Can witch doctors really kill people by black magic?

Some deaths that credulous people attribute to black magic may really be due to natural causes, accidents, or even murder.

But scientists who have investigated otherwise unexplained deaths following voodoo rituals, for example, contend that the victims, deeply convinced of their enemies' magical powers, were actually frightened to death. The awful terror provoked by touching an object thought to be imbued with black magic could affect the brain centres that control breathing and heart contractions, perhaps triggering a fatal heart arrhythmia.