Message #12 board "P_Metaphysical (Mag Articles)"
Date : 22-Jan-93 15:58
From : Simon Novali
To : All
Subj : Lanning (9 of 11)
occult (e.g. satanic symbols at crime scene). Does that
automatically make these satanic murders? It is my opinion that the
answer is no. Ritualistic murders committed by serial killers or
sexual sadists are not necessarily satanic or occult murders.
Ritualistic murders committed by psychotic killers who hear the
voice of Satan are no more satanic murders than murders committed by
psychotic killers who hear the voice of Jesus are Christian murders.
Rather a satanic murder should be defined as one committed by two or
more individuals who rationally plan the crime and whose *primary*
motivation is to fulfill a prescribed satanic ritual calling for the
murder. By this definition I have been unable to identify even one
documented satanic murder in the United States. Although such
murders may have and can occur, they appear to be few in number. In
addition the commission of such killings would probably be the
beginning of the end for such a group. It is highly unlikely that
they could continue to kill several people, every year, year after
year, and not be discovered.
A brief typology of satanic and occult practitioners is helpful in
evaluating what relationship, if any, such practices have to crimes
under investigation. The following typology is adapted from the
investigative experience of Officer Sandi Gallant of the San
Francisco Police Department, who began to study the criminal aspects
of occult activity long before it became popular. No typology is
perfect, but I use this typology because it is simple and offers
investigative insights. Most practitioners fall into one of three
categories, any of which can be practiced alone or in groups:
-- a. "YOUTH SUBCULTURE.
"Most teenagers involved in fantasy role-playing games, heavy metal
music, or satanism and the occult are going through a stage of
adolescent development and commit no significant crimes. The
teenagers who have more serious problems are usually those from
dysfunctional families or those who have poor communication within
their families. These troubled teenagers turn to satanism and the
occult to overcome a sense of alienation, to rebel, to obtain power,
or to justify their antisocial behavior. For these teenagers it is
the symbolism, not the spirituality, that is more important. It is
either the psychopathic or the oddball, loner teenager who is most
likely to get into serious trouble. Extreme involvement in the
occult is a symptom of a problem, not the cause. This is not to
deny, however, that satanism and the occult can be negative
influences for a troubled teenager. But to hysterically warn
teenagers to avoid this "mysterious, powerful and dangerous" thing
called satanism will drive more teenagers right to it. Some
rebellious teenagers will do whatever will most shock and outrage
society in order to flaunt their rejection of adult norms.
-- b. "DABBLERS (SELF-STYLED).
"For these practitioners there is little or no spiritual motivation.
They may mix satanism, witchcraft, paganism, and any aspects of the
occult to suit their purposes. Symbols mean whatever they want them
or believe them to mean. Molesters, rapists, drug dealers, and
murderers may dabble in the occult and may even commit their crimes
in a ceremonial or ritualistic way. This category has the potential
to be the most dangerous, and most of the "satanic" killers fall
into this category. Their involvement in satanism and the occult is
a symptom of a problem, and a rationalization and justification of
antisocial behavior. Satanic/occult practices (as well as those of
other spiritual belief systems) can also be used as a mechanism to
facilitate criminal objectives.
-- c. "TRADITIONAL (ORTHODOX).
"These are the so-called true believers. They are often wary of
outsiders. Because of this and constitutional issues, such groups
are difficult for law enforcement to penetrate. Although there may
be much we don't know about these groups, as of now there is little
or no hard evidence that as a group they are involved in serious,
organized criminal activity. In addition, instead of being self-
perpetuating master crime conspirators, "true believers" probably
have a similar problem with their teenagers rebelling against their
belief system. To some extent even these Traditional satanists are
self-stylized. They practice what they have come to believe is
"satanism". There is little or no evidence of the much-discussed
multigenerational satanists whose beliefs and practices have
supposedly been passed down through the centuries. Many admitted
adult satanists were in fact raised in conservative Christian
homes."
