian Seamen's Center in central Dubai. She said her alleged attacker received a 13-month sentence for out-of-wedlock sex and alcohol consumption.

Dubai authorities did not respond to calls for comment, but the case has brought strong criticism from Norwegian officials and activists.

"This verdict flies in the face of our notion of justice," Norway's foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, told the NTB news agency, calling it "highly problematic from a human rights perspective."

Previous cases in the UAE have raised similar questions, with alleged sexual assault victims facing charges for sex-related offenses. Other legal codes also have been criticized for being at odds with the Western-style openness promoted by Dubai.

On Thursday, Dubai police said they arrested a man who posted an Internet video of an Emirati beating a South Asian van driver after an apparent traffic altercation. Police said they took the action because images of a potential crime were "shared."

In London, a spokesman for the Emirates Center for Human Rights, a group monitoring UAE affairs, said the Dalelv case points out the need for the UAE to expand its legal protections for alleged rape victims.

"We urge authorities to reform the laws governing incidents of rape in the country," said Rori Donaghy, "to ensure women are protected against sexual violence and do not become the targets of prosecution when reporting crimes."

Culled from HUFF POST

World's fastest shark is caught off the British coast for the first time in 42 years

The world's fastest shark has been caught off British coast by actor actor Julian Lewis Jones. Julian is pictured here on the right with friends

The world's fastest shark has been caught in British waters for the first time in 42 years. 

The 6ft-long mako shark - a cousin of the man-eating Great White - can reach speeds of 46 mph and leap 30ft into the air.

It was landed by Hollywood actor Julian Lewis Jones, who starred with Matt Damon in Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood. 

Mr Lewis Jones, who landed the shark while on holiday in Pembrokeshire, described the catch as something 'you dream of'.

The actor, 44, said: 'We saw this flash that whizzed passed the boat - it was a big white belly and it went so, so fast.

'Next thing this shark leapt 15ft in the air off the back of the stern of the boat.

'We all looked at each other and said: 'That's a mako' and we knew the importance of it.

'This is something that you dream of.'

He was fishing with friends 30 miles off Milford Haven, West Wales, when he landed the mako - officially described as the fastest species of shark in the ocean.

Mako, which grow up to 14ft in length, have been know to jump into fishing boats.

The group had already caught and released two blue sharks weighing 120lbs (55kg) each when they saw something flash past in the water.

The actor was fishing with pals 30 miles off Milford Haven, West Wales, when he landed the mako - officially described as the fastest species of shark in the ocean. It can reach speeds of 46 mph and leap 30ft into the air

Mr Lewis Jones, who has appeared on angling programmes on Sky TV and Welsh-language channel S4C, said the team all worked together to bring the shark in.

He said: 'Mako sharks are aggressive and fast animals and they have been known to actually jump inside boats.

'It was around 40 minutes before we had him on the side of the boat and he went a bit ballistic and you can't control it - it's a wild animal, it's like trying to control a rhino.

'We were so privileged, absolutely stoked to have done it and it was the first off the coast of Wales.'

The four men managed to slip a circle hook into the corner of the shark's mouth and get him to the deck of the boat.

The shark weighed in at around 200lbs (90kg) and measured around 6ft (2m).

The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) has recorded 42 mako attacks on humans between 1980 and 2010, three of which were fatal, along with twenty boat attacks.

The last time a mako shark was reported to have been caught in Britain was in June 1971 off Looe, Cornwall.

The organisation says divers who have encountered makos say that, prior to an attack, they will swim in a figure-of-eight pattern and approach with mouths open.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Archaeologists discover King David's palace in the city where he's said to have battled Goliath over 1000 yrs BC

Archaeologists have unearthed a palace in what they believe is the fortified Judean city of Shaarayim, where David is said to have battled Goliath in the biblical tale. The discovery of what is thought to be King David's palace (an aerial view is pictured) was made by Hebrew University and the Israel Antiquities Authority

Archaeologists have unearthed a palace in what they believe is the fortified Judean city of Shaarayim, where the Bible states King David battled the giant Goliath. 

The discovery of what is thought to be King David's palace, measuring 1,000 square metres, was made by Hebrew University and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Over the past seven years the teams have also uncovered a huge storehouse containing pots and artefacts that they believe proves the existence of a ruler in Judah in the tenth century BCE.

'The ruins are the best example to date of the uncovered fortress city of King David,' professors Yossi Garfinkel and Saar Ganor of Hebrew University said.

'This is indisputable proof of the existence of a central authority in Judah during the time of King David.'

The biblical city of Shaarayim is thought to have become the modern city of Khirbet Qeiyafa, which is approximately 30 kilometres south west of Jerusalem.

Archeologists also found over 600 ceramic pots at the site, some of which are pictured. According to researchers the number of vessels uncovered indicates they were used for tax collection of agricultural produce

The biblical city of Shaarayim is said to have become the modern city of Khirbet Qeiyafa, approximately 30 kilometres south west of Jerusalem

The professors said that the ruins are the two largest known buildings to have existed at the time of King David in Jerusalem.

