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Post by Joanna on Aug 5, 2015 5:31:01 GMT -5
Three Dead in Suspected 'Wiccan Ritual Killing'A triple homicide in Florida is suspected to be a “Wiccan ritual killing” related to the “Blue Moon,” police said Tuesday. The three victims, all members of the same family, were found following a welfare check Friday, July 31, said Escambia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Andrew Hobbes. “It appears that this might be connected to some type of Wiccan ritual killing and possibly tied to the blue moon,” he told NBC News. A “Blue Moon” is the second full moon in a calendar month.
Voncile Smith, 77, and her two sons, Richard, 49, and John, 47, were discovered when one of the son’s employers realized he hadn’t shown up for work. Voncile and John both died of blunt force trauma and had their throats cut, police said. Richard was shot in the ear, “as he came into the house,” and had his throat cut, Hobbes said. Police believe a claw hammer was used to commit the murders, Hobbes said. No evidence of forcible entry was found and, while police have spoken with a person of interest in the case, no arrests have been made, Hobbes said.
When asked how the evidence suggests these are ritualistic or Wiccan killings, Sgt. Hobbes said, “The injuries to the victims, the positions of the bodies and also the person of interest right now is also a practitioner.”
According to Hobbes, Richard Smith worked for Homeland Security and a supervisor contacted the sheriff’s office, who dispatched a unit to check the home (above) in Pensacola. Authorities believe the trio was killed sometime after 7 p.m. on the previous Tuesday – three days earlier. Police are continuing their investigation.
“It’s frightening to think about. Especially when you have small children,” neighbor Ken Lester said, according to affiliate WECT. “To find out that it was this weird, satanic cult, witchcraft whatever, is just really unsettling.” Source: Erin Calabrese, NBC News, August 4, 2015.
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Post by kitty on Aug 6, 2015 13:29:36 GMT -5
I've seen where Wiccans are upset about the police calling this a "Wiccan ritual killing".
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Post by Graveyardbride on Aug 7, 2015 8:38:21 GMT -5
Wiccans Upset over ‘Wiccan Ritual Killing’ Accusations
The Wiccan community is outraged by police characterizations that a triple homicide in Florida is suspected to be a “Wiccan ritual killing,” calling it a “haunting” comparison to the now infamous West Memphis Three case. The victims in the Pensacola case last week – Voncile Smith, 77, and her two sons, Richard, 49, and John, 47 – were discovered dead in the home they shared and police publicly linked the incident to the “blue moon” and “Wiccan” rituals. In a phone interview with NBC News, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Andrew Hobbes called the murders, “Wiccan ritual killings,” saying, ‘The injuries to the victims, the positions of the bodies and also the person of interest right now is also a practitioner,” were contributing factors to the Sheriff Office’s determinations.
In 1993, three teenagers made national headlines – and spawned documentaries – when police arrested them for the murders of three young boys from West Memphis, Arkansas. At the time, the killings were called Satanic in nature by authorities. “The comparison to the West Memphis Three case is particularly sort of haunting in this instance because (suspect) Damien Echols was practicing Wicca – he was not super serious about it,” Peg Aloi, who writes “The Witching Hour” blog, said. “He was interested in (occultist) Aleister Crowley and he had a Book of Shadows, and he wore black, you know, and all these things kind of worked together to turn this crime into a ritualistic crime, which it was not.” One of the teens received the death penalty, while the other both received life sentences for the murders But all three were later released when new DNA evidence surfaced.
Seamus Mckeon, who has practiced Wicca for 14 years and is a high priest, added that most rituals in the faith need nothing more than a lock or strand of hair. “The idea that you would slit someone’s throat and let it all bleed out is just insane,” he said.
As for the assertion of police that placement of the bodies indicated some type of Wiccan ritual, Mckeon strongly disagrees. “It makes absolutely no sense,” he explained. “There’s no positioning of bodies that would indicate Wicca. I don’t even know how three bodies would have been able to make a five-pointed-star.” Historically, Mckeon said, “government agencies have a tendency to lump the occult and crime together.”
Some in the online Wiccan and pagan community voiced their anger at the characterization of the killings by officials, taking issue with the timing of the homicide – a few days before the symbolic blue moon. “My question is, what ‘ritual’ done a few days before a blue moon would they be attempting and why?” a user posted in a forum on PaganSpace.
