Around noon on December 8, 1976, 59-year-old Oric Bovar entered the elevator of a luxury apartment building in New York City.
He was carrying a bag of groceries.
Oric was on his way to visit his friend Steven, who lived on the 17th floor. Steven had terminal cancer. His doctors had recently discharged him from the hospital after telling him there was nothing more they could do.
Steven was from Greece and had no family nearby to care for him. So Oric and members of their prayer group had taken responsibility for helping him.
That afternoon, however, a police officer arrived at Steven’s apartment after neighbors complained about the noise.
What the officer found inside led to police intervention and the collapse of the small religious group.
Why Oric Was Helping Steven
Oric had met Steven through a non-denominational prayer group.
The group members were deeply religious and believed strongly in prayer. When they learned about Steven’s cancer, they organized a daily support system around him.
Members visited Steven at his apartment. They prayed with him, brought him food and helped pay his bills after he became unable to work.
Oric was proud of what the group had done.
He had watched people come together to care for a sick man who had no close family nearby.
But the group believed their prayers could do more than comfort Steven.
They believed prayer could cure him.
Steven’s Condition Continued to Get Worse
Steven’s illness did not improve.
As his condition deteriorated, some members of the group began to lose hope.
One of them, a man named James, eventually broke down during a prayer session. He said the whole effort felt pointless because Steven seemed to be getting worse.
Oric also had doubts.
But he was the group’s leader, and the others looked to him for direction. Instead of admitting his doubts, he responded by praying harder.
Oric knelt down and began praying loudly.
The others joined him.
Soon, the group was chanting together as loudly and forcefully as possible.
They continued for about an hour.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Police Arrive After Neighbors Complain
Oric went to answer the door.
A police officer was standing outside.
The officer explained that police had received several complaints about a disturbance coming from the apartment.
Oric apologized and explained that the group was praying for their sick friend. He admitted they had been loud and promised they would stop.
The officer then asked if he could enter the apartment.
Oric agreed.
But as soon as the officer stepped inside, his reaction changed.
He noticed the smell in the apartment.
Then he looked toward Steven’s bed.
The officer froze.
Instead of simply leaving after the noise complaint, he reached for his radio and called for backup.
What Police Found Inside
The situation was far different from what Oric had described.
Steven was not simply a very sick man lying in bed.
He had died.
According to the account, the prayer group had continued gathering around his body after his death.
They had apparently convinced themselves that Steven could still be healed.
For about two months, the body remained in the apartment and decomposed while Oric and his followers continued praying.
When the officer entered the apartment, he found members of the group gathered around Steven’s decomposing body.
They were chanting:
“Rise, Steven, rise.”
The discovery turned the apartment into the scene of a police investigation.
The Group’s Beliefs About Oric
The group was more than an ordinary prayer gathering.
Oric was considered its spiritual leader, and his followers reportedly believed he possessed supernatural healing powers.
Steven had turned to Oric after receiving his terminal cancer diagnosis.
The group then began praying over him regularly.
When Steven died, they did not immediately accept his death.
Instead, Oric reportedly continued to insist that Steven could still be healed if they prayed harder.
The prayers therefore continued even after Steven was dead.
Police Cite the Group
Oric and five other people involved in the incident were cited for failing to report a death.
The discovery also caused many members of the group to leave.
Without its followers, the prayer group gradually fell apart.
The incident had exposed how far the group’s beliefs had gone.
What had started as an effort to support a seriously ill man had ended with people praying over his decomposing body for weeks.
What Happened to Oric?
The group did not survive the scandal.
Many of Oric’s followers abandoned him, and the small religious community eventually dissipated.
A few months later, Oric died after jumping from the window of his 10th-floor apartment.
The incident brought a tragic end to the story of the group’s leader.
The Lesson Behind the 1976 Case
The case shows how a belief can become dangerous when people refuse to accept clear evidence that contradicts it.
The group initially came together to help a man who was seriously ill. Its members provided food, companionship, prayers and financial support.
But their belief in supernatural healing eventually prevented them from accepting Steven’s death.
Instead of recognizing that their friend had died, they continued waiting for him to recover.
The story is also a reminder that religious support and medical care are not the same thing. Prayer can be meaningful to people facing illness and grief, but it cannot replace medical treatment or the basic responsibilities that follow a person’s death.
In Steven’s case, the group crossed that line.
What began as a community trying to help a dying man ended with police finding his body surrounded by people still praying for him to rise.