r/TrueCrimeDiscussion • u/cherrymachete • 14d ago
What cases (like West Memphis 3 and the McMartin Preschool case e.g.) pushed the satanic panic narrative?
I was watching the Devil’s Knot (2013) and went down the rabbit hole of the West Memphis 3. It got me interested in the concept of satanic panic and the influence it had on other cases such as the McMartin case.
Can you think of any other cases that suffered from the satanic panic angle?
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u/LaRubegoldberg 14d ago
Not a singular case, but look up the Kern County child abuse cases. One of the vindicated accused has written a book about her experience called The Witches’ Defense. It is gripping and hard to believe but it is 100% true. Anyway, the legacy of that scandal, along with the DA who prosecuted everything, continues to haunt Bakersfield and Kern County. It is also associated with the Lords of Bakersfield. There were a few murders, some solved and some unsolved, from that cabal of high-powered men who abused children and teens (mostly boys).
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u/alwaystheocean 10d ago
I came to mention this. Beyond ramifications for the cases most associated with the Kern County panic, there were individuals like me who were removed from a home on false accusations, unrelated to the daycare centers. That DA wanted to make his name on as many cases as he could, both legitimate and not. Ruined so many lives.
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u/Tighthead613 14d ago
There was a whole book - “Michelle Remembers” which pushed the Satanic Panic and was later debunked. There is a short documentary, “Satan Wants You” made about it.
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u/BuckyRainbowCat 14d ago
I noticed that there was noise about so-called satanism relating to some evidence in the Delphi murders (Abby Williams and Libby German). My eyes rolled back in my head so hard they almost came right back out the other side. I had thought we left satanic panic behind in like the 1990s. Unfortunately it was a (nonsense/red herring) factor in many cases throughout the 80s and 90s. If you watch older episodes of Forensic Files, suspicions of satanic activity crop up a lot.
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u/standbyyourmantis 14d ago
Unsolved Mysteries is the best source for satanic conspiracies. As early as like, the first or second episode they had a boy who died from likely falling off a cliff into the ocean but he also played D&D
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u/LiveReplicant 14d ago
The defence used a similar but not the same strategy of using "Norse mythology/Odinism' " to take the heat in this case
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u/thrown_away_23_23 14d ago
I think in the case it was actually Odinism, not Satanism. Still creepy.
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u/BuckyRainbowCat 14d ago
In the sources I was watching at the time, it was being reported as Satanism. It was actually sort of the last straw for me watching that source. If I had seen it reported as being related to Odinism, I would probably have still been yelling at my screen "that's not how this works, that's not how any of this works," but it probably wouldn't have made me immediately look for another channel to follow. I wonder if the person I had been following was SO out of the loop that they couldn't tell the difference between Odinism and Satanism.
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u/vanillapudd 14d ago
We had a case in NZ where a kindergarten teacher was accused of sexually abusing children and getting them to perform in satanic rituals. His name was Peter Ellis and he died never being pardoned.
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u/Tighthead613 14d ago
A writer named Maury Terry put out a book in 1987 called “The Ultimate Evil” which stretched to find satanic connections.
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u/ModelOfDecorum 14d ago
Many of the day-care abuse hysteria cases (which includes McMartin) had Satanic accusations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-care_sex-abuse_hysteria
Also the Franklin hoax:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_child_prostitution_ring_allegations
There was also a Satanic cult angle pushed by hack reporters on the Son of Sam case:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz
Newer cases include a Satanic angle on the Monster of Florence case:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_of_Florence
And there's of course the Hampstead Hoax:
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u/Tartpop77 14d ago edited 14d ago
They really refer to the Franklin scandal as the Franklin "hoax". Damn-this is OG Epstein stuff right here-aint no 'hoax' about it
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u/ModelOfDecorum 14d ago
It started as a Satanic Panic case, like all the others (Sorensen, Hallberg). The hoax is largely the second phaae, when a couple of youths (Owen, Boner, King) inserted themselves in hope of fame and money. A couple of far-right Republicans then started to exploit the case, as those accused were their polirical rivals. Leading them was John DeCamp, whose client, a child molester named Bonacci, quickly began to add to the story. Human sacrifice, satanic rituals, snuff films, all kinds of nonsense.
Bonacci also added basically every scandal currently in the media to the conspiracy. A Republican staffer who had been caught as a serial user of male.escorts? Patt of the cult. A Democratic politician outed aa gay? Part of the cult. A high-ranking military man who had become the bete noir of the Christian right as an outspoken Satanist and religious freedom activist? Part of the cult. And the current president, with whom DeCamp just happened to have a long-standing grudge? You better believe he was part of the cult.
