You overlook the obvious.
The body was disposed at an undisclosed location at sea because there could be no place on land that would not become a shrine.
The deed was done quickly to avoid heaping irrelevant reasons for reprisal on top of the obvious. There should be no religious reasons for reprisal.
The really good description of the action is “He’s dead Jim” to which there is no good retort.
All these post make a great script for a weekend at berries redo.