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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 19641
[Crime]
Date Posted:
5/3/2008
5:01:11 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 4,917
RSS: 13,745
Comments: 15
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Hampton Woman Convicted For Role In Mob Beating Of Man
Author: Danielle Zielinski Source: Daily Prtess (VA)
Title: HAMPTON WOMAN CONVICTED FOR ROLE IN MOB BEATING OF MAN
A Hampton woman was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder Thursday for her role in a brutal September 2007 attack on a Newport News man.
Terisa Davidson, 43, didn't actually participate in the mob beating of 32-year-old Jonathan Barron, in which he was stabbed, set on fire, injected with chemicals and left for dead on the side of Crawford Road in York County. But prosecutors argued during her trial Thursday that she provided the motivation and the instruments needed for younger friends to carry out the attack.
According to testimony, Davidson met co-defendants Stephen Walters, 26, Dianna Breznick, 18, Thomas Rogers, 24, and Aaron Meadors, 23, at a shop in Norfolk that advertises itself as carrying Wiccan and pagan supplies.
Additional Article Link: [Click HERE]
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Community Thoughts: There are 15 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| I've Said It Before... | May 5th. at 6:07:44 pm EDT
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Eric Wolfborn (Jenkintown, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
...paganism is still exotic, and it draws media attention because it's not really the norm. It's not a move to discredit us, it's a move to draw readers with an exotic story tie-in.
Believe it or not, not everyone is out to destroy us. Some people are just out to sell papers.
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| Many Related Issues Raised | May 5th. at 3:00:46 pm EDT
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Terry (Irvington, Virginia) - Email Me
Mystic Moon hosts one of the longest running year round weekly open drum circles going, and sometimes sees visitors from as much as 300 miles away or more. As such, it's not surprising to see religiously confused people shopping around visit it. These articles in mentioning the evangelical and pagan sites say little more than had it said "person A met person B while shopping for bathroom tile at Home Depot, and later person A met persons C, D, & E while looking at kitchen appliances at Lowes."
Also not discussed is how Virginia, like many states, has public policy of using prisons rather than adequate mental health systems to address the issues of medically ill or marginally functional people. Despite the chronic nature of prison costs, they view a low prison funding of under $65 a day as preferable to $1600-1800 costs of a typical emergency psych medical intake and workup, and religious vengeance as if a legitimate basis for public policy and law, preferable to proactive systems to encourage or treat mental health. That leaves private religious charities and businesses to fill in some gaps, and quite likely in this case people who found something at a predatory evangelical organization with huge funding lacking. Peripheral to its retail business and activities hosting, Mystic Moon functions as a pagan community and resource center, but resources for that are limited even at a relatively well established regional pagan business that's pretty well networked as pagan centers go. It's not surprising that marginally functional people would look there for either help, or cover for mental health issues that sometimes can be masked within the guise of minority religions more easily than more widely known or less personally guided paths. The articles fail to educate about the nature of these public policy and community resources issues, as they smear broad brushes of guilt by association over matters where most details aren't public information as to the individuals involved.
The judge in this case appears based on the news quotes to have applied a legal standard for civil trials, rather than the required one for criminal guilt. Either that key aspect of the case was poorly reported, if conviction was based mainly on the notion of "I don't believe you" rather than "beyond reasonable doubt" positive proof, or this conviction should be at risk of reversal for judicial error if the defendant finds competent counsel and gets lucky in a system infested with corrupt judges. Lack of qualifying criminal proof of course doesn't mean the defendant didn't do it, while this article does cover another important issue sometimes facing pagans in our public activities. There have been faux-xtian instigators of criminal threats against some of our political or open event activities, where organizers or instigators of hate cult crimes have claimed to be immune because they'll be in other states during the events at which local crimes are threatened. As with this case, being physically distant isn't what determines legal "nexus", as when someone is essentially acting as a mob organizer, that makes that person just as much part of the crime (s) and conspiracy in same as had that person been a triggerman or other immediate actor. As in this case, valid proof is often difficult, as there are fine but fuzzy lines between legally protected political or religious speech, and nexus with direct perpetrators in specific criminal acts. "I'd like to see person X dead" is far different than arranging for others to attempt that, while "Bush belongs dead" is easy to support for many reasons of domestic as well as international law, with or without crossing lines of Treason or criminal threats, and certainly without nexus to anyone actually attempting to make it so.
