Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders (32 page)

Salem Witch Trials

In 1692, two girls became ill in Salem, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Jones began making accusations that led to the arrest of 141 people for practicing witchcraft. Twenty of the accused would be convicted and sentenced to death in a city and colony paralyzed with collective fear.

Betty and Abigail were known to have played diviner games throughout the harsh winter.
They experimented with divination by telling fortunes and to discover the profession of their future spouses. The practice involved the breaking of an egg into a glass and interpreting what they saw in the whites and yolk. On January 20th, 1692, the two girls began acting strangely---exhibiting catatonia and subject to screaming fits. The peculiar behavior spread to other teenage girls in Salem, and a local doctor was brought in to provide a diagnosis. His conclusion: the girls were under spiritual attack by the Devil. According to occult historian Montague Summers, t
he Parris family’s female slave Tituba, an Arawak Indian from the Caribbean, regaled the young girls with terrifying stories of possession and witchcraft from the aforementioned witch hunting book
Malleus Malificarum
.
After questioning (and a beating) by Betty Parris’ father,
Tituba confessed to contact with the Devil, having ridden off on a broom to meetings with other witches. She claimed the local coven was headed by a tall man with white hair who demanded she sign his book in her blood.
Mary Sibley, an aunt of one of the girls asked Tituba to bake a “witch cake,” made from Rye meal and urine from one of the afflicted girls. The baked cake was supposed to help reveal the witch who hexed the young women of Salem. The family dog ate the cake, and the girls pointed the finger of misconduct to three women: Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.

These three were vulnerable: Tituba was a Caribbean slave, Good was homeless and Osborne an older lady who did not regularly attend church. They were arrested on February 29, 1692 and held for questioning. At the hearing were the afflicted girls, who engaged in hysterics during the inquest. Both Good and Osborne steadfastly denied any involvement in witchcraft, but Tituba confessed to meeting the Devil and having signed a large book with other names on it.

The testimony of Tituba started the Salem witch hunt and subsequent trials.
Special courts, termed courts of oyer and terminer (“to hear and determine”) were established to hear the multitude of cases. These courts had no oversight by any other judicial body and reported directly to the Governor of Massachusetts, who was occupied at the time warring with Native Americans. By early May, George Burroughs, the former minister in Salem, was arrested and accused of being the leader of the Salem coven. In June of 1692, the trials began. Afflicted girls often interrupted the proceedings with outbursts and spasms. Bridget Bishop, a colorful resident of the town, was found guilty based upon circumstantial evidence and hanged on Gallows Hill on June 19th. Burroughs was found guilty, and was led to Gallows Hill to be hanged, whereupon he recited the Lord’s prayer flawlessly. The crowd suggested he be reprieved, but Cotton Mather made a convincing speech to the attendees affirming the just conviction and the execution of Burroughs took place posthaste.

Some historians argued that the accused were in truth practicing witchcraft, and that other innocents got caught in the outbreak of hysteria. At the time, the colonists felt surrounded by dark forces. After prosecutorial fever waned, Tituba recanted her confession. The Salem trials differed significantly from European versions: those that confessed were spared execution, while those that denied the charges were put to death. The enduring influence of the trials color the perception of witches and witchcraft to the present day.

We must understand how criminals think and realize that they have a fundamentally different view of the world from that of people who are basically responsible. I submit that this basic understanding, if it ever existed, has been lost in the fog of theoretical speculation and political rhetoric often espoused by people who have never even met a criminal.

Dr. Stanton E. Samenow
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13. SATANIC KILLERS

American press typically vilifies the public for engaging in open concern about the reality of Satanic crime. However, an abundance of historical and factual evidence indicates Satanic crimes do occur, and, while isolated and unusual, their impact upon individuals, families, communities, even entire nations, is immense. The desultory reference by elements of the media to murders with the involvement of the occult, often labeling the concerned response as “satanic panic”, which connotes actions of irrationality and unreason on the part of those concerned with evil influences, belittles the importance the authorities and communities should have concerning occult killings. The following Satanic killers and the great harm and social discord they caused should indicate to even the most casual observer that serious concerns should be taken wherever crimes of an occultic, or satanic nature occur. The following true crime accounts are included herein as there are important similarities in age, behavior and outcome to the West Memphis Three murders.

Ricky Kasso and

the murder of Gary Lauwers

(1984)

Richard “Ricky” Kasso, also known as “The Acid King”, belonged to a group of self-titled occultists called “The Knights of The Black Circle.” Raised on Long Island in upper middle class Northport, New York, Kasso expressed to his friends an affinity for Anton LaVey’s
Satanic Bible.
He held a Satanic ceremony on April 30th, Walpurgisnacht at the infamous Amityville house of horror (which turned out to be fiction). On at least one occasion, Ricky's parents admitted him to the South Oaks Psychiatric Hospital (formerly known as the Amityville Asylum) in Amityville, New York for drug rehabilitation and psychiatric care. His parents told the authorities about his disturbing behavior:

They told the doctors of his grave digging, daily use of hallucinogens and other drugs, suicide attempts and jokes, threatening behavior. The psychiatrists found Kasso to be 'antisocial,' but not 'presently psychotic,' and let him go.
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A friend of Kasso's said at his funeral:

He told me the way he got out of South Oaks Hospital (formerly named the Amityville Asylum). He bullshitted. When he went in, they believed he worshiped Satan and shit, and he told the doctors that he was fine, that he was gonna go back to school and doesn't believe in Satan anymore, and he bullshit the doctor so much, they finally believed him...and they let him go.
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Friend Mark Fisher said "Ricky was of the Devil. When he was on acid, he'd go back into the dark woods, up in Aztakea, and he would talk to the Devil.” He said the “Devil came in the form of a tree, which sprouted out of the ground and glowed."
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Kasso and the Knights of the Black Circle did many strange things in western Suffolk County. The group would have ceremonies where they conducted animal sacrifices to the Devil, and according to Kasso they performed a human sacrifice. Kasso said a black crow spoke to him at the sacrifice and told him to kill. The group dug up a 19th century grave to use a skull for a ceremony. Kasso was arrested for grave robbing. He told his mother death would be the ultimate high.