Another user on self-described pagan forum “The Cauldron,” disapproved of the broad strokes with which local authorities painted the entire community. “I think if [the sheriff] is going to say that the crime is a Wiccan ritual, he should be made to point out exactly which ritual it was, and where it says in any authoritative work on Wicca that such rituals are permitted,” the posting read.
Source: Becky Bratu and Erin Calabrese, NBC News, August 6, 2015.
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Post by jane on Aug 8, 2015 20:42:07 GMT -5
These people protesting what the deputy said are going to be very embarrassed if the killer turns out to be Wiccan.
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Post by pat on Aug 9, 2015 8:12:31 GMT -5
These people protesting what the deputy said are going to be very embarrassed if the killer turns out to be Wiccan.
If it is a Wiccan, the next thing they'll say is that the person wasn't representing Wicca when he killed them. I don't suppose he would be and I suppose most Wiccans are OK, but some people who get into things like Wicca have mental and emotional problems.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Aug 9, 2015 12:53:24 GMT -5
There are a few crazy people in every religion.
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Post by priyaagrawal on Aug 10, 2015 7:34:25 GMT -5
Wicca is an assembly of the human being who is identified as a Wiccan. These citizens perform black magic for the good or bad purpose. The Wiccan is the rituals for the new tradition, we can adopt the new tradition using the Wiccan rituals. We can do anything by using these rituals. www.wiccan786.com/wiccan-rituals-for-love/ |
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Post by kitty on Aug 10, 2015 13:23:01 GMT -5
Wicca is an assembly of the human being who is identified as a Wiccan. These citizens perform black magic for the good or bad purpose. The Wiccan is the rituals for the new tradition, we can adopt the new tradition using the Wiccan rituals. We can do anything by using these rituals.
I don't understand what you mean when you say that "these citizens perform black magic for the good or bad purpose". Are you talking about whoever killed those three people, or in general? Also, how do you perform black magic for a good purpose?
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Post by Kate on Aug 10, 2015 15:28:07 GMT -5
I don't understand either.
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Post by natalie on Aug 11, 2015 15:10:57 GMT -5
I agree with April. Stating that someone is a member of one religion, another, or an atheist does not make mean it's an attack on the religion as a whole, but on the person. I'm not sure why the Wiccans feel offended. They are pointing out the suspect's religion because it has something to do with the killings as a whole (positions of the body, etc.), not to attack a whole group of people. Get over it and stop being offended for every little thing!
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Post by priyaagrawal on Aug 17, 2015 7:06:57 GMT -5
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Post by priyaagrawal on Oct 19, 2015 7:34:25 GMT -5
When someone is standing in your way and stop you to get success. You try every way to get success, but he or she creates problems for you. You want to get rid of this problem, but you can’t able to get a solution to solve this problem. In this the Voodoo black magic will help you.
www.voodoo786.com/how-to-do-voodoo-black-magic/
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Post by Graveyardbride on Jan 16, 2020 0:34:14 GMT -5
Trial of ‘Blue Moon Killer’ Begins in PensacolaAfter close to 4½ years, the murder trial of Donald Wayne Hartung Sr. (above) got underway when jury selection began Monday, January 13. Hartung is accused of killing his 77-year-old mother, Voncile Smith, and his two half-brothers, John Willard Smith, 49, and Richard Thomas Smith, 47, in July 2015. Hartung, 63, faces three counts of premeditated first-degree murder and the state is seeking the death penalty.
Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said, “Any time a case is a death penalty case, it takes longer than your average case,” adding even jury selection could take upwards of “several days.”
Funding issues contributed to the trial’s delay. “Hartung was declared partially indigent for some costs, so that did delay obtaining some of the information and the ability to either obtain expert witnesses or do all the discovery that is necessary,” Marcille explained. “Additionally, there was a second attorney appointed to assist in the area of mitigation for purposes of a possible sentencing hearing.” The second attorney, Sharon Wilson, was granted time to prepare a possible presentation of mitigating factors for the penalty phase in the event a jury finds Hartung guilty.
The murders occurred on July 28, 2015, and were discovered July 31 when sheriff’s deputies conducted a welfare check at the home because Richard Smith, who was employed by the Department of Homeland Security, failed to show up for work.
