Ah, yes…January 1984 saw a bizarre case, a really bizarre one. Stepping back a couple of years…

…so Eric, a fifteen-year-old kid, was walking around the house with a loaded gun, tripped, the gun went off, and his father just happened to be shot in the head. This was investigated, and originally, was classified as an unfortunate accident. Later, Eric claimed that he didn’t remember the gun going off.

Murder by crossbow? There are plenty of crossbows in D&D…to be sure.

John, Eric’s brother, accidentally shot his grandmother with a crossbow? No. Following the death, he dismembered his grandmother and put her parts in a freezer. Later, he drove with the body parts in the car and deposited different ones at different locations. On this came to light, the death of his father Paul was re-classified as a murder. To make this even more interesting, the subsequent re-investigation found that prior to his shooting, Paul’s food was being laced with drugs and rat poison. Four? Unfortunately, Eric’s brother John was also involved.

Attorneys for murder suspect…

…Hilma Witte have indicated that they will allege that the defendant’s teenage son got carried away while playing the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons, confusing game and reality when his mother suggested that he kill his step-grandmother.

A heavy D & D player, Witte stated in his confession that he put himself in a game-playing "neutral" moral state as he snuck up on his grandmother and killed her in her bed. One of Witte's characters favorite weapons in D & D was a crossbow.

Who did he play with?

Court records indicate that John told one of the psychiatrists that his mother told him to kill his step-grandmother. That was during a game of Dungeons and Dragons.

Yes, John Witte played D&D with his mother, so if John couldn’t distinguish between reality and fantasy, it wasn’t the game, it was mother. Hilma Witte was a manipulative, self-serving person. She hounded her son to kill his father. But then it emerged that Hilma Witte had been forging Elaine Witte’s name to steal money from her. So it was time to coerce her son to kill Elaine. In the end, John took a plea deal for a lesser charge in exchange for testifying against his mother. A crossbow is indeed a common weapon in D&D, but…

John also told the psychiatrist that Mrs. Witte gave him a choice of strangling his step grandmother, suffocating her with a pillow or shooting her with a crossbow.

On another occasion, John and Hilma discussed various ways they might kill Elaine. They talked about pushing her out a window, pushing her down the stairs, or staging an auto accident.

So, the use of the crossbow really had nothing to do with D&D, it was simply one option that his mother gave him to kill his grandmother. Did John’s mother coerce him?

Hilma had been stealing money by forging Elaine Witte’s signature on checks and bank documents, Herrbach said. Hilma told John that if he didn’t kill Elaine, Elaine would discover the thefts, Hilma would to prison and John would be out on the streets. John had lost his father. He was 15 years old. He didn’t want to lose his mother. So he shot his step-grandmother through the chest with the crossbow.

Who was John?

John became more incorrigible, King said. He began drinking, as much as he could at any time. He experimented with hallucinogenic drugs and became fascinated with martial arts. He began collecting weapons- throwing stars, medieval knives and axes, a crossbow. And he began playing Dungeons and Dragons.

While still a pre-teen, John got in trouble for drinking, skipping school, using drugs, and stealing.

Late Wednesday morning, the questioning by King during the cross-examination of John, caused the youth to become angry, stand up in the witness chair and call King a “punk” and other derogatory names.

John Witte at one time attempted to impress some Trail Creek girls with his powers. He informed them that he could draw a circle, standing inside it, and then cause them to fall down and not be able to get up.

Hilma’s defense attorney claimed her son, John aged 16, was interested in spiritualism and religion and believed in Egyptian mythology.

Wow…I’ve heard about people who claim to be pagans and worship Greco-Roman deities…but this is the first time I ever heard that a young person actually believed in Egyptian mythology.

John’s brother Eric said that he confronted John in July 1984- seven months after Elaine’s death- because John had some of Eric’s books on magic and witchcraft in his room.

In questioning Eric about a book entitled, “King of the Witches” he admitted that one of several reasons John had told him he killed Elaine was that he needed a “sacrifice” for a type of magic that would render him stronger and able to overcome medical problems.

By…King of the Witches, I suspect he is referring to a book written in 1969…

This is a cheesy book about the bizarre cult based on a kooky coven of witches led by…

…Alex Sanders, aka…Verbius, and his…

…perky wife, Maxine. There isn’t much to say about these goofs. And it is, as one can image, all about sex…

…nudity at the very least. The cult was based on Gardnerian Wicca, ceremonial magic, Enochian magic, Qabalah, and gender polarity.

