A barman was found “beaten” to death in Venice after taking part in an Ayahuasca ceremony in a deconsecrated abbey.
Alex Marangon was likely murdered while attending the shamanic ritual before his body was dumped in the river Piave, Italian prosecutors said.
Mr Marangon, a 25-year-old barman from a small town north of Venice, disappeared from the Santa Bona di Vidor abbey near Treviso after reportedly drinking hallucinogenic tea made from the South American plant.
Count Giulio De Sacco, owner of the ex-monastery, said he was shocked and devastated by the man’s death which occurred during an event billed as a healing ritual to celebrate Sol de Putumayo.
Mr Marangon was last seen around 3am on July 30 by at least two other people at the event who said they saw him running barefoot into the wooded abbey gardens.
He was reported missing around 6am after failing to return to his room where he had left belongings including his mobile phone.
Mr Marangon’s body was found three days later on a sandy inlet a few kilometres downstream of the Piave river. However, an autopsy did not detect water in his lungs, suggesting he had not drowned.
Wounds found on the body indicated that the young man had actually been beaten with a blunt object, according to Treviso prosecutor Marco Martani.
The injuries included a skull fracture and broken ribs which had caused internal bleeding to the chest area, but the fatal blow was one to the head.
On Sunday, police and prosecutors intensified their questioning of the attendees at the shamanic ritual as Mr Marangon’s family grew impatient with the reluctance of authorities to divulge information.
Among the 20 people cooperating with the police were Andrea Gorgi Zuin and Tatiana Marchetto, known as “Zu and Tati” of Zu Music, who specialise in spiritual music with frequencies of 432hz. They are not considered suspects by police.
Prosecutors were also awaiting toxicology reports to determine exactly what substances were in Mr Marangon’s blood.
Witnesses reported that he drank Ayahuasca, a psychoactive beverage traditionally used by South American indigenous cultures and folk healers in the Amazon basins.
The decoction, which is illegal in Italy, is made from the stems of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and leaves of the psychotria viridis shrub.
Friends said Mr Marangon had confided that he was anxious about going through the shamanic ritual again on the second night.
Investigators were also looking into whether he had ingested Kambo, a waxy poison scraped from the skin of the South American giant monkey frog.
The hallucinogenic substance is typically applied to freshly burnt holes in the skin during ceremonies designed to cleanse the body and mind of negative energy.
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