Conviction New religious movements Messianic / communal movement El Terrón, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama · 2021

El Terrón: nine convictions after seven people were killed during a sect’s religious rite

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Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

members of a self-described religious group

Organization

Iglesia de Dios group in El Terrón

Archive classification

This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.

The cited record identifies religious-rite setting, group violence, and confinement as the material spiritual doctrine, practice, authority, or pretext connected to the documented harm. The relevant authority role is members of a self-described religious group.

Other spiritual authority or belief

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2021-12-03 · jury verdict and sentencing

Trial Court in Changuinola, Panama. Seven defendants were sentenced to 50 years each for the deaths of six minors and a pregnant woman; two other defendants had already received 47-year sentences by plea agreement.

Documented coercion mechanisms

religious-rite setting
group violence
confinement

Cited record

Sources

prosecuting authority sentencing release Public Prosecutor’s Office of Panama, ‘Pena máxima para siete personas por las muertes en El Terrón’ (Dec. 3, 2021).: Panama’s prosecuting authority records the seven 50-year sentences, the two earlier 47-year plea sentences, the seven deaths, and its finding that the killings occurred during a religious rite conducted by members of a sect.
prosecuting authority charging release Public Prosecutor’s Office of Panama, ‘Ministerio Público concluye etapa de investigación en el caso de la secta de El Terrón’ (Apr. 27, 2021).: The charging-stage release identifies the nine defendants, the clandestine grave, the seven victims, the offenses charged, and the defendants’ membership in the group they called Iglesia de Dios.

Source provenance

Source access and integrity log

This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.

Source and tier basis: https://ministeriopublico.gob.pa/notas-de-prensa/pena-maxima-para-siete-personas-por-las-muertes-en-el-terron/ Corpus classification: prosecuting-authority; evidentiary role: sentencing-release. SHA-256 a9e71b817e22e974c47bab8be0772f50c9ba6d964ba2255e8ecdd7f458a1c0d6
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
Source and tier basis: https://ministeriopublico.gob.pa/notas-de-prensa/ministerio-publico-concluye-etapa-de-investigacion-en-el-caso-de-la-secta-de-el-terron/ Corpus classification: prosecuting-authority; evidentiary role: charging-release. SHA-256 3c9ce6d483cef25cbf504cf7f7f02109e67f01f2377289615f0cc5d98c60f1ff
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger

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