Heartmen

"Are you afraid of the heartmen?" Gerard asked. "Not really," I said, not at all sure. It's election season which means there are ritual killings, internal organs removed for sacrificial purposes. Last year a woman, seven months pregnant, was found dead, her body parts taken. Vials of blood and intestines were found in the house of a prominent local politician. Prosecutors were tipped off by a witch doctor who provided a list of 18 people allegedly connected to the killing, including the politician and the president's special envoy. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf warned residents against sassywood, or trial by ordeal, a former of voodoo justice. In the 1970s, a group of men, including a member of the House of Representatives, were convicted of ritual murder and hanged. The problem of ritual sacrifice amplified during Liberia's 14 years of civil war. Joshua Milton Blahyi, General Butt Naked, who fought against Charles Taylor's militia, said he practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism to increase his power.

Gerard recounted a late-night jaunt into the woods in River Gee County. He said he wanted to feel what it was like to be out in the bush alone. Suddenly he heard "voices talking in an unintelligible language," hissing and growling. He started for the road, wide leaves snatching at his clothing as he pushed his way through the forest. Later at the Justice Ministry his colleagues asked him if he knew about the heartmen.