A lot happened in 1969, including the melding of the occult and satanism with some rock music, which was most readily seen with the band…

… Coven, whose 1969 album…Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls, a the focal point for controversy that would so grip the 1980s Satanic Panic. If Maxine Sanders was the true center of the Alex Sanders Cult, then Jinx Dawson was the center of Coven. The really strange thing about this is the fact that Black Sabbath’s first album would be released on February 13, 1970. This was a little odd in that February 13th in 1970 was Friday the Thirteenth. Very funny.

Even stranger…Coven featured a bassist named…Oz Osbourne (left). Coven’s album was released on June 15, 1969…meaning it beat Black Sabbath’s first album by seven months. And! On Coven’s first album, there was a song titled…Black Sabbath, which was also the name of a song on Black Sabbath’s first album, where Ozzy is referred to as…Ossi Osbourne, not as Ozzy Osbourne. According to Ozzy, he received the name Ozzy as an insult at school, and he simply chose to keep it.

In 1969, the group, though, realized they were being mistaken for another English group named Earth, a pop band. So, they decided to change their name yet again. Coincidentally, a movie house across the street from the band’s rehearsal space was showing the 1963 horror film, Black Sabbath, which starred Boris Karloff. Butler noted it was “strange that people spend so much money to see scary movies.”

In fact, the song Black Sabbath was the first song on Coven’s first album, and a song named Black Sabbath released by Ozzy’s band, is the first song on their album. The movie in question was an Italian horror movie named…I Tre Volti Della Paura…The Three Faces of Fear. When released in the U.S., it was somehow given the meaningless name…Black Sabbath. And it is stranger still that in 1960, there was a horror movie named…

…Black Sunday…and those are awful looking zits. The Christian sabbath falls on Sunday, so the band’s name…Black Sabbath, fits Black Sunday better. The Black Sabbath movie should have been called…The Three Faces of Fear. The combination of witchcraft, the occult, and sex with rock music was taken to its extreme by…

…Rockbitch who, as one might expect, didn’t…

…care what anyone thought about it. This picture gives the impression of having been altered, seeing how Julia appears to be shown twice in the photo. But does this have anything in common with the Sander’s cult?

King witch Alex Sanders was sacked by a night club boss yesterday following a rumpus over his black magic sex ritual. His attractive, blonde wife Maxine was writhing on the floor in a see-through gown when two spectators jumped on the stage.

Good heavens…a rumpus? In concluding comments about this weird cult, I would note something that could be deeply disturbing…

According to one story, he was initiated at the age of seven by his Welsh grandmother, Mary Bibby, a hereditary witch, supposedly descended from the Welsh chieftain Owain Glyndwr. She let him copy of her Book of Shadows when he was nine and taught him the rites and magic of witches, along with techniques of scrying in inky water and in crystals. Sanders claimed that following the Blitz, and a few months before her death at age 74, his grandmother conferred upon him second- and third-grade initiations, involving ritual sex.

I will make no comments about that. But I will say that the Sanders cult had nothing to do with human sacrifices, so it remains unclear why he would connect the murder with a group of witches, beyond the fact that he was probably searching around for something he could blame.

All that is very interesting. But as far as John’s problems go, we must add a very significant one…

John Witte once told his brother that he killed his step-grandmother as a human sacrifice in hopes that it would cure the medical problems that had plagued him throughout his life.

Whatever. So, in one instance, D&D was blamed. Then in another instance, it was witchcraft in general, and a book called…King of the Witches…specifically, that was to blame. And let’s not forget the alcohol, hallucinogenic drugs, and magic. This certainly makes more sense than a fantasy game played with dice.

We all know that old truism…Truth is Stranger than Fiction. That is, indeed, true. Case in point…what trauma did Hilma experience to turn her into a psychopath?

Murder suspect Hilma Marie Witte spent about two years during her teens living with her mother in a Florida nudist camp. Hilma Witte was married in a nudist wedding at the camp when she was 16 years old. She married Paul, who also lived at the nudist camp. Later she returned to the nudist camp.

Apparently, nudism was significant in Hilma’s background.

