Four people are under formal investigation, with the hypothesis of death resulting from another crime, in relation to the death of Alex Marangon, the young man from Marcon (Venice) who died on the night between 29 and 30 June last year in Vidor (Treviso) under circumstances that are still unclear, during a shamanic ritual.
They are the event organizers, Andrea Zuin and Tatiana Marchetto, and two Colombian "curanderos," Jhonni Benavides and Sebastian Castillo, who allegedly conducted the pagan liturgy during which hallucinogenic substances prohibited in Italy, specifically ayahuasca, were consumed.
According to investigators' reconstruction, before dying (this is the hypothesis) in a fall from a terrace more than ten meters high onto the Piave River, near the Abbey of Santa Bona in Vidor, Marangon may have been beaten in the face and side. This hypothesis is contained in the expert report prepared by Alberto Furlanetto, a consultant for the public prosecutor.
The boy's body was found on the gravelly riverbed, a short distance from where he is believed to have fallen. The participants in the shamanic rite, approximately thirty in number, had gathered in an abbey within a historic building made available by the owners to the association and normally rented for special occasions such as weddings or other events.
During the practices, which included music and spiritual disciplines, drugs and substances derived from hallucinogenic plants, the origin of which has not yet been clarified, were allegedly consumed. Among the participants were two occasional Colombian "guests," Jhonni Benavides and Sebastian Castillo, described as "curanderos" and experts in the rituals involved in the gathering. They are currently two of the four under investigation.
Regarding the possibility of a deliberate act on the victim's part, Stefano Tigani, the victim's family's lawyer, stated, "To assume suicide based on a positive drug test result or, even worse, based on reports from people whose physical and mental condition at the time of the events in question is not even known, is extremely risky, even offensive to those, like Alex's parents and sister, who have been waiting for clear answers for over eight months. On this point, the prosecutor's office would be wise, he said, to first explain now why the firefighters found no traces of Alex's body passing through branches and leaves, and why a chest impacting branches leaves no marks on the skin, as specified by the prosecutor's consultant."
(Unioneonline)