_Washington Post_ editor Walt Harrington reported in a 1986 story on
Anton LaVey and his Church of Satan that "sociologists who have
studied LaVey's church say that its members often had serious
childhood problems like alcoholic parents or broken homes, or that
they were traumatized by guilt-ridden fundamentalist upbringings,
turning to Satanism as a dramatic way to purge their debilitating
guilt" (p. 14).
Some have claimed that the accounts of ritual abuse victims coincide
with historical records of what traditional or multigenerational
satanists are known to have practiced down through the ages. Jeffrey
Burton Russell, Professor of History at the University of California
at Santa Barbara and the author of numerous scholarly books on the
devil and satanism, believes that the universal consensus of modern
historians on satanism is (personal communication, Nov. 1991):
"(1) incidents of orgy, infanticide, cannibalism, and other such
conduct have occurred from the ancient world down to the present;
(2) such incidents were isolated and limited to local antisocial
groups; (3) during the period of Christian dominance in European
culture, such groups were associated with the Devil in the minds of
the authorities; (4) in some cases the sectaries believed that they
were worshiping Satan; (5) no organized cult of Satanists existed in
the Christian period beyond localities, and on no account was there
ever any widespread Satanist organization or conspiracy; (6) no
reliable historical sources indicate that such organizations
existed; (7) the black mass appears only once in the sources before
the late nineteenth century."
Many police officers ask what to look for during the search of the
scene of suspected satanic activity. The answer is simple: Look for
evidence of a crime. A pentagram is no more criminally significant
than a crucifix unless it corroborates a crime or a criminal
conspiracy. If a victim's description of the location or the
instruments of the crime includes a pentagram, then the pentagram
would be evidence. But the same would be true if the description
included a crucifix. In many cases of alleged satanic ritual abuse,
investigation can find evidence that the claimed offenders are
members only of mainstream churches and are often described as very
religious.
There is no way any one law enforcement officer can become
knowledgeable about all the symbols and rituals of every spiritual
belief system that might become part of a criminal investigation.
The officer needs only to be trained to recognize the possible
investigative significance of such signs, symbols, and rituals.
Knowledgeable religious scholars, academics, and other true experts
in the community can be consulted if a more detailed analysis is
necessary.
Any analysis, however, may have only limited application, especially
to cases involving teenagers, dabblers, and other self-styled
practitioners. The fact is signs, symbols, and rituals can mean
anything that practitioners want them to mean and/or anything that
observers interpret them to mean.
The meaning of symbols can also change over time, place, and
circumstance. Is a swastika spray-painted on a wall an ancient
symbol of prosperity and good fortune, a recent symbol of Nazism and
anti-Semitism, or a current symbol of hate, paranoia, and adolescent
defiance? The peace sign which in the 1960s was a familiar antiwar
symbol is now supposed to be a satanic symbol. Some symbols and
holidays become "satanic" only because the antisatanists say they
are. Then those who want to be "satanists" adopt them, and now you
have "proof" they are satanic.
In spite of what is sometimes said or suggested at law enforcement
training conferences, police have no authority to seize any satanic
or occult paraphernalia they might see during a search. A legally-
valid reason must exist for doing so. It is not the job of law
enforcement to prevent satanists from engaging in noncriminal
teaching, rituals, or other activities.
9. INVESTIGATING MULTIDIMENSIONAL CHILD SEX RINGS.
Multidimensional child sex rings can be among the most difficult,
frustrating, and complex cases that any law enforcement officer will
ever investigate. The investigation of allegations of recent
activity from multiple young children under the age of seven
presents one set of problems and must begin quickly, with interviews
of *all* potential victims being completed as soon as possible. The
investigation of allegations of activity ten or more years earlier
from adult survivors presents other problems and should proceed,
unless victims are at immediate risk, more deliberately, with
gradually-increasing resources as corroborated facts warrant.
