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From: Brad Hicks To: All Msg #89, 17-Jan-90 04:51pm Subject: Satanism Rumor A "Dead Dog" Filename: DEADDOGS.STL SATANISM RUMOR A "DEAD DOG" by J. Brad Hicks (St. Louis, MagickNet) Roughly one week after the Midwinter Solstice, police in South St. Louis County found the corpses of three large dogs. The dogs were identified as a collie/German shepherd mix, which is very similar to the dogs which Maury Terry linked to the Son of Sam slayings. These three dogs had been killed by blows to the back of the head, then skinned literally from the tip of the nose to the toes of their paws. The final bizarre detail was that investigation revealed that feces and urine were removed from the corpses. (Of course, anyone who's read the occult crime manuals knows that animal urine and feces are used in black masses.) In light of all of the above, it comes as no surprise that the South County area has long been a hotbed of rumors of teenage Satanism; in fact, one former member of a teen Satanic "cult" in that area is well known to the author. And of course by now the entire nation knows that the founder of the Satanic church called the Temple of Set, Dr. Michael Aquino, has moved into the South St. Louis area--less than a year before the dead animals were found. So, here then, were the clues: three dogs slain roughly one week after a Satanic ritual date, then mutilated, emptied of urine and feces, and dumped; all in an area known to be heavily infested with teen, self-styled, and religious Satanists. The culprits are obvious, right? County officials obviously thought so; within 24 hours of finding the animal corpses, Dr. Dan Knox of the St. Louis County Animal Control Department and Jeff Gibbs, field director for the Missouri Human Society had announced that the dogs were clearly slain in a Satanic ritual. A two-column-inch story buried deep in the St. Louis Post Dispatch for January 3rd, 1990 carried the headline, "Satanism Suspected In Killing Of Dogs." But then a trapper who'd heard about all of the fuss called Missouri Conservation Agent Arthur Johnson. He provided all of the missing details: they weren't collie/German shepherd mix dogs; they were coyotes. He had trapped them, clubbed them, and skinned them for their fur; all quite legally. The urine and feces are commonly used by trappers to disguise the man-scent on their traps. And so the Animal Control Department and the Conservation Commission went back and checked the corpses. Sure enough, the paws, teeth, and stomach contents of the animals were incompatible with those of domesticated dogs. The animals were clearly coyotes. St. Louis Sun, the same day: "Skinned Animals Probably Coyotes." St. Louis Post Dispatch, the next day: "Three Skinned Animals Identified As Coyotes." If they hadn't been blinded by occult-crime conspiracy theories, which are very fashionable in St. Louis law enforcement circles these days, the various officials might have checked their facts more carefully BEFORE they ran to the press. As it was, they rushed into print with an accusation against the Satanic religion, and wound up with egg on their faces. Fortunately, South County officials didn't have a detailed "suspect list" of Satanists, or they would all have been rounded up as suspects. And more fortunately, when St. Louis County officials learned not to going baying and barking after every "Satanic cult" accusation, no serious harm was done.

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