Satanist Groups Say 'Craigslist Killer' Who Claims She Killed 22 People Is Not Part of Them
Satanist groups have rejected the claims of "Craigslist killer" Miranda Barbour who said she joined a satanic cult and killed 22 people. The groups said Barbour is not part of any official organization.
"According to our records, we have never had any contact from this woman, nor her accomplice," said Magus Peter Gilmore, head priest of the Church of Satan, according to CNN. "It seems to me that she is calling herself a member of a 'satanic cult,' not a legally incorporated above-ground form of Satanism."
The 19-year-old Pennsylvania woman is being charged with the Nov. 11 killing of Troy LaFerrara, Pa., who she and her husband met through Craigslist.
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Barbour revealed that she and her husband, Elytte Barbour, 22, of Selinsgrove, Pa., lured LaFerrara through a Craigslist ad to a car park by agreeing to have sex with him for $100.
"He said the wrong things, and then things got out of control. I can tell you he was not supposed to be stabbed. My husband was just supposed to strangle him," the woman said. She told the victim that she had just turned 16.
"He told me that it was OK. If he would have said no, that he wasn't going to go through with the arrangement, I would have let him go."
Barbour claimed she also killed at least 22 other people from Alaska to North Carolina as part of a satanic cult. She said she just wants to "get it out" and is not concerned with whether people believe her or not. "I remember everything. It is like watching a movie."
In her account to police, Barbour claimed that she was sexually molested by a relative when she was 4 years old, and joined a satanic cult in Alaska at age 13, where soon thereafter she took her first life alongside the cult leader.
"If I were to be released (from jail), I would do this again," she said about the murder. "I'm telling you because it is time for me to be honest and I feel I need to be honest."
Law enforcement officials have not been able to verify her claims, however, and Gilmore, whose Church of Satan is the oldest and largest such body in the United States, suggested a thorough investigation will prove that the cult story is not true.
Lucien Greaves, spokesman for the rival Satanic Temple, added that his group has no ties to Barbour or her husband.
"Barbour seems bent on displaying herself as prolific murderer and absolute monster, and her 'Satanism' seems nothing more than another transparent effort to aid in this campaign of reverse, [public relations]," Greaves said.
"It must be remembered that 'the Devil made me do it' excuse far predates any written doctrine of Satanism, and I feel certain that Barbour's own relationship with any organized Satanism will turn out to be vague or non-existent," he added.