They added: 'The southern part of a large palace that extended across an area of about 1,000 square meters was revealed at the top of the city.

'The wall enclosing the palace is about 30 metres long and an impressive entrance is fixed through which one descended to the southern gate of the city, opposite the Valley of Elah. 

'Around the palace’s perimeter were rooms in which various installations were found -- evidence of a metal industry, special pottery vessels and fragments of alabaster vessels that were imported from Egypt.'

The archaeologists collected hundreds of artefacts at the site, including religious objects, seals, pottery and tools typical of the time.

The palace is at the centre of the site and is higher than the houses lower in the city.

The royal occupants would have had an excellent view of the land, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Hebron Mountains and Jerusalem in the east.

Pictured are the remains of a 30-metre long wall of the palace. The archaeologists believe the ruins are the best example to date of the uncovered fortress city of King David

The palace is at the centre of the site and is higher than the houses lower in the city. Its royal occupants would have had an excellent view of the land. Here the southern gate is visible, opposite the Valley of Elah, where David is said to have defeated Goliath in the biblical tale

It is believed that much of the palace was destroyed 1,400 years after it was built when a fortified farmhouse was erected in its place during the Byzantine period.

Professors Garfinkel and Ganor said: 'The palace that is now being revealed and the fortified city that was uncovered in recent years are another tier in understanding the beginning of the Kingdom of Judah.'

The archaeologists also found a large pillared building which was used as an administrative storeroom.

Professor Garfinkel holds an article from his archaeological excavation next to the remains of what is thought to be King David's palace. The palace is one of two royal buildings found in what is believed to be the Kingdom of Judah of the tenth century BCE

The professors said: 'It was in this building the kingdom stored taxes it received in the form of agricultural produce collected from the residents of the different villages in the Judean Shephelah.

'Hundreds of large store jars were found at the site whose handles were stamped with an official seal as was customary in the Kingdom of Judah for centuries.'

They believe the palace and storerooms are evidence of state-sponsored construction and an administrative organisation during King David’s reign.

The remains of what is thought to be a royal storeroom. It was in this building the kingdom stored taxes it received in the form of agricultural produce collected from the residents of the different villages in the Judean Shephelah

'This is unequivocal evidence of a kingdom’s existence, which knew to establish administrative centres at strategic points,' said Professors Garfinkel and Ganor.

'To date no palaces have been found that can clearly be ascribed to the early tenth century BCE as we can do now.'

The Israel Antiquities Authority said it hoped that the new discoveries will lead to the site becoming a national park.

The site of what is thought to be the fortified Judean city of Shaarayim, where David is said to have battled Goliath in the biblical tale. The Israel Antiquities Authority said it hoped that the new discoveries will lead to the site becoming a national park

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Man who killed mom in alleged satanic ritual bags 25 years in prison

Moises Meraz-Espinoza

Moises Meraz-Espinoza, a Los Angeles man who killed and dismembered his mother in 2011, was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years to life in prison.

Meraz-Espinoza, now 21, turned himself in to police in Huntington Park, Calif., two years ago and confessed to killing his mother, L.A. Weekly reported at the time. He was convicted in June.

According to the Los Angeles Times, investigators who searched the scene of the slaying found the body of Meraz-Espinoza's mother, 42-year-old Amelia Espinoza, skinned and cut into pieces with a circular saw, with organs removed and chunks of skin and flesh stored in a freezer.

Details from the scene soon emerged, but the grisliest were of the victim's severed head. "The woman's skull, with all her teeth plucked out, her eyes removed and two upside-down crosses carved into the bone, was stashed in a backpack," according to the L.A. Times.

A coroner's report found that Amelia Espinoza had "died of asphyxia and neck compression," CBS Los Angeles reported at the time, indicating that the mutilation of the body occurred after death.

Investigators recovered a satanic bible with a chapter on human sacrifice near the crime scene, and prosecutors argued that the killing had been a satanic ritual, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Prosecutors claimed that the date of death corresponded to a day of human or animal sacrifice in the satanic calendar, and cited the accused's tattoos of satanic imagery as evidence of his involvement in satanism. That involvement was denied by the defense, although prosecutors called the killing a "human sacrifice," according to KTLA.

Following Meraz-Espinoza's 2011 arrest, outlets initially reported that the man, then 19, had been distraught and depressed following the death of a girlfriend in an automobile accident.

Satanic ritual or not, Judge Thomas I. McKnew Jr., who sentenced Meraz-Espinoza in Los Angeles County Superior Court, called the case one of "the most disgusting, hideous and vulgar" he'd ever seen.

"I don't know what I can say to turn your life around, but you'll have a lot of time to think about it," he said in court Wednesday, according to the L.A. Times.

Culled from HUFF POST