John was a very unfortunate person. He spiraled out of control and found himself being into almost every vice possible. His mother was a cold-blooded and shameful woman who used her son to her dirty work for her. And John was easy to manipulate. Apparently, Hilma had repeatedly tried to get her older son, Eric, to kill Elaine. He not only refused, he also left home so as not to hear about it.  In the end, John got a 20-year sentence.

And I can’t help but feel that with Hilma Witte we have finally solved…

…the Joanna Lopez mystery.

On September 8, 1984…

…Kurt McFall, a 17-year-old high school student, drove from his home in Concord, California, across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. He told his father he was staying with a friend and would be home Sunday evening. His…

…car was found abandoned at a golf course, and his body was laying at the bottom of the cliff. He was half-naked when they found him. So was it murder? A suicide? An accident? The case became so popular that it was featured on the television show Unsolved Mysteries. It’s also possible that he drowned and was then washed up on shore. His driver’s license was on the floor of the car, his keys were on the seat, and $20 was found in the glove compartment. And he, being a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, apparently kept a suit of armor…probably a breast plate, in the trunk of his car. It was claimed that this was missing. It should be pointed out that the SCA is a group of people who…

…reenact medieval historical events and, particularly, battles. In short, it is a group of people who play dress-up and generally have a fun time. There are such groups who get to gather and reenact American Civil War battles, and groups that reenact Revolutionary War battles. So the armor that was kept in the trunk of Kurt’s car, which wasn’t found at the scene, was clearly related to SCA events, and no more should be read into it than that…

SCA President Hilary Powers recalls that Kurt was there about twice a week in February and March 1984. While there, he learned how to fight. She thought he was good, quick, and talented and was going to be good at the game. She and the others were pleased with him. She does not believe his death had anything to do with his participation in the SCA.

Besides his interest in medieval and Renaissance history, he was cartoonist for his school newspaper, named The Talon, and enjoyed outside activities. This case appears to have been muddied up by interested persons…

He was beaten with a carving in his back and murder or suicide is likely.

This is an intricate part of the bizarre explanation about Kurt’s life and death…he had been killed by a Satanic cult. Of course, if you fell down a jagged cliff, I imagine that you would get pretty torn up.

The coroner's report determined that Kurt died from multiple traumatic injuries and severe blood loss. But no one knows what caused those injuries. He may have drowned, but that would not explain his cuts and abrasions or the acute loss of blood. It appears that he fell from the treacherous cliffs. But it is not known if he fell accidentally or if he was beaten and pushed.

It seems likely that the traumatic injuries were a result of the fall down the cliff, as does the blood loss, and the wounds on his back.

Kurt had an interest in magic, and had become involved with a man named Gabriel Carrillo, aka…

…Caradoc. This is an ancient Welsh name, and is significant in Christianity…

…St. Winifred, was a cephalophore, something I discussed elsewhere on this site. The best version holds that after being decapitated, her head was sown back on by her uncle…St. Bueno.

Carrillo became a suspect because Kurt was last seen by Carrillo.

On Saturday, September 10th, Kurt stayed over at Carrillo’s apartment. They had dinner, went to a movie, and around midnight, Kurt went swimming at Ocean Beach, a few blocks from Carrillo’s home. According to Carrillo, Kurt had trouble sleeping and knocked on his door at about three in the morning. Kurt said he was going to go back to the beach. Carrillo thinks Kurt’s death was an accident.

And, of course, Kurt’s body was found less than two miles from Carrillo’s apartment. Carrillo was a crank who had a witchcraft cult, so Kurt’s interest in magic led him to a cult centered on magic. If Carrillo killed Kurt, what was the motive? The police refused to designate the death as a homicide, so apparently no motive to kill Kurt was found during the investigation.

However, the situation became wrapped up in legend. The day after Kurt disappeared, his father was contacted by a self-processed friend of Kurt. He stated that Kurt told him that he was involved in a Satanic cult.

Alarmed by the phone call, Tom searched Kurt's bedroom. He wanted to gain all the information he could about Kurt's disappearance. In Kurt's room, Tom discovered a black leather bag that contained a knife made from a deer's hoof, a necklace of stone and feathers, and a candle. He also found books on the occult and drawings of witchcraft and violent fantasies. These seemed to be further proof that Kurt was leading a double life.

This was good stuff, so another friend weighed in…

John compares Kurt's involvement with the group to that of a drug addiction, where he began thinking that he had it under control and could "take it" when he wanted it. But gradually, he lost the sense of knowing when to stop until he became a "junkie".

