For most of us, magic is something you see at children’s parties and Vegas shows. We don’t generally see magic playing a large role in our daily lives.

So, when we hear of someone being arrested in connection with some “bad magic,” it can make us scratch our heads in wonder.

While the majority of Americans are skeptics when it comes to magic, there are some who give it a lot of credence. Many people in countries around the world still believe highly in the practice of witches, shamans and voodoo priests.

It is when those beliefs and practices take a dark turn that the magical becomes the criminal.

Protective Spell Failure

In 2008, Lawrence Douglas Harris Sr. was arrested for the murder of his two stepdaughters.

Harris claimed that he had attempted to weave a protective spell around the girls but that it went tragically wrong.

Prosecutors believed that this was a poor attempt at an insanity defense and the jury took less than two hours to find the man guilty of murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

Burned by Voodoo

Six-year-old Frantezcia Santil will always carry the marks of her own family’s voodoo spells.

In 2009, Santil’s mother, Marie Lauradin, was arrested for first-degree assault and child endangerment after pouring rum on her child and lighting it on fire as part of a voodoo ritual known as “loa.”

The girl suffered burns on over 25% of her body and her mother failed to take her in for medical treatment until 24-hours later.

The girl’s grandmother, who was present for the ritual, was also arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and sentenced to three years in prison. Lauradin was sentenced to 17 years.

Bad Fortune

In 2005, a well-known Vietnamese fortune teller and her daughter were found stabbed to death in their home.

Police soon tracked down Tanya Nelson (aka Phuong Thao Nguyen) and her accomplice Phillipe Zamora when they were using the victim’s credit card.

Zamora soon confessed to police that Nelson was angered with the fortune teller after she refused to give a fortune that would undo the demise of an affair that Nelson had been having with her brother-in-law.

Zamora received a sentence of 25-years-to-life for his role in the murders. Nelson was given the death penalty.

The Job Protection Spell

Many people will do anything for some job security.

Two officers of the North Miami Police Department were even willing to put a little Santeria curse on a city manager in order to hold onto their positions.

Elizabeth Torres and Yvonne Rodriguez planned to sprinkle birdseed around the office of city manager Lyndon Bonner in hopes that it would make him “go away” before upcoming departmental layoffs.

Both women were fired after the janitor reported their request to have her sprinkle the birdseed in the manager’s office.