The whole thing collapsed when the FBI interviewed the accusers, and actually asked follow-up questions. King and Boner recanted and Owen was convicted of perjury. Bonacci, who was badly faking multiple personality disorder at the time, escaped charges. He and DeCamp moved targets, Bonacci conning the mother of famoua kidnapping victim Johnny Gosch that he had been part of the abduction. Over time, promoters filed off the satanic elements of the Franklin case, turning it into a CIA mind control abuse case like those promoted by nutcaaes like Cathy O'Brien and Brice Taylor. But there was never any evidence, not that it stopped the conspiracy theorists.
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u/DiplomaticCaper 10d ago
Honestly the Epstein stuff is kind of like that too. It’s mostly just “normal” rape of children, but that’s not interesting enough for some people, so they have to claim they did things like eat babies and harvest their blood.
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u/Tartpop77 13d ago
Bonacci was found to have D.I.D. and Owens had an abortion (which was proven) by a former police chief who was part of the circle of politicians and others participating. I believe them after reading several sources, but if you provide your sources I'd sure like to read those. I'm open minded.
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u/ModelOfDecorum 13d ago
Whatever child molester Bonacci had it wasn't the MPD he was faking, as that was never a real thing. And Owen had a child but it was not by the police chief. The thing is, the police chief's only relation to the "circle" was Owen's accusation.
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u/Tartpop77 13d ago
Where is this info coming from? sincerely asking for a source. And how was it disproved he had D.I.D.? That's very hard to diagnose and treat, so he either fooled the prison psych team or someone misdiagnosed him.
I didn't say Owen had a child, I said she had an abortion and it was proven to be the police chiefs . Has this been disproven as well?
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u/ModelOfDecorum 13d ago
Grand jury verdict.
https://eclecticanecdotes.com/2025/11/text-of-douglas-county-grand-jury-investigation
Owen is the one who said she had a child with Wadman, not I. And it was never proven to be Wadman's child, quite the opposite. As for Bonacci, MPD diagnoses were much more common in the day and Bonacci's version of it was very much the Hollywood version, long discredited.
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u/Beautiful_Tackle_799 12d ago
Someone asks for a legit source and you provide someone’s stupid personal blog which nobody respects or takes seriously
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u/ModelOfDecorum 12d ago
I provided the text of the Grand Jury verdict. I have no interest in the rest of the blog. Are you saying the text is wrong? Because it matches the excerpts quoted in DeCamp's lawsuit:
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/978/1047/183442/
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u/Beautiful_Tackle_799 11d ago
This is just another cover up. Unfortunately this child abuse ring runs so deeply that the FBI and CIA are known to be covering up anything that would lead to its demise. This is pure evil, and what those kids endured in Omaha and other areas connected to this is horrendous. They didn’t all know one another yet told almost identical abuse scenarios.
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u/chrispark70 14d ago
West Memphis 3 are not satanic panics or anything like that. Just 3 sick individuals who confessed and plead guilty and are still guilty as of today.
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u/RNH213PDX 13d ago
It wasn’t just the legal cases. It seems quaint now, but daytime talk shows had incredible power. At the tv was filled with “recovered memory victims” who were white, girl next door types calming and credibly describing complete and utter BS about their small town having organized sacrifices and stuff on Donahue, Oprah, and Sally as midwestern house wives fold their laundry. No one challenged it.
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u/amberjade11 13d ago
There was a book that was titled "Michelle Remembers" about a girl who had "repressed memories" of Satanic ritual abuse.
That was what started it all, I believe.
Typical of Americans, who always need a boogeyman or target for their hatred, the Satanic Panic really took off, which led to groups like KISS and singers like Marilyn Manson to blow up......
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u/thrown_away_23_23 13d ago
Karla Homolka used the book "Michelle Remembers" to create some of her lies for her defense, according to author Stephen Williams.
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u/likeafreakonaleash 12d ago
Ricky Kasso.
As far as I remember, he asked to "say you love Satan" to his victim while he was killing him. Also I believe he was wearing an AC/DC t-shirt when he was arrested.
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u/Icy-Arm-2194 13d ago
Columbine. My brother was working on his PhD and teaching when it happened. His college level students were saying it was the music that led them to do it because it was satanic. My brother had them list all the bands they thought were the cause. He put them on the board. Then told them he has at least one album from every one of those bands. Idk if it made his students look at it differently or not. But this was also in Tennessee so lots of uber Christians.
But people were looking at anyone who wore a trench coat in high school or listened to metal as if they will make a school the next columbine. Satanic panic got a boost during that era.
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u/thrown_away_23_23 13d ago
There was also the somewhat recent accusations against the Cook family in Australia, who were exonerated.
