Murder

Queensland has been the last Australian jurisdiction to reform its law of criminal defences to try and take account of the difficulties faced by victims of domestic abuse in satisfying the traditional elements of self-defence. Section 304B of the Queensland Criminal Code was designed to create a partial defence for victims of domestic violence who, fearing for their lives, kill their abusers in circumstances that would otherwise constitute murder. Usually, these cases involve killing in the absence of a triggering assault or where the feared harm is not imminent. The partial defence provides that the accused will be found guilty of manslaughter only, thereby allowing for judicial discretion in sentencing. This paper argues that the new provision is ineffective and, in fact, puts victims of abuse who kill in a more difficult tactical position than if it had not been enacted. The theory of criminal responsibility (juxtaposing justification and excuse) and various moral theories are us...

This 2nd edition of the internationally acclaimed guide to forensic stable isotope analysis uses real-world examples to bridge discussions of the basic science, instrumentation and analytical techniques underlying forensic isotope profiling and its various technical applications. Case studies describe an array of applications, many of which were developed by the author himself. They include cases in which isotope profiling was used in murder, and drugs-related crime investigations, as well as for pharmaceutical and food authenticity control studies.

Updated with coverage of exciting advances occurring in the field since the publication of the 1st edition, this 2nd edition explores innovative new techniques and applications in forensic isotope profiling, as well as key findings from original research. More than a simple update, though, this edition has been significantly revised in order to address serious problems that can arise from non-comparable and unfit-for-purpose stable isotope data. To that end, Part II has been virtually rewritten with greater emphasis now being placed on important quality control issues in stable isotope analysis in general and forensic stable isotope analysis in particular.

On a societal level Philo argues for a ius talionis based on values of equality, life itself, and health. The first principle results in democracy as the best political system. It also implies that every killing is unjust, including killing in war, as every person who kills in effect gives him or herself a higher value than his or her victim. The second principle implies that when a life is willingly taken, it must be retaliated against—by the death of the offender. In some cases, Philo also considers an intentional assault on someone’s health as murder, especially when the principle sign of life, the ratio (nous), is thereby lost. The condition for the culpability of murderers or potential murderers is in every case the intention to kill. This intention also includes incitement to murder and attempted murder.
On a religious level there is only the one God. God is the creator and the guarantee of the world order (logos) which includes and effectively amounts to natural law. Every offence against God is an offence against this order and cannot be redeemed, and the offender should be completely erased. However, as men are shaped in the image of God, they are, to some extent, also godly. Killing the image of God is, thus, killing a part of God in some way. At the societal level, the victim is to be recompensed by means of the death penalty for the murderer. However, at the religious level, the murderer has broken the law of nature—offended God’s image, and God himself—and must be eradicated, to preserve the goodness inherent in God’s work. To repeat the words of Philo once again:
"The term murder or manslaughter is used to signify the act of one who has killed a human being but in real truth that act is a sacrilege, and the worst of sacrileges."
(Philo, Spec. Laws 3.83; trans. Colson, LCL)

Background Euthanasia is one of the most intriguing ethical, medical and law issues that marked whole XX century and beginning of the XXI century, sharply dividing scientific and unscientific public to its supporters and opponents. It also appears as one of the points where all three major religions (Catholic, Orthodox, and Islamic) have the same view. They are strongly against legalizing mercy killing, emphasizing the holiness of life as a primary criterion by which the countries should start in their considerations. Studying criminal justice systems in the world, the authors concluded that the issue of deprivation of life from compassion is solved on three ways. On the first place, we have countries where euthanasia is murder like any other murder from the criminal codes. Second, the most numerous are states where euthanasia is murder committed under privilege circumstances. On the third place, in the Western Europe we have countries where euthanasia is a legal medical procedure, ...

Take a walk on the dark side of the street in this unique exploration of the fears and desires at the heart of the British Empire, from the Regency dandy’s playground to the grim and gothic labyrinths of the Victorian city. Enter a world of gin spinners, sneaksmen and Covent Garden nuns, where bare-knuckled boxers slog it out for dozens of rounds, children are worth more dead than alive, and the Thames holds more bodies than the Ganges. This is the Modern Babylon, a place of brutal poverty, violent crime, strong drink, pornography and prostitution; of low neighbourhoods and crooked houses with windows out like broken teeth, wraithlike urchins with haunted eyes, desperate, ruthless and vicious men, and the broken remnants of once fine girls: a grey, bleak, infernal place, where gaslights fail to pierce the pestilential fog, and coppers travel in pairs, if they venture there at all.

