LINDEN — A man who was arrested after police say he killed and mutilated live chickens at Rosehill Cemetery last month as part of a ritual sacrifice, had previously decapitated a goat in a ritual in his hometown, Wharton police said.

Police believe Leonard L. Edwards Jr. (as shown here in photos before his arrest, right, and after, left) decapitated the chickens as part of a ritual sacrifice.

According to Linden police, on July 31 at Rosehill Cemetery on Route 1&9, Leonard L. Edwards Jr. used machetes to decapitate and kill several chickens in what police believe was a ritual sacrifice. Edwards is also accused of placing the dead animals by some grave sites and smearing blood on the headstones before fleeing the cemetery in his car, police said.

Edwards was arrested last week by Wharton police on a Linden warrant for unlawful possession of a weapon and animal cruelty, police said.

Wharton police informed Linden police that Edwards had been involved in a similar incident near a public park in Wharton, according to Wharton Lt. David Young.

Young said in April of last year a hiker in the woods near Hugh Force Park found a machete and notified police. When police went to the location of the machete, they found the remains of a goat, including its head, removed and buried, according to Young.

Young said police determined after an investigation that Edwards had decapitated the goat in a ritual, but because the area where the ritual occurred was not directly in the public park, he was not charged with a crime.

Young also said police contacted the ASPCA regarding the incident, but "there's a certain way for a religious purpose you can kill it and he did it that way."

"We did speak to him in April, and we didn't think we had any charges we could charge him with at the time," Young said.

After an investigation into the July 31 incident in Linden, Edwards was arrested, booked at Linden Police headquarters and released after posting a $25,000 bond.

Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Stay up-to-the-minute with the latest Union County news by bookmarking nj.com/union.