Walter Zepeda was a quiet young man who reportedly began acting strangely shortly before he died in what may have been a botched home exorcism.
The 19-year-old was found dead in his parents' basement apartment in London, Ont., on Jan. 8, 2002.
His arms and legs had been tied to chairs with neckties, and police said he had not been given food or water for three days. He had struggled to free himself of the restraints, police said. The official cause of death was dehydration.
This week, his parents and a family friend pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to his death.
The three had originally been charged with first-degree murder, but they pleaded guilty to lesser offences during a preliminary hearing that began in December and is still under way.
The teenager's father, Diego Zepeda-Cordero, 44, and family friend Alex Osegueda, 42, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The mother, Ana Mejia-Lopez, 52, pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life.
The three had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. They will receive lighter sentences by changing their plea.
Details of why and how the teenager died have been sketchy. Evidence presented to court during a bail hearing and the preliminary hearing cannot be reported. The judge may reveal some information when he hears the facts on the new charges on Wednesday, the next scheduled court date.
Although they've entered pleas, the three accused have not yet been convicted of the lesser charges.
According to published reports based on the accounts of neighbours, family and friends, Mr. Zepeda was an average teenager who attended school, loved basketball, and held down a part-time job as a dishwasher at a seafood restaurant in London. However, he appeared unhappy following the dictates of his father's zealous form of Christianity.
He appeared to have undergone a personality transformation in the few weeks before his death. He began to act up, even in church, appeared distracted, and spoke gibberish in English, Spanish and French.
Mr. Zepeda's brother Diego told the London Free Press that his parents believed Walter may have been possessed by a demon.
"That's what they believed. . . . He was possessed and they could get the evil out of him by praying," he said.
The family and Mr. Osegueda are members of the Missionary Church of Christ, a Pentecostal Christian congregation that believes prayer can exorcise demons. Neighbours reported hearing chanting, yelling and screaming coming from the apartment the night Mr. Zepeda died.
The family's pastor visited as well, but he has denied any involvement in an exorcism. The three accused were ordered not to associate with the pastor after they were arrested.
The parents and their friend have been in custody since their arrest. They were denied bail and were not allowed to attend Mr. Zepeda's funeral.
Lawyer Terry Guerriero, who represents Ms. Mejia-Lopez, said yesterday that "she is doing as best as possible."
Because the preliminary hearing is not officially over, lawyers involved are not talking about the case, he added.
The two men face a term of life imprisonment if convicted of manslaughter, but would become eligible for parole in seven years.