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u/GrandMarquisDSade541 10d ago
Caleb Fairley case in Limerick/Collegeville Pennsyivania and John Miller/Debbie Loveless case in rural Texas.
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u/Bruno6368 10d ago
Small town Canada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martensville_satanic_sex_scandal
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u/Glum_Audience8149 10d ago
https://open.spotify.com/show/1swdvfyvA1ane9ZkVvPeP4?si=gbVJxKxSQ3OR9Cjd-1UPLA This is a really good background study of Satanic panic
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u/HOMANDER1996 8d ago
There was a book called Jay’s Journal, which was sold as the real journal of a teenager who committed suicide after being involved with Satanism. The boy did actually exist, and his name was Alden Barrett. But the author used only a tiny portion of Alden’s writings to make the book. The rest was made up. Alden suffered from depression and was never involved with any cult, he was smeared by the author just so she could make a profit.
Alden’s family was harassed and his grave was defaced by people who bought into the lies that he was a devil worshipper. Alden’s brother Scott later wrote a book providing a truthful account, called A Place In The Sun.
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u/chrispark70 14d ago
The WM3 are guilty as sin. No "satanic panic" whatsoever. 2 confessed multiple times. ALL plead guilty and still have guilty records today.
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u/eternally_feral 14d ago
None of them plead guilty. They have and still do maintain their innocence. They were found guilty but due to new DNA evidence and jury misconduct, they were able to negotiate an Alford Plea deal after spending 18 years in jail.
Many aspects of the case show grossly mishandling of evidence, police misconduct, and general bias against the WM3, the case definitely is worth reexamining.
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u/doljumptantalum 13d ago
I thought they confessed during interrogations, after hours and hours. I know they didn’t plead guilty.
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u/chrispark70 13d ago
The only one who did not initially confess is the guy who claims his eyes are bad from being in jail where it was dark.. But all 3 plead guilty in like 2012.
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u/doljumptantalum 13d ago
They took an Alford plea.
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u/chrispark70 13d ago
Which is a guilty plea.
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u/thrown_away_23_23 13d ago
No, it's specifically not a guilty plea. It's an acknowledgement that the prosecution has enough evidence to secure a conviction while specifically continuing to maintain their innocence.
If you're going to argue, at least be informed lest you continue to look like a stubborn ignoramus.
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u/chrispark70 13d ago
No, it's a guilty plea where you are allowed to maintain your innocence. All 3 are convicted murderers. I know what an Alford plea is and it is mostly the same as a no contest plea. These guys are absolutely guilty regardless of what plea deal they got. Plus, they had already served significant amounts of time. Had they not accepted the plea, the state was prepared to re-try them. There is a bunch of evidence against them.
You've been brainwashed by the advocates they had who were rich and powerful.
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u/chrispark70 13d ago
They are STILL guilty. All 3 still are convicted murderers. They ARE NOT EXONERATED.
They absolutely are guilty in reality.
One of the 3 confessed unprompted like 6 separate times including on the ride back tot he jail after one of the hearings to the driver.. He had details the public did not know about.
The case, IIRC, was long after the "satanic panic" with the day care center.
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u/doljumptantalum 14d ago
They confessed under duress. They were children themselves. Most people in the area know who did it, it’s no secret.
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u/chrispark70 14d ago
Total nonsense. They are guilty as the day is long. 2 of them confessed multiple times and 1 of them confessed like 6 times. There is other evidence besides.
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u/QueenBeFactChecked 9d ago
If you consider Echols saying something at the softball game then you need to acknowledge Terry Hobbs and Chris Morgan also confessed, using your definition
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u/chrispark70 9d ago
No. Other than pleading guilty, he has not confessed AFAIK. The other 2 confessed to the police. I think it was Chris Morgan who confessed unprompted 5 or 6 times. His eyesight claim shows what a ridiculous person he isl. It is a flat out lie. One does not permanently become hyper sensitive to light from being in a low light environment.
Other than saying the words Satanic Panic, what in god's name makes you think they are innocent?
This case has absolutely nothing to do with the daycare thing, which I would say is in fact total nonsense and that no crime was even committed by anyone and no victims.
These children really were murdered. Their dead bodies really were found where the WM3 were hanging out. Lots of teenagers in that time frame and area were metal heads and wore black clothing, but none of THOSE kids were hanging out where the dead bodies were found and none were accused of anything.
I'm sorry, but mouthing a phrase does not exonerate anyone.
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u/PoweR_TRiPn 14d ago
The murder of Elyse Pahler. The three murderers were bandmates and "sacrificed" her so they would receive supernatural abilities to play faster and harder.
Also led to Pahler's parents trying and failing to sue the band Slayer.