In spite of any skepticism, allegations of ritual abuse should be
aggressively and thoroughly investigated, This investigation should
attempt to corroborate the allegations of ritual abuse. but should
*simultaneously* also attempt to identify alternative explanations.
The only debate is over how much investigation is enough. Any law
enforcement agency must be prepared to defend and justify its
actions when scrutinized by the public, the media, elected
officials, or the courts. This does not mean, however, that a law
enforcement agency has an obligation to prove that the alleged
crimes did not occur. This is almost always impossible to do and
investigators should be alert for and avoid this trap.
One major problem in the investigation of multidimensional child sex
rings is the dilemma of recognizing soon enough that you have one.
Investigators must be alert for cases with the potential for the
four basic dynamics: (a) multiple young victims, (b) multiple
offenders, (c) fear as the controlling tactic, and (d) bizarre or
ritualistic activity. The following techniques apply primarily to
the investigation of such multidimensional child sex rings:
-- a. MINIMIZE SATANIC/OCCULT ASPECT.
There are those who claim that one of the major reasons more of
these cases have not been successfully prosecuted is that the
satanic/occult aspect has not been aggressively pursued. One state
has even introduced legislation creating added penalties when
certain crimes are committed as part of a ritual or ceremony. A few
states have passed special ritual crime laws. I strongly disagree
with such an approach. It makes no difference what spiritual belief
system was used to enhance and facilitate or rationalize and justify
criminal behavior. It serves no purpose to "prove" someone is a
satanist. As a matter of fact, if it is alleged that the subject
committed certain criminal acts under the influence of or in order
to conjure up supernatural spirits or forces, this may very well be
the basis for an insanity or diminished capacity defense, or may
damage the intent aspect of a sexually motivated crime. The defense
may very well be more interested in all the "evidence of satanic
activity". Some of the satanic crime "experts" who train law
enforcement wind up working or testifying for the defense in these
cases.
It is best to focus on the crime and all the evidence to corroborate
its commission. Information about local satanic or occult activity
is only of value if it is based on specific law enforcement
intelligence and not on some vague, unsubstantiated generalities
from religious groups. Cases are not solved by decoding signs,
symbols, and dates using undocumented satanic crime "manuals". In
one case a law enforcement agency executing a search warrant seized
only the satanic paraphernalia and left behind the other evidence
that would have corroborated victim statements. Cases are solved by
people- and behavior-oriented investigation. Evidence of satanic or
occult activity may help explain certain aspects of the case, but
even offenders who commit crimes in a spiritual context are usually
motivated by power, sex, and money.
-- b. KEEP INVESTIGATION AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS SEPARATE.
I believe that one of the biggest mistakes any investigator of these
cases can make is to attribute supernatural powers to the offenders.
During an investigation a good investigator may sometimes be able to
use the beliefs and superstitions of the offenders to his or her
advantage. The reverse happens if the investigator believes that the
offenders possess supernatural powers. Satanic/occult practitioners
have no more power than any other human beings. Law enforcement
officers who believe that the investigation of these cases puts them
in conflict with the supernatural forces of evil should probably not
be assigned to them. The religious beliefs of officers should
provide spiritual strength and support for them but should not
affect the objectivity and professionalism of the investigation.
It is easy to get caught up in these cases and begin to see
"satanism" everywhere. Oversensitization to this perceived threat
may cause an investigator to "see" satanism in a crime when it
really is not there (quasi-satanism). Often the eye sees what the
mind perceives. It may also cause an investigator not to recognize a
staged crime scene deliberately seeded with "satanic clues" in order
to mislead the police (pseudo-satanism). On rare occasions an
overzealous investigator or intervenor may even be tempted to plant
"evidence of satanism" in order to corroborate such allegations and
beliefs. Supervisors need to be alert for and monitor these
reactions in their investigators.
-- c. LISTEN TO THE VICTIMS.
It is not the investigator's duty to believe the victims; it is his
or her job to listen and be an objective fact finder. Interviews of
young children should be done by investigators trained and