I don’t think that this statement makes any sense. This…cult…that is hinted at is no doubt Cabrillo’s group of goofs who practiced magic, something that was popular during the medieval period, and given his zeal for medieval history, it’s not surprising that this would interest him as well. But Kurt’s father, named Tom, began floating bizarre explanations for his son’s death. For instance, there were beer bottles found in Kurt’s car…

Most curious of all, there were beer bottles scattered in and around the car. Tom believes the scene was staged because Kurt did not drink beer.

It’s difficult to believe that Kurt’s father could make such a concrete assertion about something that Kurt didn’t do, when he was completely unaware of his son’s activity in a Satanic cult. Getting away with the latter makes getting away with the former almost assured.

But did Satanism, of what form it took isn’t specified, along with magic, lead to Kurt’s death? It’s time to get to the really weird stuff…

As Kurt became increasingly interested in medieval rituals, he joined a separate group that initiated him into pagan religion. One of his high school friends, "John", feared this new group and contacted Tom. He had become concerned for Kurt and now fears for his own safety.

Tom suspects Kurt uncovered something in his group and told other members that he would expose this information. Tom feels that "all of these things" contributed to them wanting to do away with Kurt.

The idea floated by Kurt’s father was that his son became involved with a Satanic group that was so powerful that they would murder any members who might reveal their dastardly secrets. 

Tom also received a letter from someone who said that "witches" latched onto Kurt. The letter stated that Kurt was bludgeoned with jousting poles and then thrown from the cliffs to his death. The letter also named the same two people, calling them murderers and saying they were "evil beyond belief." Yes, piling on…making the fictional story even more obviously fictional. And police investigators didn’t seem to give any credence to this.

At the age of ten, Kurt became interested in the medieval fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons. It was the beginning of a voyage into a subculture that would dominate him. A year before he died, Kurt joined the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA. Its members enjoy reliving medieval customs in the actual costumes of the period. Once a week, they practice jousting and sword fighting in the parking lot of an Oakland subway station.

So now we get to Dungeons & Dragons.

Kurt was a perfectly normal kid until he got involved in that dastardly Dungeons and Dragons game, according to his father. After that, it was all downhill, so to speak. From there, the kid got into some serious recreation of medieval fencing in a parking lot.

But there is a serious problem with directionality here. If D&D was evil, then how is it that the escalation involved joining the SCA, whose activities promote interest in medieval history and provide a healthy role-playing experience? So, in a certain way, something evil led to something good? That simply doesn’t work. Not only did Tom McFall have no understanding of Dungeons & Dragons, he also didn’t know much about the SCA either. The whole idea of the game is lost against a backdrop of what are clearly ideas and themes present in the Satanic Panic movement that gained such velocity at the time. But it must be said that Kurt enjoyed medieval role playing, so it is no surprise that a medieval role-playing game would interest him. It is very painful to not know the circumstances of the death of loved one, and some become desperate to have something provided to them.

On September 2, 1984, two bodies were found on a set of railroad tracks. They turned out to be the bodies of Daniel Erwin, 16 years old, and his brother Stephen Erwin, 12 years old. Both were shot in the head. The gun, a .22-caliber revolver, had been taken from their home by the boys shortly before their deaths.

And the real tragedy…

This is an odd case. Ahlberg said the murder-suicide was probably Daniel’s idea. I believe he would have to have had considerable influence and power over his older brother for this to have occurred. I would expect it to be the other way around

This is puzzling. There was five years difference between them as far as age goes. If Daniel had power over Stephen, then why wouldn’t Daniel shoot Stephen and then himself? Even if a murder-suicide is the correct explanation, does it have to be the result of the pact? Couldn’t Stephen have shot his brother, without his brother wanting him to?

So why is it D&D’s fault when they just named three other role-playing games? Why not blame the event on one of those?

It is purely coincidental, and coincidences are interesting, that the high school Daniel attended was…

…Centaurus High School, and the legendary creature also appears in Dungeons & Dragons…

And…

Their own games? So the tragedy may have had something to do with this, and not D&D. But this case was featured on 60 Minutes (9/18/1985), and following it, TSR Games warned the authorities that comments about the game and any connection to the Erwins be handled appropriately. Soon, police did suddenly change their minds. Police Chief Larry Stallcup had originally been a proponent of the view that it was D&D that was the most significant factor in the tragedy. That changed…

All I can assume is that the people who knew about this case did not turn it over to the district attorney's office because of inconclusive evidence." "I said we were going to investigate the involvement of Dungeons & Dragons in the kids' death," Stallcup said. "We could find no direct involvement.'

