The Sioux City Journal is currently running coverage of Lawrence Harris’s murder trial. Harris is accused of first degree murder in the deaths of his two young step-daughters, which he said was the result of a “spell gone bad”. The trial will determine if these were premeditated killings, or if Harris was clinically insane during the murders.

Lawrence Douglas Harris was under pressure, unmedicated and trying to find a way to gain control of his life when he attempted to cast a spell in the basement of his house the day his stepdaughters were killed, his attorney told jurors in his trial today. In a packed courtroom with tight security, Assistant Public Defender Mike Williams delivered his opening statements, saying his client was insane that day. “Not just a little psychotic here and there. Not just a little disturbed, but insane,” Williams said.

The double-murder of two young children would be enough to make this case a media circus, add in the fact that Harris had a long-running fascination with the occult, Paganism, and Satanism, and you have all the ingredients for sheer pandemonium (both journalistically and in the court room). So it is a lucky thing that the expert witness on Wicca and Paganism called to the stands was Pagan scholar Helen A. Berger, author of “A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States”, and co-author of “Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States”.

Also testifying for the defense, Helen Berger, a sociology professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, explained something of Wicca, satanism and paganism and said Wicca is not about violence and killing. She said Wiccans believe that anything they do, good or bad, comes back to them threefold … During cross-examination of Berger, Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Mark Campbell produced an inverted pentagram that was found with Harris’ ritual items in the basement. “The Satanic Bible” refers to use of an inverted pentagram during rituals. Berger said the symbol is not part of Wiccan practices.

Berger was also one of the first experts to be interviewed by the Sioux City Journal in the initial wake of the killings. We can feel very lucky that Berger is the voice for Paganism in this trial, and not, say, one of the old “Satanic Panic” experts still hanging around. For full transcripts of the proceedings, go to the Sioux City Journal’s special page devoted to the trial (I really must commend the paper’s even-keeled and extensive coverage here). As for Harris, since Iowa doesn’t have the death penalty, he’s looking towards a lifetime of confinement, either in a cell or an institution. I’ll leave it to the jury to decide which one of these he deserves.

Does religion harm or heal? Believers and skeptics have long argued over the benefits and drawbacks regarding a belief in unseen forces and powers for ages. Confusing the issue further are those times when faith commingles with mental illness and breeds murderers and monsters. Pagan religions and other minority faiths are hardly immune from these tragedies. One year ago Lawrence Douglas Harris, who had been involved in modern Paganism (and later Satanism), killed his two young step-daughters in what he called a spell that “had gone bad”. On the anniversary of these tragic slayings, the Sioux City Journal provides a narrative of that fateful day from Marla Stroman, the mother of the two girls.

At the house, police immediately begin questioning Larry, who tells them he was practicing witchcraft. The girls died, he tells them, while he was casting a spell that “had gone bad” and that “could have had severe consequences.” There’s blood on his hands. In the basement, officers find candles, Larry’s ritual knife, stained with DNA from one of the girls, a symbol of Baphomet, representing Satan and believed to have occult power, bells and an amulet with an inverted pentagram — all items used in rituals described in “The Satanic Bible.” Larry tells police he has a spell notebook in his and Marla’s bedroom closet. The notebook contains drawings from the book “Pagan Ways,” references found in the occult fiction book “Necronomicom” and page numbers corresponding to “The Satanic Bible,” including one specific spell … Larry tells police he was possessed by Kali, the Hindu goddess of time and change.

Harris, who had a history of self-harm, social isolation, and mental illness, had stopped taking his medications in the lead-up to that horrific day, and had become threatening and scary. Shortly after the murders, journalists interviewed a variety of “experts” (from local Wiccans to Mega-Church pastors) to get a handle on why this happened, but none of them could really satisfy a public hungry for answers. In the end, mental illness doesn’t have to follow rules, be logically consistent, or provide a “good reason” for why those afflicted do the things they do. Once a mind has completely broken from reality, anything can be twisted (Bibles, Korans, books on Wicca, books on Satanism) into providing a road-map for their subsequent deeds. The mind, when turned towards such unrestrained violence, is like an opportunistic infection. Grabbing at any nearby “host” to provide it motivation.

If these psychotic breaks involving religion are ultimately inconclusive in answering the question of religion being harmful, can religion, specifically Pagan religion, heal? That seems to be a part of the questions involving a convicted murderer in the UK. Twenty five years ago Randall Lee McArthur killed another man in a drug-fueled rampage and was sentenced to a 25-to-life prison term. He  was recently denied bail despite claims that he is a reformed man.