The bodies of all three family members were hidden beneath piles of clothing and all had been struck in the head with a hammer and their throats were slit. The corpse of John Smith was sitting upright in a chair in front of a television with a stab wound to his throat and head wounds, indicating he had probably been attacked from behind. Also, trails of blood led investigators to conclude Voncile Smith’s body had been dragged from one room to another.
At the time of the investigation, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said the murders were possibly “ritualistic” and linked to the recent blue moon.
When authorities initially contacted Hartung, he did not deny seeing the victims the evening they were killed, telling investigators Tuesdays were a routine dinner visit with his mother and brothers. Neighbors confirmed they usually saw Hartung at the home on Tuesdays, but on this occasion, it was very late when he left and he drove away without turning on his headlights. Neighbors also told investigators no one entered of left the house between July 28, when Hartung drove away, and July 31, when deputies arrived. There was nothing at the scene to suggest forced entry. Later, a purse belonging to Voncile Smith and Richard Smith’s checkbook were discovered in a trash can.
In searching Hartung’s home, the authorities discovered the clothing the suspect was wearing on the night of the murders, the possible murder weapons and a Wiccan/Pagan “worship room.” Because of the July 31 Blue Moon and Hartung’s interest in the occult, he was quickly dubbed the “Blue Moon Killer” by the media. According to the website Wicca Living:
“There are either 12 or 13 Esbats per solar year, depending on how the lunar cycles line up with our modern Gregorian calendar. Once every two-and-a-half years or so, two Full Moons will occur within the same calendar month. The second of these two is called a Blue Moon, and is considered to have a rare energetic quality, even more powerful than a typical Full Moon. Wiccans may hold special Blue Moon rituals and celebrations on these occasions.”
Investigation also revealed a financial motive. One of Hartung’s co-workers recalled hearing him say if his mother ever died, that he, as the eldest son, would inherit her wealth. However, when investigators interviewed his mother’s attorney, they learned Hartung had been excluded from Mrs. Smith’s will. Nonetheless, with both his half-brothers dead, he was in line to inherit. “There are no living survivors of the Smith family other than Hartung, making him the potential sole heir to the victim’s estates in this case,” the sheriff explained.
It was almost three months before Hartung was charged with the murders and arrested on October 27, 2015, just four days before Halloween.
The prosecution believes evidence of Hartung’s Wiccan/Pagan religion will help establish material elements of both intent and motive. Although his motive was obviously money and anger over being left out of his mother’s will, he claimed the Ouija board convinced him to move forward, i.e., to kill his family. In two recorded interviews in 2016, a jail inmate told prosecutors Hartung confessed to the murders, claiming one of his half-brothers molested his son when he was 3-years-old and his mother didn’t believe the child and sided with the brother. He also said Hartung had been planning the murders for four years after discovering he had been cut out of the will. Before killing his mother, he demanded she give him the combination to the safe in her room, cutting off her pinky finger in the process. He also told the inmate he had gotten rid of the clothing he was wearing that night and had given the garments to a high priest in the Wiccan church.
Some court observers believe Hartung could be considering an insanity defense, claiming he was the victim of some sort of demonic influence.
Court TV is referring to the proceedings as “The Witchcraft Trial.”
Sources: Colin Warren-Hicks, The Pensacola News-Journal, January 14, 2020; Kristie Henderson, WEAR, January 15, 2020; Court TV; and Kevin Robinson, The Pensacola News-Journal, November 11, 2015.
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Post by Kate on Jan 17, 2020 0:50:25 GMT -5
He doesn't look like the average Wiccan, but perhaps his attorneys ordered him to clean himself up for the trial. Most of the Wiccans I know have tattoos and body piercings.
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Post by jason on Jan 17, 2020 1:28:37 GMT -5
He doesn't look like the average Wiccan, but perhaps his attorneys ordered him to clean himself up for the trial. Most of the Wiccans I know have tattoos and body piercings. The fact Wiccans actually believe all the rot taught by Gerald Gardner, a dirty old man who claimed witches worshiped "skyclad," so he could ogle young girls, proves they're crazy as bedbugs.
But I'm wondering if in this case, the whole family wasn't crazy. Hartung's two half-brothers were 49 and 47 and still living at home with "mama." That isn't normal.
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