Would AP or its member paper have printed, "According to Vatican practices, the group called him Pope Benedict" (as opposed to perhaps reporting simply that "former Cardinal Joseph Alois Ratzinger was also known as Pope Benedict XVI") ? It seems the reporter, Ms Kerr, attempts to be factual about that statement, but misses the mark in suggestions that craft names came from this group of disturbed individuals among themselves, as opposed to being individual identities assumed from personal choice or rituals before any of them met. On that detail, it might be worth reviewing the Associated Press and Chicago style guides for reporters, and seeing if there are missing or poorly handled details they could be encouraged to improve or add.
Overall, the chaotic nature of the reported facts for this case seem to distinguish an important aspect of pagan communities and resources we need. In many respects, our larger society is pathological relative to how many of its practices assumed by many to be social norms violate civil or human rights laws, or marginalize many people within them. As such, there are messy balances with no ideal answers, when it's easier to attempt to adapt to institutionalized bigotry or illegal discrimination patterns, AND under different standards both pathological to do so, and pathological to not do so. The Norfolk, VA region with its strong military and transient presences complicate these issues locally, as they destabilize communities, and contribute to a wide range of marginally functional or literate people side by side with others of very different life skills or directions. That aggravates the prolific social factors where upholding civil rights in a highly diverse society necessarily requires protecting a high level of chaos and complexity, that in turn makes life more difficult for already marginal people. "Never Again the Burning Times" extensions to current society put pagans in both the roles of attempting to enforce civil rights boundaries that have traumatic consequences for many people, of the mentalities of those seeking sick bible thumper supremacist cults for their simple but wrong answers to complex questions, and of trying to develop support resources for those caught in the divergence to somehow live functionally and cope with what necessarily is a high degree of only partially organized chaos.
It would seem those reported in this article, whether as government authorities, defendants, or well intentioned community groups, failed in this case to accomplish a desired end result, when messy relationships apparently resulted in violent felonies rather than other more mature choices.
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| Skewing The News.... | May 5th. at 1:58:21 pm EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
The fact that they met at a Wiccan shop and participated in a drum circle does not automatically make them Wiccan, or even Pagan for that matter, any more than my attending a lutheran funeral makes me christian, or lutheran for that matter.
The fact is- that this was an assault on another person, a crime of revenge for personal reasons and religion had absolutely nothing to do with it.
The reason that Wicca was drawn into this, is to discredit those who are Pagan.
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| Why Is It...... | May 4th. at 10:09:58 pm EDT
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Elwin Shadowstrider (Bartlett, Tennessee) - Email Me
....that some whack job always wants to connect Wicca or Paganism to these horrible crimes? It's more than obvious that these references to Wicca is gaining momentum......and it's disturbing. We here know that the vast majority follow a Path of Peace....allowing Karma to do it's own work, or to bing the offending person. Physical violence......that's not within Wicca's guidelines. Strike back in your own self defense, that I can see, but revenge? The article isn't offering clarity to the alleged rapes either......too many unknowns to really make a plausible conclusion or form an intelligent theory. The only item that stands out is the fact that Wicca was being dragged into the fray for whatever reasons that remain unclear....other than the fact that the woman supposedly led these young ones down the wrong path. In any case, Wicca is being blamed yet again........
In Hecate's Eternal Love,
Elwin Shadowstrider ) O (
BE AT PEACE..............
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| This Was A Murder Unrelated To Wicca | May 4th. at 3:01:58 pm EDT
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Shadowbear (Hillsboro, Oregon) - Email Me
They met in a shop that sells Wiccan supplies and went to a drum circle on monday nights - and called themselves by fake names - none of that says "I'm a Wiccan"
There was no information other than that this woman wanted the man they killed to be murdered by this younger group of friends - the reason she gave was that he "raped" her daughter. Again nothing to do with Wicca, even as an excuse. Whether or not anyone's daughter was raped by the victim, it is the reason she gave for the "mob" to kill him.
Obviously she was not believed when she gave her side of the story. At least the article does not say the man died because his killers were Wiccan or as part of a ritual killing of any kind. Pitty they hadn't been meeting at "Joes Bar & Grill" on monday nights for beer & karioke instead.
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| Hrm. | May 4th. at 12:27:25 pm EDT
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Friday Scott (Middleton, Wisconsin) - Email Me
Here's another one of those cases where we have a news story connecting a crime with Wicca, but few actual facts:
Were there rapes? Certainly the accused seems to believe so. Did she actually put those kids up to it? How much does it really have to do with Wicca?