Randall Lee McArthur says it’s time he was paroled. “I was a kid. I was irresponsible,” former Marysville resident McArthur, 44, told the state Board of Prison Terms about the 1982 murder of Bradford Lee Howland, 26, of Olivehurst. “I was wild, you know. I was out for myself.” McArthur contends he now poses no threat to the public if released from prison. But a filing Friday in the Yuba County Superior Court by the state Attorney General’s Office agrees with the prison board’s decision to deny parole for McArthur, sentenced in 1983 to a term of 25 years to life. He remains a danger to the public because of the nature of the murder along Forty Mile Road — “shooting a helpless, unarmed victim,” the state Attorney General’s Office said.

Part of McArthur’s process of reform has apparantly included the study and practice of Wicca, an aspect of his life that gained scrutiny at his parole-board hearing.

McArthur said he is pursuing a college degree in ancient religions in correspondence courses with the New Mexico Institute of Spiritual Studies and that his own beliefs involve Wicca, an ancient, Pagan-based religion. A member of the state prison board, noting McArthur’s references to Wicca along with Druidism, said some people view them as evil religions. McArthur was asked if he was discovering something different. McArthur responded in the affirmative, describing Wicca as a nature-based religion closer to Native American culture and traditions.

Was his adherence to Wicca a point in his favor, or used as a strike against him? Can the study of Pagan religion improve the moral compass of a murderer? Would you feel comfortable living next to Mr. McArthur should he be released? Why or why not? Should the study of religion even factor into it, should the nature of the murder, as the Attorney General’s Office attests, preclude him ever being paroled? Religion has long been used as proof of a criminal’s reformation, perhaps we should just acknowledge that the eternal questions of religion hurting or healing will always be somewhat subjective, and remove faith considerations from issues of conviction and parole altogether. There will always be murderers and madmen, and at times, especially as we continue to grow, they will be Pagan in some for or another.  Better to acknowledge that, and continue to push for a truly equal and secular justice system free from bias for or against religon (or lack of religon).

Since my entry yesterday praising local coverage of a bizarre “witchcraft” double-slaying, more interviews and details have surfaced. Local news channel KTIV (an NBC affiliate) interviews a professor of religion and a local Wiccan priest about the slaying.

“Dr. Bruce Forbes, Morningside College Religion Professor, ‘Satanism and witchcraft, they kind of come together but there’s no relation and in fact anyone I know involved in witchcraft at all thinks it’s a joke.’ Rev. Jeva Singh-Anand, Wiccan ‘A lot of satanists reject these practices… They reject the actual hurting of people.’ … Jeva Singh-Anand, ‘Being part of a spell that had gone wrong, it doesn’t make sense, I don’t know what the man’s religion was, if it turns out he was a Wiccan, then I would say, as as Wiccan, throw the book at him.’ Singh-Anand, ‘He’s casting a spell and something goes wrong, he ends up killing those kids, I think that’s just an excuse.’”

Meanwhile, KMEG (a CBS affiliate), interviews another local Wiccan for some insight into Witchcraft, and the ethical philosophies of Wicca.

“The story of Kendra and Alysha touches the heart of the Wiccan community. They’re saddened by the tragedy and the suspect’s suggestion that the girls were killed by witch craft. It’s a practice that’s often negatively linked to the practice of Wicca … [Dana Peterson] explains the difference between Wiccan practice and the suspect’s account of the murders. ‘It’s a form of ceremonial magic,’ said Peterson. ‘We collect in a circle and use our energy for the best common good. People pray for peace. We cast spells for peace.’”

KMEG obviously hasn’t heard the classic maxim of “all Wiccans are Witches, but not all witches are Wiccans”, but still, the coverage has thus far avoided sensationalizing the “witchcraft” dimension of this case. They even mention that the local Pagan community is putting a collection together for the family. Next we turn back to the Sioux City Journal (whom I praised yesterday), who interviews the pastor of a local evangelical “mega-church” about the girls (who briefly attended a youth outreach group).

“Two young sisters who were murdered during a ritual slaying Sunday knew more about witchcraft then they should have for their age, a local pastor said. Pastor Cary Gordon of Cornerstone World Outreach said Kendra Suing, 10, and Alysha Suing, 8, bombarded a bus driver for the church with questions after a summer lesson about the sinfulness of practicing witchcraft … ‘Our bus captain got the creepy feeling that they obviously had a lot of weird stuff going on in their house.’ After the lesson on witchcraft, Gordon said the Suing girls didn’t attend another session of the program until the last one of the year in November. ‘They had a real earful on why witchcraft is wrong that day, and then they got back home and then they went missing for a long time after that,’ he said. ‘We wondered if the kids didn’t go home and say, ‘Dad, the church says what you’re doing is wrong,’ and dad says, ‘Well, you’re not going back.’ That’s our speculation.’”