My! That didn’t take long.

Please! The high standard demanded by TSR in the episode of 60 Minutes led the authorities to back off because they simply didn’t have the proof that there was any link…say whatever you like to feel better.

Sometimes people tell us things that only certain people understand, and that isn’t us…

So it is. These notes have been described as notes indicating that the boys were running away. If so, why such a drastic change in plans? I would suggest that these are suicide notes. It’s virtually impossible to believe that the death of these boys was due to Dungeons & Dragon when they left suicide notes that must have a context within the family. And what could this be, at least in the case of Daniel?

Daniel, the older brother, was facing sentencing for auto theft, and was extremely afraid of the criminal justice system.

Yes, death is better than prison. If you steal cars, and you get caught, you go to prison. And there is, of course, no freedom in prison. It’s strange how this never seemed to make it into the press, although D&D did.

On the subject of prison, one can note the terrible event that took place on April 23, 1982, in Olympia, Washington…

…the Tumwater State Bank in Olympia, Washington was robbed at gunpoint. The only people in the bank, other than the robber, were bank tellers Candice Hemmig and Twila Capron. They were both shot at point blank range. It wasn’t too hard to figure out who did it…

The man accused of killing two Olympia bank tellers returned to the crime scene and pretended to help authorities because he realized he had left his blood-spattered checkbook behind.

The killer had a checking account at the bank. For some reason, he brought his checkbook to the robbery, and then left it behind. So he had to return to the scene of the crime to get it. On September 20, 1982, the murderer was arrested…

…Mitchell E. Rupe. His defense attorney, though it comes as no surprise, enlisted the assistance of psychologist Gerald McCarty…

Well, state prison is about as structured of an environment as there is.

McCarty told Judge Hewitt Henry and the court jury that Rupe’s basic ego disorientation began during his adolescence, affecting at times his ability to distinguish reality from fantasy…Rupe had developed an attachment overseas with a German woman who eventually left him to enter a Lesbian relationship.

Wow…talk about being wrong! But what led to this profound mental disorder?

Wow, how wrong can you be? D&D has absolutely nothing in common with Monopoly, or chess for that matter. And characters usually work together to accomplish a stated goal, something that detractors have never been able to understand.

There was one problem…Rupe’s defense was not insanity, he claimed he was innocent, although he had confessed previously. In 1983, Rupe stated…

So Rupe tells us that he wasn’t insane, and the only conclusion possible is that claims about D&D were nonsense. But it must be said that the point about McCarty’s claims was meant simply to undermine the fact that Rupe had confessed…

The defense called a psychologist, Dr. Gerald McCarty. Dr. McCarty testified that he had diagnosed defendant as having a schizotypal personality disorder which affected his thought, reasoning and judgment processes. He testified that defendant also had a secondary disorder known as histrionic disorder. Dr. McCarty testified that these personality disorders caused defendant to confess even though he did not actually commit the crimes. Dr. McCarty testified that he did not believe that defendant committed the crimes because his confessions were vague and inconsistent with the physical evidence at the scene.

On March 15, 1983, a very strange death took place. Thirteen year old Michael Phillips died in his room at the famous American Boychoir School. And what was the cause of death? That’s right…he died of chloroform poisoning. And that’s a strange cause of death. The school had only 52 students, all slated to join the famous choir. Investigators were perplexed…murder…suicide…accident? His mother sued three students and six school employees. Three students? Mrs. Phillips seemed to know things we don’t.  One of the teachers sued was Rebecca Delauture, with the allegation being that Rebecca did not keep the chloroform locked up and out of the hands of students.

Unfortunately, Michael’s mother watched the episode of 60 Minutes which featured an interview with Pat Pulling, the driving force behind Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons and the claims of the game’s dangerous elements. So, Mrs. Philips, having received no updates about the death of her son, now had her explanation.

Investigators, real investigators, were still trying to determine how the chloroform was obtained from the science lab. It was also noted that there had been only one other comparable event. Renata Van den Sype, a sixteen-year-old student at Scarsdale High School died after experimenting with chloroform. It was difficult to get, and it appears that Renata obtained the chemical in Brazil.