Combining the accessibility of a popular history with original research, this book brings the denizens of this vanished world once more to life, along with the voices of those who sought to exploit, imprison or save them, or to simply report back from this alien landscape that both fascinated and appalled: the politicians, the reformers, the journalists and, above all, the storytellers, from literary novelists to purveyors of penny dreadfuls. Welcome to the 19th century underworld…

Research on Poe tells us that there is a great deal more to Poe than first
meets the eye. It certainly provides a picture of Poe’s work very different
from what most readers conceive. Research has revealed, indeed, a be
wildering tangle of contradictions in his work, which leaves us with astonishingly little consensus about what Poe is all about.

[Introduction to: Critical Insights: The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. Steven Frye. Pasadena: Salem Press. 36-53 (2010)]

Assembling the evidence which points to a group of social reformers led by George Berrnard Shaw using Mass Media Manipulation techniques to create the Jack The Ripper mythomeme, with the East End murders of 1888 being carried out by an organised gang.

Le régicide de Bamberg au début du XIIIe siècle a longtemps été expliqué par les théories du complot et d’une vengeance. Cet article propose, cependant, une relecture des sources contemporaines par une approche constructiviste permettant de reconstituer les différentes perceptions des auteurs. Il en ressort qu’une double lecture peut être faite de la représentation contemporaine de l’assassinat de Philippe de Souabe. Premièrement, malgré les récits divergents, tous leurs auteurs s’accordent à reconnaitre que le crime, au-delà de l’affront personnel, participe étroitement d’un conflit d’honneur. Deuxièmement, les partisans
comme les opposants de Philippe ont condamné unanimement l’assassinat. La raison en est simple : aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles, dans le Saint-Empire, le régicide ne faisait pas partie de la pratique politique, parce qu’il n’était pas une composante légitime de la culture politique.

    The regicide of Bamberg in the early thirteenth century has long been explained by conspiracy and revenge theories. This article, however, proposes a re-reading of contemporary sources through a constructivist approach that allows the reconstruction of the different authors perceptions. It was found that the contemporary representation of Philip of Swabia’s murder can be read in two ways. Firstly, despite the divergent accounts, all the authors agree that the crime, beyond the personal affront, is closely related to a conflict of honour. Secondly, both supporters and opponents of Philip unanimously condemned the murder. The reason for
this is simple : during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in the Holy Roman Empire, regicide was not part of political practice, because it was not a legitimate component of political culture.

The present prospective study was carried from 2009 to 2012. During this period a Total of 3907 Homicides were Autopsied, of which 68 cases were recorded due to Murder Suicide Incidents, this contributed to 1.74% of Homicides Cases. A total of 174 victims died as a result of Murder. 89.72%(n-61) of the perpetrators were Male. The Most of the perpetrators belonged to the age group 31-40 years, contributing to 66.18% of the cases , and the least age group involved was between 11-20 and 41-50,contributing to 2.94% of cases. None of the Perpetrators above the age of 50 years were involved. Majority of the Victims were Females contributing to 78.74% (n-137) of cases. The Maximum number of Victims belonged to 31-40 year Age group contributing to 40.08%, the least age group involved was between 11-20 and 41-50,contributing to 7.47% and 12.64% respectively. There were no elderly victims recorded. Majority (30.88%;n-21) of the perpetrators involved were policemen and the least type of individuals involved were Soldiers contributing to 2.94%(n-02) of cases. The Relationship of the Victims revealed Divorced Spouse to be the Major Victims contributing to 29.31%(n-51) of the Victims, followed closely by Girlfriends and Children’s contributing to 16.09%(n-28) each. The least affected were Housewives contributing to 11.49%(n-20) of the Victims. The Extramarital relationship (27.94%;n-19) and Jealousy(25%;n-17) were the Two Major Motives behind the Murder Suicide. The least provoking factors were Work stress(4.41%;n-03) and Disease conditions(2.94%;n-02). 91.18%(n-62) of the Perpetrators committed suicide by Gunshots. The least method adopted to commit suicide was Hanging contributing to 1.47% (n-01). 90.80%(n-158) of the Victims died as a result of Gunshot wounds. The least method adopted to Kill was by Ligature Suspension/ Hanging contributing to 1.72% (n-03) each. The perpetrator preferred in 30.88%( n-21)of Incidents Girlfriends House for Murder, followed closely by acts in Home in 25%( n-17) of cases. The commonest weapon of Choice was Firearm, which contributed to 91.18%(n-62) of the Cases, of which Handguns contributed to 75%(n-51) of cases. The least method adopted was by Ligature Suspension recorded in 1.47%(n-01) of cases. None of the incidents reported Murder and Suicide in different premises. The maximum distance between Suicide and Murder reported was 20 meters.
Keywords: Firearm; Death; Motive; Occupation; Psyche; Murder; Suicide; Sharp Force; Hanging.

