Florida triple murder tied to ‘witchcraft’ and blue moon, police say

The murders of a Florida woman and her two adult sons are being investigated as a “ritualistic killing” connected to the recent blue moon.

Voncile Smith, 77; John William Smith, 49; and Richard Thomas Smith, 47, were found dead near Pensacola, Fla., on July 31, three days after police said they were slain. Police checked the home after a co-worker of Richard Thomas Smith at the Department of Homeland Security reported him missing.

Richard Thomas Smith was shot in the head; all three victims were beaten with a claw hammer and had their throats slit.

“The elements of this case are odd, at best,” Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a news conference, as Reuters reported. “We have a very reclusive family. Obviously we’ve canvassed the neighborhood, spoken to people who’ve lived there for years and years. Neighbors have related to us that they’ve never met members of this family.”

Though authorities did not go into much detail, they described the killings as related to witchcraft, and are investigating a person of interest “with ties to witchcraft.”

“It appears that this might be connected to some type of Wiccan ritual killing and possibly tied to the blue moon,” Escambia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Andrew Hobbes told NBC News.

“Initial research has led us to believe it was a ritualistic killing,” Morgan also said, as the Pensacola News Journal reported. “The method of the murder — blunt force trauma, slit throats, positioning of bodies — and our person of interest has some ties to a faith or religion that is indicative of that. The time of the death on Tuesday also coincides with what’s referred to as a blue moon, which occurs every three years.”

Read more @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/05/ritualistic-triple-murder-tied-to-witchcraft-and-blue-moon-police-say/?tid=pm_national_pop_b


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