In other words, you can use it to get high. This is well known, the chemical having been used previously as an anesthetic. But chloroform is no longer used for that anymore and has very few significant uses.

When Mrs. Phillips was exposed to Pat Pulling, it occurred to her that her son played D&D with fellow students…

I’m confused, how does a death spurred by D&D make use of chloroform? What was the role of the chemical? To commit suicide? None of this makes any sense. Headmaster Stephen Howard went on record saying that he was aware of students playing the game and never saw anything beyond casual play.

Now for stupid comments…

So, stupid comment number one…they were trying to carry out a coup d’etat against the Dungeon Master. And that is cringeworthy. No such thing happens in D&D. The Dungeon Master implements and controls the game…he’s a designer and referee. If you want a different Dungeon Master, you start a different game. And I’m perplexed by the idea that chloroform would be used…and was her son the Dungeon Master? The game simply doesn’t work this way. Stupid comment number two…

March 15 is the Ides of March. I think the boys had knowledge of Julius Caesar and he was probably the most notorious dungeon masters in history.

What does that mean? How can you say that Julius Caesar was a dungeon master? Caesar was a Roman general, proconsul, triumvir, and dictator…

I came, I saw, I was the Dungeon Master.

As for notorious…I guess that depends on your view. Certainly Sulla, Pompey and the Senate regarded him as such. But his historical legacy is that he was one of the greatest political and military leaders in history. He set the stage for his great-nephew Octavian to change the ungovernable Roman Republic into the Roman Empire, which lasted for centuries. Caesar is still important to this day. My favorite summer month is…July.

Money time…

But Michael’s death was not officially solved. Still, there are better theories than Julius Ceasar and toppled Dungeon Masters. The chloroform could have been used to get high, or it was used in an initiation ritual or an episode of hazing. Michael had three roommates, and his mother attempted to sue three students. At any rate, it is clear that D&D had nothing to do with Michael’s tragic death.

On December 5, 1986, Bradley J Stanton and another youth were arrested. This was the result of a particularly disturbing assault on the 15-year-old sister of the second-named youth. The main focus was on Stanton, who was charged with unlawful restraint and aggravated battery. His bond was set at $100k, which is approximately $287k today. State Attorney Patrick Kelley described Stanton as a "threat to the safety of the community." The victim’s brother was admitted to a psychiatric facility.

According to sheriff's reports and testimony at Monday's hearing, the victim was babysitting with siblings at her home in rural Pawnee when the boys arrived about 10 p.m. Thursday. The parents were out Christmas shopping at the time.

The young girl had previously received threatening notes in her school locker. Initially, the girl did not tell anyone about what had happened. When she saw Stanton at school, she told the school principal about her ordeal.

Stanton convinced the girl to come outside to play. He then chased her and began beating her. He held a knife to her throat while the victim’s brother cut her fingernails and hair. Finally, they held a cigarette lighter under her fingers. Stanton ran the knife down her back. It was stated that the two boys chanted or saying incantations, while looking at photographs they brought with them.

The rituals were performed in "a series of attacks." Stanton and the boy would catch the girl and perform a ritual; she would free herself and they would catch her again, he said. The attacks took place in the garage and back and front yards of the residence.

The other children in the house at the time yelled at the boy and Stanton to stop and at other times hid in the house. After breaking free, she ran into the house and locked the doors.

Following his arrest Dec. 5, Stanton gave a statement to detectives, Vose said. Stanton said the boys drew some of the ideas for the attack from the game Dungeons and Dragons.

 So there it is. But what else is known about Stanton?

The victim's father said a large number of butcher knives, a machete, a pellet gun and a Halloween-type mask were also found in Stanton's car.

Stanton's sister found several guns, knives, a dartboard with a Satanic insignia, and materials on devil worship and the game "Dungeons and Dragons" in his room, the victim's father said.

Hey, kid…don’t throw darts at me!

The reference to a Satanic dartboard is a bit of a head scratcher. Stanton declared it wasn’t used for devil worship…obviously. But other kids stated that Stanton had made threats in the November-December timeframe to kill them and their friends…

One classmate said she had seen pistols and a machete in his car. The other girl said Stanton had threatened her after she and friends had driven by his home and honked the vehicle's horn. She also said Stanton had displayed a knife during a Spanish class. She took a note that Stanton had allegedly written and smeared with blood to the school principal.