This article gets pretty close, through spotlighting the Pastor, to directly implying the step-father regularly practiced some sort of witchcraft. But there is still no proof that this man’s “magical” activities were stemming from an interest (ongoing or recent) in some sort of Paganism (or other magic-practicing faith or tradition), or if it was simply the actions of a quickly deteriorating mind. Saying that he was casting a spell, and that “the spell could have had severe consequences”, consequences that apparently included the death of his step-daughters, doesn’t seem to portray a man in touch with sanity.

There are still far too many variables and unknown details to get a clear picture. The mother hasn’t made a statement about her husband’s activities or beliefs, no autopsy information has been released, and we have no background information on Lawrence Douglas Harris (history of mental illness, any tangible affiliations with any Pagan or occult group, etc). Until more information comes along, this story will be stalled at guess-work and interviews with community members and experts.

ADDENDUM: Mother Marla Harris says that her husband is/was a Pagan:

“The mother of two girls who were killed allegedly at the hands of their stepfather said he described himself as a pagan and practiced spells to keep those around him healthy and happy” … She said Lawrence Harris told her about his religious beliefs, but that she told him to “keep it out of the house.” “What he was doing is against my religion,” Marla Harris said. “I told him, ‘You take it elsewhere.’” She said that her husband did not introduce her to anyone else who shared his beliefs and that he kept his religion to himself.

He is also writing to Satanists:

“She knew about a spell book he kept in their bedroom, but she said he kept it on a high shelf, out of reach of the children. She said that one day she noticed an addition of a Church of Satan listing in a shared e-mail address book. “I asked him about it, and he said he was just writing back and forth with them,” she said.”

Now that the mother claims her husband is a Pagan, and that he has had contact with Satanists, will that change the reporting in the mainstream press? We can certainly expect the right-wing fringe to start harping on the dangers of Paganism any time now.

I don’t get to say this too often, but bravo to the Sioux City Journal for their even-keeled and well-sourced follow up story to the horrendous “witchcraft” killing of two young girls.

“The sisters were found dead in a second floor room of their Nebraska Street home. Fire crews discovered the bodies while responding to a fire call at the home Sunday afternoon. It was initially ruled suspicious … Their stepfather, Larry Harris, is now charged with two counts of first degree murder … Police say the girls were found strangled and stabbed in their home. Larry Harris told investigators at the scene that the girls were dead in their room, the victims of witchcraft gone badly.”

Faced with claims of “witchcraft” and the murder of two young girls, the Sioux City Journal, instead of going for sensationalism, went to actual academics who study modern Paganism and Religious Witchcraft for answers.

“Professor Helen A. Berger, author of three books on witches, said she doubted anyone claiming to have killed children while casting a spell is a true practitioner of witchcraft or Wicca, a nature-based religion often associated with witchcraft and spell-casting. It is unclear what belief system, if any, Harris was acting on when he allegedly killed the girls, Alysha and Kendra Suing … Lisa Stenmark, a professor in San Jose State University’s Comparative Religious Studies program, said most people proclaiming to be witches — especially those who practice Wicca — would not harm or sacrifice a human during a ritual. Stenmark said she believed further investigation would show Harris’ actions likely had nothing to do with witchcraft or Wicca.”

In addition, when the article looks for previous examples of ritualized killings, they don’t dig for something Pagan-related, they instead focus on a far more common religious paradigm.

“Kendra and Alysha’s killings may be out of line with what experts consider modern witchcraft and pagan practices, but they are not the first children to die during a failed ritual. In 2004 in Georgia, two people told authorities they had killed a 6-year-old girl during an exorcism gone wrong. Police said Christopher and Valerie Carey strangled, beat and stabbed the girl in an attempt to rid her of demons. Investigators found the girl, whose back had been broken, in a hotel room, covered with pages from a Bible.”

This is solid and balanced journalism by Journal staff reporter Molly Montag. Kudos to her for avoiding the tired trend of “balancing” the article with anti-Pagan Christian “experts”, or dipping into sensationalist exposition in order to sell more papers. If only all Pagan-related journalism was more like this.