Vineland Police Probe Mutilated Animals at Sacred Heart Cemetery
Vineland police are investigating what they suspect might be ritualistic animal sacrifices after a Sacred Heart Cemetery caretaker told them he has found a number of mutilated animals at that Catholic cemetery over the last several months.
Police said the caretaker finally told them about the mutilated animals after finding a severed pig's head in a plastic bag near a grave site Oct. 18.
They said he told them he disposed of the pig's head in the cemetery trash bin, the same way he had done with other animal parts since early this summer.
Police said the caretaker, Doug Riley, told them he has also picked up mice with their heads severed and the headless bodies of crows buried in the grass.
Each time, police said Riley told them, they were on or near graves. He told police that he also had once found and disposed of a black pot with four-leaf clovers, dolls, and flowers.
philly.com