Grossman, Lieutenant Colonel Dave, On Killing. The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, New York, Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Company, 1995.

"The sympathetic nervous system mobilizes and directs the body's energy resources for action. The parasympathetic system is responsible for the body's digestive and recuperative processes. Usually these two systems sustain a general balance between their demands upon the body's resources, but during extremely stressful circumstances the fight-or-flight response kicks in and the sympathetic nervous system mobilizes all available energy for survival. In combat this very often results in nonessential activities such as digestion, bladder control, and sphincter control being completely shut down. This process is so intense that soldiers very often suffer stress diarrhea, and it is not at all uncommon for them to urinate and defecate in their pants as the body literally "blows its ballast" in an attempt to provide all the energy resources required to ensure its survival. A soldier must pay a physiological price for an energizing process this intense. The price that the body pays is an equally powerful backlash when the neglected demands of the parasympathetic system return. This parasympathetic backlash occurs as soon as the danger and the excitement is over, and it takes the form of an incredibly powerful weariness and sleepiness on the part of the soldier." (p70)

Unless he is caught up in murderous ecstasy, destroying is easier when done from a little remove. With every foot of distance there is a corresponding decrease in reality. Imagination flags and fails altogether when distances become too great. So it is that much of the mindless cruelty of recent wars has been perpetrated by warriors at a distance, who could not guess what havoc their powerful weapons were occasioning. — Glenn Gray The Warriors The link between distance and ease of aggression is not a new discovery. It has long been understood that there is a direct relationship between the empathic and physical proximity of the victim, and the resultant difficulty and trauma of the kill. This concept has fascinated and concerned soldiers, philosophers, anthropologists , and psychologists alike. At the far end of the spectrum are bombing and artillery, which are often used to illustrate the relative ease of long-range killing.

Le 21 septembre 1617 Anno une jeune maman est retrouvée morte dans la maison des Petermann dans le val de Lièpvre ; un territoire partagé entre Alsace et Lorraine. On la dit suicidée mais une remarquable expertise médicale conclut à un meurtre. Aussitôt le mari Jacob est arrêté, car n’est-ce pas toujours l’époux qui tue l’épouse ? Mais l’affaire Petermann va tourner autrement et mettre en accusation Anthoine, le vieillard qui dirige la famille et qui jusqu’alors n’avait jamais attiré l’attention contre lui. Au terme d’une instruction judiciaire compliquée et malgré des aveux changeants et insuffisants, Anthoine sera condamné et exécuté sur la roue.
Comprendre un assassin n’est déjà pas chose facile aujourd’hui. Rentrer dans la tête d’un vieil homme qui a massacré sa belle-fille, c’est pourtant ce qui a été réalisé dans ce livre pour trouver les raisons du criminel, à partir des archives de la procédure. Ce fait-divers du 17e siècle permet ainsi de comprendre et d’exposer bien des choses sur les couples, les familles et l’argent, sur l’amour, l’honneur et la haine et sur toute la société locale. Œuvre d’histoire et de criminologie, ce livre est d’autant plus troublant que Le crime d’Anthoine commis il y a exactement quatre cents ans aurait pu, à quelques détails près, avoir été perpétré aujourd’hui pour les mêmes raisons profondes et se retrouver dans la presse locale et au tribunal.

Two Australian women writers have published books about the trials of Robert Farquharson, found guilty of murdering his three sons on Father's Day 2005. Garner, author of 'This House of Grief', is a renowned Australian fiction and non-fiction writer.  Norris, author of 'On Father's Day' is a writer of true crime and feature articles for women's magazines.  The books differ markedly in how they tell the same story, but each has a power that brings to book  the ramifications of spousal hatred and resentment.

