9. The Fall Rivers Cult
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Operating in Massachusetts in the late ’70s, the Fall Rivers Cult was led by 25-year-old Carl Drew. Drew was a pimp who used Satanism to terrify the prostitutes who worked for him. He claimed to be the son of Satan himself and demanded that his orders be followed without question.
The group may have had up to 10 members, all of them associated with the Fall River sex trade. Between 1979 and 1980 they held numerous ceremonies deep in the local woods. During these seances, Drew would speak in a different voice and a different language.
At first the rituals involved sex and drugs, but things took a turn for the worse when Drew decided there needed to be human sacrifices. The first to die was 19-year-old prostitute Donna Levesque. Her hands were bound and her head was beaten in with a rock. Her body was dumped under the bleachers at a local high school. She was found on October 13, 1979.
The second murder tied to the cult was that of Barbara Raposa in November 1979. Her body was found on a pile of stones resembling a crude altar. Her skull had been crushed and her hands had been bound.
The cult’s third victim was 22-year-old Karen Marsden, who was killed in February 1980. Marsden had been present at the murder of Levesque, which apparently terrified her so much that she decided to go to the police. On that fateful night, Marsden’s head was beaten in with a rock, before Drew broke her neck with his bare hands. According to cult devotee and prostitute Robin Murphy, Drew finally handed her a knife and ordered her to slit Marsden’s throat. Drew then cut an X into Marden’s chest and used her blood to mark an X on Murphy’s forehead. Finally, Drew pulled and kicked at Marsden’s head until it came off.
After Marsden’s death the cult was rounded up. Two members, including Carl Drew, were given life sentences. Drew claimed he was innocent and has tried to appeal the case many times. Robin Murphy testified against the rest of the cult members and was given a lighter sentence. The judge also allowed her to apply for parole after 20 years.
In 2004, Murphy was released, but was caught violating her parole and sent back to prison a year later. In March 2012, Murphy recanted her statement while applying for another parole. She claimed to have lied about the whole thing. However, many who worked on the investigation believe she was actually one of the masterminds of the crimes.
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