Wiccan Community Angered by Police Description of 'Ritual Killing' in Triple Homicide
The Wiccan community is outraged by police characterizations that a triple homicide in Florida is suspected to be a "Wiccan ritual killing," calling it a "haunting" comparison to the now infamous West Memphis Three case.
The victims in the Pensacola case last week — Voncile Smith, 77, and her two sons, Richard, 49, and John, 47 — were discovered dead in the home they shared, and police publicly linked the incident to the "blue" moon" and "Wiccan" rituals.
In a phone interview with NBC News, Escambia County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Andrew Hobbes called the murders, "Wiccan ritual killings."
"The injuries to the victims, the positions of the bodies and also the person of interest right now is also a practitioner," were contributing factors to the Sheriff Office's determinations, Hobbes said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wiccan-community-angered-police-description-ritual-killing-triple-homicide-n405616
NBC News Follows Up on Pensacola Case Coverage’s Impact on Wicca Community
August 7, 2015 by Peg Aloi
NBC News has issued a follow up report on their coverage of the triple homicide in Pensacola, Florida that was characterized by local law enforcement (specifically the spokesperson for the county sheriff’s office) as being a “ritualized Wiccan killing.” Once this particular news article hit social media, reactions were swift and volatile. Many pagan spokespersons took it upon themselves to contact various media outlets and offer their thoughts on the erroneous assumption that Wicca (a modern religion based upon nature worship, animism and polytheism, among other precepts) contains any rituals or rites of murder, as Pensacola law enforcement seem to be suggesting. The spurious connection to last week’s Blue Moon was also lambasted. The Guardian published an article on the pagan community’s response to media coverage of the case, offering quotes from pagan elder Selena Fox, among others.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/themediawitches/2015/08/nbc-news-follows-up-on-pensacola-case-coverages-impact-on-wicca-community/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Pan%20Patheos%20080715%20(1)&utm_content=&spMailingID=49275507&spUserID=OTkxMjI4ODc3NzkS1&spJobID=741214405&spReportId=NzQxMjE0NDA1S0