Daniel Webster’s famous prosecution speech in the Salem Murder Trial (1830) has been both praised and condemned. Celebrated as a masterpiece of forensic eloquence it is also criticized as contributing to a miscarriage of justice. This essay examines that address to the Salem jury in the context of Webster’s own classical training in rhetoric. Specifically, the paper discusses the elements and details of Webster’s persuasive strategy as they are drawn from his Ciceronian rhetorical sensibility. Ethical condemnations of Webster’s address cannot be sustained when that trial speech is reviewed from the vantage of classical forensic rhetoric. In fact, Webster’s performance may be one of the last great expressions of the classical forensic paradigm in American courtroom oratory.

Since 2011, s. 745.51, which provides sentencing judges with the option of imposing consecutive periods of parole ineligibility for multiple murders, has been applied over 50 times, with nearly half of the accused being sentenced to what is effectively lifelong imprisonment. In late 2020, the Quebec Court of Appeal (QCCA) declared s. 745.51 unconstitutional and struck it down in Bissonnette c R.  This article reviews the constitutional arguments upheld by the QCCA in Bissonnette and weighs them against the challenges that trial judges have encountered in applying s. 745.51 since 2012. By drawing on a qualitative review of cases in which s. 745.51 has been applied, as well as  Charter principles, sentencing case law and international practices, this article posits that the QCCA was correct in its approach to s. 745.51, both in finding it unconstitutional and in finding that the provision should not be read down to render it constitutional. This article advances the central argument that, in the context of an already problematic sentencing regime for murder, a piece of legislation that allows for consecutive periods of parole ineligibility of any length, even when its application is circumscribed to certain offenders, will likely continue to raise issues in its application and effects. Thus, when Bissonnette is heard by the SCC, the QCCA’s decision should be upheld. Moreover, Parliament would be well advised to resist any attempts to rewrite this provision and pass another version of it.

With female murderers recognised for the newspaper representations they receive, it is of interest to study the nature of them in relation to real life criminal cases. This dissertation provides an analysis of the newspaper portrayals of killers Myra Hindley and Rose West, and considers them within the ‘mad’, ‘bad’ and ‘sad’ labels placed on women who kill. With existing research on Hindley and West’s portrayals focused around their criminal trials, this dissertation instead explores their depictions at the time of their whole life tariff impositions. This study involved the use of a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 40 newspaper articles, that enabled language used in their coverage to be formulated into themes informing of their depictions. The findings in this study have illustrated that Hindley and West’s portrayals heavily reflected the ‘bad’ woman narrative similarly addressed in existing research. In addition, it finds support for their representations as the less acknowledged ‘mad’ and ‘sad’ woman that not only reinforced their ‘badness’, but challenged the reactions we expect with these two narratives. By also discovering portrayal categories not acknowledged by research, this study demonstrates how female murderer representations are more complicated than we assume, and leaves questions regarding why Hindley and West were portrayed in this complex way.

This analysis shall focus upon the representation of Jeffrey Dahmer in American newspapers. Jeffrey Dahmer was an American serial killer, sex offender, cannibal and necrophiliac who murdered at least 17 men from 1978 to 1991 (Castleden, 2011). American newspapers were chosen as this was where the majority of articles appeared. It is important to state that American news outlets are often right wing, or conservative, with the exception of the New York Times and The Washington Post used in this analysis, who tend to generate a more liberal, left audience (Pew Research Center, 2014). A narrative analysis was deemed appropriate to use as it encompasses both the importance of the narrative itself and the historical context in which it took place (Calhoun, 2002). The historical context was considered vital in the representation of Dahmer in American newspapers as Dahmer was a queer man who lived through the classification of homosexuality as a mental illness, and the AIDS crisis, which, as shall be explored in the discussion, were seen to be crucial contexts that influenced the narratives that surfaced.

On 6 May 1966 the ‘Trial of the Century’ came to an end. Chester Assizes court convicted Ian Brady and Myra Hindley for the murders of 12-year-old John Kilbride, 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey, and 17-year-old Edward Evans. The court found Brady guilty on all three murder charges and sentenced him to three concurrent life sentences. Hindley received two life sentences for the murders of Downey and Evans, and a further seven years for being an after-the-fact accomplice in Brady’s murder of Kilbride. Following the description already given to the police investigation and trial, the newspapers gave Brady and Hindley the infamous label of the ‘Moors Murderers’ straight after the trial. The Moors murders have become a part of British folklore since the 1960s, but the case itself has hitherto received surprisingly little attention from academic historians.

