by Jen Shroder
12/23/04 Permission to repost already given

On Bill O’Reilly, 12/23, Tony Snow interviewed Criminal Defense Attorney David Oblon about the Peterson's defense (listen to clip).  Snow discusses my column, "In Lone Defense of Scott Peterson" posted at Geragos’ website. Snow said, "You talk about something that’s circumstantial, I mean these are people who are now trying to come up with a theory that, as far as I can tell, has no proof attached to it either, does it?"

Snow, I am not trying to come up with a theory to save Peterson. I am outraged that the media fails to cover thousands of missing women and children in California, such as Evelyn Hernandez (24) who went missing seven months before Laci Peterson and was also due to give birth. Evelyn’s upper torso washed up near where Laci’s did, and her adorable five year old son who was with her IS STILL MISSING, along with her infant. WHERE is the media?

I am irritated that "cult" ritual slayings are covered up, and I know first hand of a case that was, which included sexual violence and a goat skull, among other sordid details.

In Modesto, apparently James Brazelton, a deputy district attorney tried to cover up cult involvement in the Gerald Cruz slayings, in which two cult members are sentenced to death and another two sentenced to life in prison. (This same Brazelton became district attorney and oversaw the Peterson case). The Sacramento Bee reported that diaries and letters by group members "made reference to desecrating graves, forced sodomy and beatings for disobedience, and even murder, according to Ramon Magana of Modesto, who called the writings "chilling." (1)

The Sacramento Bee also reported a former group member of the cult asked not to be identified and "shook visibly and wept when asked about the group. She said when she distanced herself, members threatened her and her loved ones, and she is certain that remnants of the group continue to lurk in the area."

After watching a ritual slaying, how many of us would be brave enough to come forward and testify? VERY FEW. How hard is it for me to write this column? Trust me, it’s hard. I’ve faced down many threats over Islam in public education and other groups, but this stretches me. How many other columnists or journalists would like to confront cult activities in California? Or the more than 10,000 missing people in one year in California?

Whatever happened to the former reserve police officer who told authorities he saw Laci Peterson being shoved into a brown van by several men on or around the same day she vanished? What would happen if he was effectively threatened and refused to testify? The jury would never hear about it and with the gag order on Geragos, would we? Diane Jackson told the police she saw three men that "appeared to be up to no good" in front of the Peterson home in a dark colored van, but according to the San Mateo Daily, (2) the prosecutors later hired an unqualified hypnotist to interview Jackson, possibly causing the testimony to be disallowed, along with testimony of another witness hypnotized by the same person.

There was a van found and examined. Just because it turned out to be a dead end doesn’t dismiss the accounts. (I’m sure there IS more than one brown van in Modesto).

There are far too many unanswered questions and as the SacBee wrote, with all the gag orders, information is hard to find. But the possibility of cult rituals is not something to laugh about.

As other current grizzly stories surface about pregnant women being butchered for their babies, I ask myself what is the point of bringing this to the public’s attention? Are we supposed to go on witch hunts? Certainly not! Can we do anything to stop cult slayings? I can’t imagine how, I believe many of these perpetrators are in high levels of government and politics, which would explain the irrational hatred of everything most Americans consider holy in public education and the media. (By sheer coincidence, did you know that in 1994, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that schools can require our children to pretend they are witches and sorcerers, create chants and read signs of the Zodiac? Brown v. Woodland, 27 F.3d, the case that Judge Phyllis Hamilton quoted when she ruled children could be required to recite prayers by heart to Allah, "become Muslim" and fast for Ramadan, see pdf court document).

So what can we do about ritual slayings? Ask for new legislation that the public is to know when and how ritual slayings occur. Only a small percentage of them leave recoverable evidence, but we, the people, need to know when they are found. City officials don't want their cities stigmatized. There is a whole host of political reasons not to inform the public, but we need to know. Authorities should be mandated to inform the media and the media mandated to INFORM US.

As for me trying to "come up with a theory for Peterson," Tony, I don’t even like Peterson! But it's not good when the media labels cult activities as "cockamamie" theories, laugh at them and hush them up. Ritual slayings DO happen, they are serious, just ask the family of Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski who directed "Rosemary’s Baby," a film with a negative presentation of Satanic cults. When Tate and their party were then butchered by the Manson family, Susan Atkins said she was sorry that they didn’t have time to cut out Tate’s baby like they planned.

Oh yeah, I’ll sleep real good tonight.

I wrote previously that I would not write about Satanic cults again, but Satanists have already declared there will be no pity on me. Oh well. Nothing will happen to me that God doesn’t allow. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see Matthew 23:34

To live is Christ, to die is gain.

See Related Columns:
In Lone Defense of Scott Peterson
Research shows the satanist defense should not have been ignored 

"Innocent" Satanists, Guilty "Cultists" and Scott Peterson

Peterson conviction a travesty

NEW Justice4Scott.com website, for extensive details

Sources:

1. http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/
special_reports/laci_peterson/story/7444999p-8362679c.html

2. http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=05-28-04&storyID=31259