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 



--- msgedsq 2.1a
 * Origin: The Northern Lights 916-729-0304 (1:203/444)
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