Following Martin Wiener’s injunction for historians to pay closer attention to murder stories, this doctoral thesis presents a cultural history of the Moors murders case. My study analyses the courtroom arguments, media coverage and post-trial books about the case, to interrogate broader themes of moral and cultural change in 1960s Britain. My thesis emphasises the multi-vocal nature of representations of both the case and the murderers in order to challenge the linear and progressive historiographies of the 1960s, associated in particular with Arthur Marwick.

The thesis examines four major facets of the Moors murders story, dedicating a chapter to each.

The first chapter explores how the news media (primarily the press, but also broadcast media) negotiated the story. The first detailed empirical analysis of newspaper coverage of the case reveals the limitations of studies structured primarily around social class. The thesis follows Stuart Hall and A.C.H Smith in arguing that analyses of the press should not be reduced to a simple differentiation between popular, middle-brow and high-brow but should instead consider the ‘personalities’ of each publication and the moral relationships  constructed with readers . Furthermore, the chapter engages with Adrian Bingham’s recent argument about the moral politics of the press, exploring his assertion that the popular press balanced commercial profits alongside a commitment to maintain their reputation as ‘family newspapers’. The chapter argues that content of the press coverage of the Moors murders case generated far greater concerns than the suspect practices of journalists.

Chapters two and three focus in turn on the diverse representations of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. Commentators debated the origins of the evil behind the murders, with some highlighting his illegitimacy, others his reading of ‘dangerous’ books, the writings of the Marquis de Sade especially. Hindley’s role was hotly contested: most commentators emphasised how she had changed under Brady’s influence, but disagreed over the extent of her own involvement in the murders. The thesis reveals for the first time how images of Nazi Germany shadowed the case. The thesis thus contributes to historical investigations of permissiveness in post-war England, engaging with debates about censorship, child-rearing, the changing role of women, and the popular memory of the holocaust.

The fourth and final chapter analyses the tensions generated around a murder story which took place in urban settings, but which became indelibly associated with the rural locations of the moors. The story mobilised a distinctive combination of gothic imagery with a long literary heritage, and the more recent language of social realism.

Genesis ist ein Buch von Familiengeschichten, welche durchgehend von Konflikten geprägt sind. Insbesondere gilt dies für Rivalitäten zwischen Brüdern. Häufige Vertauschungsepisoden und weitere Katalysatoren entfachen Konflikte, die die familiäre Kontinuität stets gefährden. Die Geschwisterrivalitäten wurden in der Forschung ausgiebig behandelt, doch die Analyse verbindender und wiederkehrender literarischer Motive zwischen den Erzählungen wurde bisher nicht ausreichend erforscht. Daher untersucht die vorliegende Studie drei Hauptrivalitäten zwischen Brüdern in ihren literarischen Verbindungen: Kain und Abel, Jakob und Esau sowie Josef und seine Brüdern. Dabei werden besonders die Abschnitte analysiert, die den Ausgangspunkt, die Eskalation und die Auflösung dieser Konflikte behandeln. Als Ergebnis der Studie werden lexikalische und thematische Motive, sowie Motive im Handlungsverlauf zwischen den Erzählungen erarbeitet. Die beschriebenen Motive stellen ein dicht verwobenes literarisches Netzwerk zwischen den Erzählungen dar. Sie zeigen einen narrativen Spannungsbogen auf, der vom urgeschichtlichen Brudermord zur Bruder-Vergebung geht und sich im Verlauf stets am Rande eines Brudermords bewegt

Genesis is a book of family histories which are marked throughout by conflict. This applies in particular to rivalry between brothers. Frequent episodes of reversals and other catalysts ignite conflicts which continually endanger family continuity. Although sibling rivalry has been extensively addressed by the academic research, the analysis of interconnected and recurrent literary motifs among the stories has not yet been sufficiently explored. Therefore, the present study investigates the literary connections among three principal rivalries: Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers. This includes, in particular, the analysis of those texts which deal with the origin, escalation and resolution of these conflicts. As a result of this study, lexical and thematic motifs, as well as motifs of plot development among the stories are worked out. These motifs present a tightly interwoven narrative network among the stories. They reveal a narrative arc of suspense which ranges from the primeval fratricide to fraternal forgiveness, teetering continually on the brink of fratricide

This paper discusses the darker side of our beloved hero Peter Pan. Is it true that Pan would kill the Lost Boys? Would he really kidnap children left in Kensington Gardens?  The impish Peter Pan is much more sinister than we believed him to be.