On June 16th, 1984, high school dropout Kasso invited Gary Lauwers to get high, claiming that he was ready to forgive a $50 debt Lauwers owed him. Kasso had already beaten Lauwers four times for not paying the debt. Kasso, Lauwers, Albert Quinones and James Troiano walked to the Aztakea woods of Northpoint, set up camp and ingested hallucinogens. The teens attempted to start a small fire, but all of the available firewood was too wet and would not ignite. Lauwers used his socks, as well as the sleeves from his denim jacket, as kindling to start the fire. The situation escalated into violence when Kasso suggested that they should also use some of Lauwer's hair as kindling. Kasso bit Lauwers on the neck, then stabbed him in the chest. Kasso continued his assault and torture on Lauwers for an extended period of time, which was reported to have lasted three to four hours.

ALBERT QUINONES, 16: They were all tripping. I didn't want to, but finally I just said, "What the hell," so I took a hit. Ricky treated us to doughnuts at Dunkin' Donuts.

And then we went up to Aztakea, because they wanted to go to a good tripping area, and they've got a little field where you can trip out. All of a sudden Gary goes, "I have funny vibes that you're going to kill me." And Ricky was saying, "I'm not going to kill you. Are you crazy?" and shit like that. I was peaking. I was peaking out, tripping out. And they were just fighting, punching each other and shit, and I didn't think anything was going to happen. I mean, I could see Ricky's point, too, which is that he was friends with Gary, and he just turns around and steals ten bags of dust. So they were just rolling on the ground and shit, and Gary got up to his feet after Jimmy had ran up to his feet after Jimmy had ran up to him and kicked him in the ribs and shit, and Gary had gotten up to his feet, and Ricky just bit him in the neck, bit him in the ear and then he just stabbed him. It was a trip, man, I'll tell you, man, it was a trip. I mean, you sit there and stare out, and you look at the trees, and it looks like they're bending down and shit. I don't know -- that was a trip. I thought it was a nightmare. I couldn't move, man. My whole body, all of a sudden, it just wouldn't move, it wouldn't function. It was like in shock. I was going crazy, man. I just stood there in my place, like all bugged out.

After Ricky stabbed him, Gary took off, ran, and Ricky got him, just like that. Jimmy picked up the knife after Ricky had dropped it, and he gave it to Ricky. And Ricky made Gary get on his knees and say, "I love Satan." Then Ricky just started hacking away from him, man. He just kept stabbing him and shit, and then Gary was just screaming, "Ahhh, I love my mother." It was really fucked, man. And they grabbed him by the legs and dragged him in the woods, Ricky and Jimmy, dragged him in the woods. They came running out of the woods after they just threw leaves on him and shit. They told me that he started stabbing Gary in the face and shit...
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Quinones claimed that Troiano helped Kasso and held Lauwers during the attack. During subsequent court testimony provided under immunity, however, Quinones did assume some responsibility for holding Lauwers down, as well as chasing Lauwers and dragging him back to Kasso when he had attempted to flee. Lauwer’s body was severely disfigured---he was burned, stabbed somewhere between 17 and 36 times (22 in the face), and had his eyeballs gouged out. It was also reported that stones had been shoved down his throat. During the attack, Kasso allegedly commanded Lauwers to repeat "Say you love Satan." After the attack, Kasso and Troiano covered Lauwers' body with leaves and small branches. As the group was departing Aztakea, Lauwers was reported to have sat up and repeated "I love my mother," causing Kasso to resume the attack until he was certain that he killed Lauwers.

In the aftermath, Kasso reportedly bragged about the murder to local teens, claiming the murder was a "human sacrifice." Kasso told some friends that he murdered Lauwers because Satan had commanded him to. Kasso claimed Satan manifested in the form of a black crow, and that the crow had cawed, something he interpreted as Satan's command to murder Lauwers. The New York Times said, "In the following weeks one of those remaining teens -- young Ricky Kasso -- would lead a series of tours to the body for local teens -- all of whom held a steadfast conspiracy of silence against the town's adult population."
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However, it wasn't until two weeks went by, on July 1, that the murder was reported to the police via an anonymous tip. The tip reportedly came from a girl who claimed she had overheard a group of girls discussing the murder. On July 4, 1984, police used dogs to search Aztakea woods and recovered the decomposing and mutilated body of Gary Lauwers. After his arrest, Kasso smiled and joked at the camera. Two days after his arrest on July 7th, 1984, Richard Kasso committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell.

Most of what Kasso did we will never know about. Some speculated that some of the area's missing children were his victims. Because Kasso killed himself, mysteries about the Acid King remain.