So this article caught my eye. It turns out that three people in Virginia killed a well-known and respected biophysicist with a two-foot sword. Every report I’ve read so far has stated that this was an occult killing. And they say this for three reasons. One, the victim was stabbed repeatedly and an “X” was carved in the back of his neck. Two, the ringleader, Kyle Hulbert, was part of a “coven” and was into self-mutilation and drinking blood. Third, and I quote… “The suspects favored all-black outfits, long black coats, and colored hair, neighbors and friends said.”
Now I can see how the media might consider this a ritual killing because of the first two. But the last statement is just ridiculous. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Wearing a black trench coat, dressing in black, and coloring your hair, does not make you a killer. I dress in black, but it’s a shirt and tie. I wear a black trench coat, a nice leather one. And I haven’t started coloring my hair yet, but it’s starting to turn gray, so you never know.
This killing probably could have been prevented, but it’s hard to say how considering the suspects were all of legal age. But the article states that Hulbert was diagnosed as being bipolar and schizophrenic, and that he’s been off his medication for three months. And also that he frequently mutilated himself. Hulbert has also been arrested on weapons charges before.
The article goes on to say that Hulbert was into witchcraft and hung with people who had similar interests. The article goes on to say that the coven was a ragtag group of young men and women who apparently delved into the mystical. They read books on witchcraft and donned dark outfits. They were obsessed with blood and corresponded in letters and on the Internet about drinking it. Now I’m a Catholic myself but being linked with the goth community or being a “Poe-goth” as I’ve also recently been described as I’ve gotten to know a few things. Most covens today are Wiccan. And even though I don’t agree with their philosophy, I’ve never known them to be anything but peaceful. Later in the article, the unidentified leader of the coven states that the two accomplices were not members but shared their interest and that the coven is peaceful. But they kind of bury that in the article. You know, I kind of expect this kind of treatment of a murder story in a Podunk newspaper like the Charlotte Disturber, but the Washington comPost is allegedly the big time.
Whenever the media gets a hold of a story and one of the suspects doesn’t practice a “mainstream” religion, it’s automatically branded as an occult killing. Just because of an X? I mean, there were no other signs that this was a ritualistic killing. To me, it sounds like a robbery gone bad. Or as the compost described that the victim may have barred his daughter from associating with the suspects. Leave it to the media to sensationalize a story and further drive fear into the public of people who are different from them.
My condolences go out to the family of Robert M. Schwartz, and no disrespect was intended.
