27842: Hermantin(News)Woman carrying skull is released (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Miami Herald

Posted on Wed, Feb. 15, 2006


VODOU BELIEFS
Woman carrying skull is released

BY JERRY BERRIOS
jberrios@MiamiHerald.com

The Miramar woman charged with intentionally smuggling a human head into the 
United States last week was released from a federal detention center Tuesday, 
her attorney Kenneth Hassett said.

On Monday, Myrlene Severe posted the $10,000 needed for her $100,000 bond, and 
was released about 10 a.m. Tuesday, Hassett said.

The skull of a black man in his 40s or younger was found inside a cotton rice 
bag, along with a banana leaf, dirt, small stones and a rusty iron nail, in 
Severe's checked luggage.

Severe told officials that she got the ''package'' from a Haitian man and 
planned to use it to ward off evil spirits as part of her Vodou beliefs, 
according to an Immigration & Customs Enforcement affidavit.

Human skulls are used in Vodou by priests and priestesses of the religion, 
which is commonly practiced in Haiti, said anthropologist Rafael Martinez.

Skulls are displayed in an alter and are used in ceremonies such as a cleansing 
or healing ritual.

Animal blood might be poured on a skull or a piece of the skull might be mixed 
with powders for magic preparation, Martinez said.

''Different cultures have different celebrations for the dead,'' Martinez said. 
``It is not unusual.''

The skull is in the Broward Medical Examiner's office, but it's too early to 
say what happens next.

Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Perper said it could eventually become 
evidence in a criminal case. The FBI will review his findings this week or 
next, Perper said.

Severe, 30, also is charged with not having the proper paperwork for the skull 
and bringing hazardous material on an airplane.

Severe refused media interviews at her Miramar home on Tuesday afternoon.

Miami Herald television news partner WFOR Channel 4 contributed to this report.