Best not to let the anger at the *idea* someone would abuse Pagan religion in such a manner blind us to the fact we don't have too many facts on this at all.
The question I always want to ask, is where was the community on this, ...what *were* those younger folks taught that might have led them to this?
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| Jilted Lover? | May 4th. at 11:45:17 am EDT
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Ahr-Ohn (Bridgeport, Connecticut) - Email Me
I don't know Lord Othis, but this sounds to me, like a case of a Jilted Lover, using her cultural position to arrange a hit. I know our Connecticut Constitution protects the individual's right to speak or write freely, only holding to account for the use of this freedom. So, Murder by Defamation is as much a crime, when done by a Witch, as when done by our government. That the relationship had been on-going, and later accused of Rape, sounds like a love affair gone wrong. Perhaps Seduction, where the betrayal of Contract makes Rape of Sex retroactively. I'm sure there's just reason, for murder by defamation, in her frame of reference, but I'll bet they both made the mistake of thinking of Sex as a liberating relationship.
Virginians are nice enough people, but relationships can sour, and sometimes by conflicting cultures, even within a touted national culture. Also, in a world that seems frought with insurmountable barriers, some will start to shy from taking the high road, and the restoration of thier dignity is a lively dance.
Arawn
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| This Was Sick- No Real Pagan Would Do This. | May 4th. at 4:39:17 am EDT
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Moonlight Wolf (Bradford, England) - Email Me
Whether it was murder or injury, either way it was a brutal beating done by some pretty horrible individuals.
This woman was on a power trip and very much a cultist using Paganism and Wicca to justify her own means and ends.
I'm glad some Pagans went on to address this issue and to clear up some of the ignorant comments written on that page. Some of the earlier comments left me feeling sick to the stomach. At least the later ones were more enlightened.
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| Please Read Carefully... | May 4th. at 1:55:12 am EDT
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Stormsinger (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) - Email Me
As horrific, brutal and senseless as this attack was, it was NOT murder. The victim TESTIFIED at the trial, folks. He's alive and for all that, only spent a day in the hospital after everything these inept idiots tried to do to him.
Are they Wiccans? About as much as any self-justifying, responsibility-ducking, violent, abusive person is a representative of any religion.
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| I Had To Leave A Comment At The Website | May 4th. at 1:15:54 am EDT
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RowanHawk (Scottsburg, Indiana) - Email Me
This was a horrific crime and I understand the outrage that people are feeling but why must there always be people all to willing to go on some rant about Wiccans. People who claim to be experts on a religion they clearly know nothing about. Have we made no progress toward teaching the general public that we are not evil. Perhaps its just the fundie nutcases that insist on sharing their opinions.
I was especially dismayed by the comment left by Mr. Richard Harris. Harris was sure to point out to people that murder is just to be expected when Pagans/Wiccans are in the neighborhood. Oh and the good folks better keep an eye on their children because, well we already seem to be stealing their pets and why wouldnt we also start nabbing their children. Mr. Harris makes these statements so matter-of-factly that he must surely have witnessed a few local Witches snatching children and all manner of pets.
I would have loved to really go into the details with Mr. Harris concerning these abductions and what proof he has, and ask him where he is getting his information about Wiccans. I would have really enjoyed provoking him into a little debate in order to allow him to come off as the complete idiot that he most certainly is. But alas, a life has been taken in a most horrific manner and the victim surely has family and friends who loved him and they do not need to be subjected to such petty antics. Regardless of the religion of the perpetrators they need to be brought to justice and my thoughts are with the victims family.
Blessings To All
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| Gee Thanks Draken... | May 3rd. at 11:52:37 pm EDT
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Gentle Butterfly (Scott Depot, West Virginia) - Email Me
For making rash generalizations about an entire state based on a bad personal experience and a worse article. I guess I must be even more of a backwards hick since I am from West Virginia?
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| ... | May 3rd. at 6:51:45 pm EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
On one hand, this article's from Virginia. Virginians are a backwards, idiotic people known for exaggerating the facts, if not completely ignoring them. I know this from personal experience with the hicks in Virginia Beach (when I was stationed in NAS Oceana while in the Navy) .
On the other hand, if she's guilty, she should know that she's going to get what she gave out even worse. It's called personal accountability. Even if you don't believe in owning up to your actions, karmic law will get you.
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