Man who claimed an African curse made him kill his ex-lover pleads guilty to murder



Bakary Camara, originally from Senegal, goes on trial on Tuesday for murder

He 'slashed the throat of his ex-girlfriend in her apartment in November 2011'

A handwritten rambling letter found in his pocket during his arrest claimed a curse had forced him to do 'bad things and hurt people'

Prosecutors fighting his bid for a witch doctor to take the stand



A Senegalese immigrant who claimed to be under an evil African spell has pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing an Italian college student in her New York City apartment.

Bakary Camara, 42, admitted on Monday to raping and murdering 36-year-old Rita Morelli, his former lover, last November.

The native of Italy's Spoltore region attended the Borough of Manhattan Community College and worked as a waitress. Her body was found by her boyfriend.

Killed: Bakary Camara, the man accused of killing Rita Morelli (pictured) last year, has requested a witch doctor take the stand as an expert witness to prove he was under a curse that made him kill

Police say Camara was traced to his Bronx home after he made a cryptic 911 call about the body. Authorities say Camara stabbed himself in the stomach as police officers approached and directed them to a note describing his failed relationship with Miss Morelli.

Camara faces 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced October 30.



During his trial, he attempted to call a witch doctor to stand as an expert witness in the trial -- a bizarre move that prosecutors have branded 'clearly irrelevant' as they fight against it.

'It is difficult to imagine how a witch doctor could be qualified in a court of law,' lead prosecutor Evan Krutoy wrote to the judge last week, the New York Post reported .

'The defense cannot credibly argue that witchcraft is a profession [with] scientific knowledge or skill.'

Camara was accused of slashing Miss Morelli's throat and stabbing her multiple times on November 23 last year . Her body was discovered by her live-in boyfriend.

Victim: Morelli, 36, met Camara at a designer clothing store where they both worked in New York City and began a relationship. She was living with a new boyfriend when she was found murdered

Workplace: They met at this clothes shop, where Camara was a security guard and Morelli worked in sales

Miss Morelli, who was a student at Hunter College and a waitress at Caffee Buon Gusto in New York, had been living in the city for five years, pursuing 'the American Dream,' her family said.





'There is something in my mind telling me, "you have to do this, you have to make bad thing, hurt people"' Letter by Bakary Camara



Camara had met his victim in 2010 while he worked as a security guard in a designer clothing store, 7 For All Mankind, where she worked in sales.

In a rambling, four-page letter found in his pocket during his arrest in the days after the murder, Camara claimed a curse had pushed him to kill.



'They put a curse on me,' the father of two, who was born in the U.S. but raised in Senegal , wrote. 'They make you do anythings. Could make you die fast or go to jail. You always be mad and sad. This is a curs.



'There is something in my mind tell me you have to do this you have to anything bad make thing bad thing hurt people. I always think to make a suicide but I can’t. I only think to get kill. I meet that girl Rita Morelli we was very friend for nine months before we have a relationship.'

Scene: She was found stabbed to death by her live-in boyfriend at their Harlem apartment, pictured

The letter explained that he went to her home around 8pm and then killed her.



He reportedly called police from a phone box to tell them to check her apartment, and when they called contacts in her mobile phone, they recognised Camara's thick accent when he picked up.



The victim's family are outraged that Camara, is blaming the killing on a 'curse' .



'It’s nonsense and ridiculous,' her cousin, Giorgio Morelli, told the Post. 'It's an insult for Rita’s parents, who have been suffering so much. And an insult for innocent women who, every day, face the acts of violent men like Mr. Bakary Camara.'