Florida Man Kills His Girlfriend with a Bible, Tells Police She Was “the Devil”

This is a pretty strange story… out of Florida, no less!

Lesley Satenay, a 40-year-old man originally from the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia, was arrested for beating his girlfriend to death using a Bible.

Police say Satenay, who was charged with second-degree homicide in the killing of Krystal Phillips, claimed the “devil was inside his room.” Police say they found the body of Phillips on the floor alongside a pipe, a frying pan, and a bloody Bible.

He also told police he “hit the devil with a Bible,” court papers revealed.

Authorities said that once inside, officers found the body of Phillips on the floor. A large pipe, frying pan and a bloody Bible were discovered near Phillips’s body, investigators said. Police also found “a foreign object” in Phillips’s face, WKMG reported.

According to WFTV, investigators said Phillips suffered blunt force trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene…

The suspect told police that he had sex with the victim the night before and then went to sleep, believing she had left. He also told officers he believed there were demons inside his room.

There is almost certainly more to this story, but we’ll have to wait to find out until the case progresses a bit further. Whether he sincerely believed those religious delusions or had a mental illness remains unanswered.

Even sadder is that things like this aren’t entirely unusual. Just last month, we reported on a track and field star who intentionally mowed down a family while they were riding their bicycles, killing the father and injuring two sons. Hours prior to the attack, he said it was “the Devil’s fault.”

We pointed out that, regardless of the attacker’s possible mental health issues, religion likely gave him an outlet to commit a deadly act that he otherwise wouldn’t have. I would say the same thing appears to be true here.

If Satenay was hallucinating, it was his religion that gave the delusions validity. If he truly thought he was killing the devil with a Bible, then it was at least partly because he believed in the devil.

Either way, an innocent woman has died. Let’s hope justice is done, whether that means prison time or time in a mental health facility.