(492) Thu 29 Jan 98 17:59 By: Steve Hayes To: All Re: Satanist gets 30 years St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:21cc 243d8f60 @PID: SX 4.3 SA-23012 @MSGID: 5:7107/9 30c08b01 @TID: GE 1.11+ SATANIST HEAD-HUNTER GETS 30 YEARS [The Star, 28 January 1998] Murder was committed in the interests of evil to further the aims of evil, says judge. East London - A 30-year prison term was handed down yesterday to a satanic high priest who had confessed to killing and decapitat- ing a man so that he could "gain power" by possessing a human skull. Maurice Smith (27) blinked away tears as East London High Court Judge Eric Leach passed down sentence for a gory murder in Sep- tember. Smith, who was convicted yesterday, was arrested in October, soon after police found a head, incised with satanic symbols, matching a body found a week earlier. Judge Leach said he would have imposed a life sentence on Smith if it had not been for evidence that he had cooperated with the police fully and shown various Christian priests that he was not a "hopelessly lost soul". Nevertheless, the murder was "committed in the interests of evil and to further the aims of evil", he said, and should not be regarded leniently. The judge added that, according to the South African constitu- tion, which allows for freedom of belief, satanism was not illegal. However, the courts had to send a message to those "dab- bling in or practising satanism that the courts of this country will not allow them, in the expression of their beliefs", to vio- late the rights of others. People were not fodder for satanic worship, he said. Smith said he and two teenage brothers, who were part of his coven, had on September 20 gone in search of an area they could clear for a ritual they were planning. The brothers, aged 17 and 18, formed part of a newly-formed coven of about six people, mostly pupils at Port Rex High School, headed by Smith. They set out to look for a clearing, armed with an axe, a hammer and a knife for carving symbols on trees and rocks. On the way one of the brothers said they should chop the heads off cats and stick them on poles to scare people away from the area. The teenager added that they should find the skull of a hobo to use in rituals. Later Smith met a man, in his 20s, sitting in his shack. He returned to the others to suggest this was an opportunity to do so. The brothers agreed. At the shack he took the man by the shirt and started cutting his neck, but the knife was blunt. One of the brothers hit the man with the hammer and the other chopped him with the axe. Not sure if the man was dead, the three then went to a river to wash the blood-soaked weapons and themselves. Smith then returned to chop the man's head off. He then carved "satan" on one cheek of the head, an inverted cross on the forehead and a pentagram on the other cheek. He then put the head in the river with the intention of returning for it once the head had rotted. Smith said he was sorry for what he had done to his victim, who is still unknown. Police occult specialist Kobus Jonker said his murder was one of 29 satanist killings that had happened in South Africa between 1991 and 1997. He said there were at least a thousand practising satanists in the country. While re respected the constitutional ruling that freedom of belief should be upheld, he believed satanism was more a cult than a religion as it condoned violence and crime. Steve Hayes E-mail: steveh@khanya.bbs.co.za ... Silver Xpress!...... Pioneering Off-line Mail Technology! --- GEcho/386 1.11+ * Origin: Fast! BBS, Sandton, RSA * USR V34 * [706-1749] (5:7107/9) SEEN-BY: 12/12 218/890 1001 270/101 396/1 3615/50 51 3804/180 @PATH: 7107/9 270/101 396/1 3615/50 218/1001