On 11 February, bricklayer Giovanni Barecca from Altavilla Milicia, near Palermo, Sicily, called the police and said: “Come and get me. I have killed my family.” Barecca, 54, confessed to killing his wife Antonella, 40, and their sons Emmanuel, five, and Kevin, 16, by torturing them with hot irons during a botched exorcism as he believed they were “possessed by demons”.
Police arrested Barecca and his accomplices, Massimo Carandente and Sabrina Fina, a herbal tea vendor and a lifestyle coach, who were described as “religious fanatics”. They allegedly belonged to a small “cult” with about 10 members, including Barecca, that was obsessed with demons. The trio had tied up Barecca’s family and tortured them over the course of a week. Initially they carried out exorcisms on Antonella and Emmanuel, killing…