Stanton appeared calm throughout the hearing, at times smiling.

This is hardly a matter of D&D. But there were other books found in Stanton’s car…

Sangamon County Chief Deputy Chris Kratzer said the assault might have been committed in connection with some books confiscated from Stanton's car. Those books included: "Witchcraft at Salem;" "Sword of Gael;" "Circle of Light-II;" "Rambo First Blood, Part 2;" "Cat Who Walks Through Walls;" and "White Fang," a classic written by Jack London.

One must give Stanton his dues…he had a very eclectic taste in books.

Witchcraft at Salem may be the book of this name written by Chadwick Hanson in 1985…

The popular view holds that there was no witchcraft practiced at Salem; the danger was illusory from start to finish. It is comforting to think this, but as we have seen it is quite wrong. There was witchcraft at Salem, and it worked. "Witchcraft at Salem" represents a bold new look at history, conventional wisdom - and above all, the uncanny extra-physical powers that human beings can wield over one another.

This book may be important for different reasons, but when seen against a backdrop of Stanton’s cache of frightening weapons, it would seem to indicate that control over others was foremost in his mind.

The book cited as Sword of Gael, may be Sword of the Gael, a novel by Andrew J Offut…

Cormac and his faithful comrade Wulfhere Skull-splitter are hurled through a swirling maelstrom to a faraway shore. There, Cormac joins up with the Princess Samaire and sets out of regain a throne.

 The reference to Circle of Light – II may be a reference to the…

…the second installment in the Circle of Light novels by Niel Hancock. The book covers specifically state that the books are intended for fans of The Lord of the Rings. So clearly, the book Stanton had was a work of fantasy fiction, and consistent with D&D.

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls…

…is essentially a harmless science fiction novel…

Dr. Richard Ames is an ex-military man, a sometime writer, and unfortunate victim of mistaken identity. When a stranger attempting to deliver a cryptic message is shot dead at his dinner table, Ames is thrown headfirst into danger, intrigue, and other dimensions where Lazarus Long still thrives, where Jubal Harshaw lives surrounded by beautiful women, and where a daring plot to rescue the sentient computer called Mike could change the direction of all human history.

The title of the book refers to a cat by the name of Pixel, who has an inexplicable tendency to be wherever the narrator happens to be. In one scene Pixel does, in fact, walk through a wall, and it is explained that Pixel is too young to know that such behavior is impossible.

That’s pretty cool.

London’s classic follow up to…The Call of the Wild. Of course, this book has nothing to with the occult, much less D&D.

Much of White Fang is written from the viewpoint of the titular canine character, enabling London to explore how animals view their world and how they view humans. White Fang examines the violent world of wild animals and the equally violent world of humans. The book also explores complex themes including morality and redemption.

The movie/book…Rambo: First Blood Part II was released in 1985…

The film's plot is inspired by the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. In the movie, Rambo gets released from prison in a deal with the United States government to document the possible existence of missing POWs in Vietnam but is given strict orders not to rescue any. When Rambo defies his orders, he is abandoned and forced once again to rely on his own brutal combat skills to save the POWs.

The Rambo books and movies were very popular, particularly with young men, and feature Rambo acting for good, not evil.

According to testimony from the earlier hearing, Stanton and the victim's brother were reportedly chanting and barking like dogs during the attack. A number of weapons and materials on devil worship were found in Stanton's room.

Whereas Stanton’s accomplice was promptly sent to a psychiatric facility, Stanton himself wasn’t. The court ordered that he undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he was fit to stand trial…

Dr. Fenton Drake, a Springfield psychiatrist, examined Stanton and found him fit to stand trial, Larson said.

So he opted to plead guilty of unlawful restraint and aggravated battery. However, he was sentenced to 91 days in jail but was given credit for the 91 days he already served. So much for justice. He played D&D? He was into satanism, but more to the point, he appears to have been a psychopath who found threatening and victimizing others entertaining. He smiled during his trial…suggesting psychopathy. Stanton’s reference to D&D is interesting…

Stanton said the boys drew some of the ideas for the attack from the game "Dungeons and Dragons."

Ah, yes…only some of the ideas. Where did the rest of the ideas come from? The books found in the car are irrelevant. Devil worshipping materials are very relevant. Nothing in the attack suggests D&D, and Stanton’s reference to it was nothing more than an attempt to find something else to blame. And it didn’t work, though justice was clearly not served.

