Posted on 08/05/2015 2:25:58 PM PDT by familyop
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 from the same family, were found after a welfare check on 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,” Hobbes told NBC News. A “blue” moon is what it’s called when there are two full moons in the same 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 a 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.”
Wicca is a religion that claims to draw on the pre-Christian traditions of Western Europe, and while most practitioners engage in some form of magical practice and nature worship, they may believe in a variety of deities. The religion does not encourage the practice of ritual killings.
The number of Americans who identify as Wiccan has risen from about 8,000 in 1990 to 342,000 in 2008, according to American Religious Identification Survey data. The ranks of prominent American Wiccans include Margot Adler, a well-known National Public Radio journalist who died in 2014.
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 at 4605 Deerfield Drive in Pensacola. Authorities believe the trio was killed sometime after 7:00 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.”
Strange story.
Antisemitic threats of violence were issued by one self-described Wicca practitioner in CO, BTW. Maybe an isolated instance, maybe not. Stay tuned.
It doesn’t sound like a Wiccan ritual. Could be Satanists or Santeria.
Celebrate Diversity!
/s
[ It doesn’t sound like a Wiccan ritual. Could be Satanists or Santeria. ]
I read a while back in some article I forgot where but the gist was that people who were Satanists were claiming they were Wiccan and they were using it as a recruiting tool to slowly indoctrinate people into pure Satanism.
Margot Adler is no longer a wiccan. Now she believes in the one True God.
I know of a commune of them up in TN.
Yeah, and “blue moon” is just a recently invented popular monicker for that type of event, it has nothing to do with Wiccans. So color me skeptical of the police work in this case.
The person of interest may be a practicioner but certainly not of Gardenerian Wicca which is the most common variety found in the U.S. There is no blood ritual sacrifice in Wiccan under the Gardnerian tradition or its offshoots.
There are death cults such as the Mexican Santa Muerte which is popular amongst the cartels and other criminal enterprises. You also have Palo mayombe a branch of Santeria and various forms of witchcraft practiced in Africa. All of those do practice blood sacrifice either to gain power or as an act of revenge on enemies and as a warning to other enemies.
I sincerely doubt it had anything to do with Wicca. It is quite possible that the killings were not ritualistic at all. Even with the time of death, method of death, and display of the bodies it would be wrong to assume a ritual unless they were done in that manner in order to evoke a desired response from whatever spiritual or elemental power was being called upon.
Most likely they have a lone nut case who made up his own religion and went off the rails.
"[Local police] had to communicate with several national agencies to ensure his investigation didn’t pose a threat to national security. "
Most wiccans are just liberal flakes. They worst they do is sex oriented and is voluntary. Never heard of any ritual killings for that practice.
Many people are desperate to believe in something bigger than themselves, in an unseen world. Christianity has been so beaten down that they fear ridicule but these off-beat beliefs are trendy and “modern,’ or at least new again.
Liberalism, in its haste to tear down the existing and proven successful order of things, has provided nothing worthwhile with which to replace it.
Agreed. I’m not a Wicca apologist, but I don’t think ritual killing is part of Wiccan belief.
Wicca is popular with many Internet users looking for casual sex, group membership/identity and drugs. They tend to lean mostly to the social and fiscal left, although many are attracted to intrigues targeting conservative discussion and collaboration efforts. It’s also become popular in some local governments and associated services in areas known for tourism.
It's the same thing. They just don't realize it.
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