EDIT: it MUST be noted that this is a paper I wrote for my undergraduate degree (Level 5).

The deadly assault on the Bulgarian writer and playwright Georgi Markov on the 7th of September 1978 in London was without a doubt one of the saddest climaxes of secret intelligence operations during the Cold War. The "Bulgarian umbrella" turned into a synonym for cold-blooded, well-organized and deadly operations, particularly those associated with socialist state security services. However, even more than 30 years after Markov was killed, questions about the operation itself remain unanswered. In addition to the specific questions about this particular operation, our general understanding of the Bulgarian secret service and its significance are still blurred. This study sets out to present all of the facts available today on the Markov-murder, to analyse the sources and to evaluate whether the "Bulgarian umbrella" operation could be considered as "success".

An article written for educational screen studies magazine Screen Education. This article investigates the narrative devices implemented by Polanski in his film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1971), with particular focus on the haunting and sinister themes portrayed, alongside the very personal tragedies faced by the filmmaker only years prior to the film's production.

Cette étude porte sur un type de cinéma italien appelé giallo. Ayant connu une forte popularité au tournant des années 1970 auprès d’un public dit vernaculaire, ces thrillers horrifiques sont encore aujourd’hui réputés pour leurs scènes de meurtre sanglantes et spectaculaires mettant à l’honneur un assassin ganté. Ce mémoire se propose de faire le point sur ces séquences de meurtre et surtout d’expliquer la façon particulière avec laquelle elles sont mises en scène. Pour bien y parvenir, nous en fournissons tout au long des exemples et les soumettons à une analyse détaillée. Notre approche analytique se veut essentiellement formaliste. Il s’agit de déconstruire ces scènes violentes afin d’en révéler certains des rouages. Dans un premier temps, nous rappelons quelques notions fondamentales du cinéma gore et nous penchons sur la problématique que pose invariablement la représentation de la mort au grand écran. Ceci nous permet ensuite d’observer plus amplement comment les réalisateurs du giallo traitent ces scènes d’homicide sur un mode excessif et poétique. Enfin, le rapport érotique à la violence entretenu dans ces scènes est considéré. Cela nous donne notamment l’occasion de nous intéresser à la figure du mannequin (vivant et non vivant) et de voir de quelles manières les cinéastes peuvent par son entremise transmettre un sentiment d’inquiétante étrangeté.

This study aims to explore giallo, a specific type of Italian cinema. Very popular with a vernacular audience at the turn of the 1970s, these horrific thrillers remain notorious for their bloody and spectacular murder scenes showcasing a gloved killer. With this thesis, we seek to review these murder sequences with a focus on explaining the particular way in which they are staged, shot and edited. To fully achieve this, we provide examples from these scenes and submit them to a detailed analysis. Our analytical approach is essentially formalist. We wish to deconstruct these violent scenes and reveal some of their inner workings. At first, we recall some basic notions of gore cinema and look at the problems that the depiction of death on the silver screen invariably raises. This allows us to see how giallo filmmakers treat these murder scenes in an excessive and poetic mode. Lastly, the erotic aspect of violence presented in these scenes is considered. This gives us the opportunity to focus on the figure of the model/mannequin (living and non-living) and see how filmmakers can use it to transmit an uncanny feeling.

Although Wicca, or contemporary Pagan witchcraft, is by all defini- tions a new religious movement, it lacks many of the characteristics the NRMs often display, such as a charismatic founder(s), millenarian prophecies, or new forms of social order. Nor have Wiccans been identified with commonly studied forms of violence with NRMs, such as mass suicides, violence against former members, or attacks on surrounding populations. In 1980, however, as Wicca was on the verge of both a growth spurt and increased media attention, Loy Stone, a leader of one organization, the Church of Wicca, was tried for murder in Texas. The victim, a fifteen-year-old girl, was one of a large group of teenagers who had been committing acts of harassment and vandalism during October 1977 at the farm inhabited by Stone, his wife, and his elderly mother, actions I would categorize as falling into the folkloric definition of “legend trips.” The Stone case makes clear the persistence of abusive stereotypes of “devil-worshipers” in America. Finally, it challenged members of the Wiccan community to decide whether the Stones should be supported or rhetorically cast out.

Keywords: Wicca, witchcraft, murder, Texas, violence, legend trip