On February 14, 1986, babysitter Robert James Ward, who was sixteen years old at the time, killed the two children he was babysitting…Ryan Henslee, who was four years old, and Crysta Henslee, who was only two-years old. When the parents of Ryan and Crysta returned home, Ward coldly told them…

…I killed your babies.

He then fired a rifle at Mrs. Henslee twice, and fortunately for her, the gun jammed. She fled, and then Ward fired at Mr. Henslee, but again, the gun jammed. Actually, they ran across the street to the Ward’s residence. Robert’s father ran across the street to confront his son. Ward told him…

I’ve finally flipped out.

Then he shot his father with a shotgun. It was, of course, noted that Robert was a regular player of D&D.

But who was Robert Ward?

When officers arrived at the Henslee house Ward threatened to kill anyone who entered. This didn’t happen, but the police officers stated that Robert…

 …made sounds like a bird and then flapped his arms as if they were wings, and then made sounds like a dog.

Following his arrest, while sitting in the police car…

Ward’s whole body began to shake; the youth began to speak in a moaning type of voice, and said…Success, success at last.

Then he made claims about who he was…

Before his arrest at the children’s home, Ward called himself the Terminator.

The Terminator, of course, has nothing to do with D&D, and it seems clear that he was imitating the terminator when he launched his violent attack, not a character from D&D. But he said something else that showed just how insane he really was…

So Ward claimed to have two distinct personalities, one good, and one bad. Both Robert and Bill pleaded guilty to two accounts of murder in exchange for two sentences that ran concurrently, rather than consecutively, and avoided a jury trial. By foregoing a trial, he avoided the death penalty. Ward used a rifle, a shotgun and a revolver. Apparently, these were owned by his father, and apparently, the boy had ready access to them.

Edward (Ted) Atwood and Amy Pintarelli were a…

…good-looking young couple. But both would commit suicide. It was stated that Ted was an enthusiastic D&D player…

I have been unable at this point to confirm whether Ted was listed on the “masthead” for Dragon magazine. That said, there are…

…references to an Edward Atwood. However, even if so, it would appear to be irrelevant.

I wasn’t aware that a Wet Noodle could be lethal. But any D&D fantasies he may have had were left behind for those indicating deep emotional issues.

Ted had a poor view of himself, fearing that he would fail in life.

Ted believed that he would be a failure. And he felt a great pressure to go to West Point, which, apparently, he didn’t want to do. And it really is amazing that someone his age can examine himself so thoroughly and suggest he needed psychiatric help. Most people who need psychiatric help don’t believe they do. Ted’s case was a real tragedy, in that he seems to have been open to getting help with dealing with the effects of the stress egging him on to do more than he thought he could. Did Amy feel stress…

So, Ted and Amy both felt a great deal of stress about the same thing. The stress parents put on young people to excel in education was also the main reason James Dallas Egbert III committed suicide. Amy, on the other hand, had serious mental issues…

That speaks for itself. And their relationship was a bizarre one…

It’s probably just me, but experiencing a romantic bond and a familial bond at the same time is not healthy. But it got worse. Realizing that Amy couldn’t remain with her father, Ted’s parents created a more-than-stressful situation…

This is a terrible arrangement. To put two young people who, at least at times, feel romantically about each other, in the same house with the stipulation that there be nothing romantic? And if Amy sees Ted’s parents as Mom and Dad, on some level at least, it would be suggestive of this brother-sister element. I feel strongly that this arrangement added a lot of stress for Amy and Ted.

Inside the Atwood house, behind Edward’s bed, family members found a crumpled piece of paper. “Suicide is Painless,” an apparent reference to the theme song from the movie M-A-S-H. Also on the paper were the sentences, “Let me die no please” and “What a way to go!”

I’ve mentioned this song before. The movie version of the song included lyrics, that do seem to discuss suicide in a positive light. For the TV show, the song was played without the vocals.

And Ted wrote something very interesting…

There seems to be a connection between Boy George and the need to run away or commit suicide. Boy George was the singer for the highly successful band called…

…Culture Club, who had heavy rotation on MTV, including the songs…Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, and…Karma Chameleon. One confusion involving the band was its lead singer…

…Boy George, who didn’t look like your typical campy transvestite. No, he could make himself look like a rather attractive woman.

It’s clear that this was a tragedy that had nothing to do with Dungeons & Dragons.