Miranda Barbour
Ever since Miranda Barbour, the so-called “Craigslist Killer,” claimed to have participated in somewhere between 22 and 100 satanic murders, people have been asking us what this is all about. The 19-year-old is already under arrest with her newlywed husband Elytte, 22, for the thrill killing of 42-year-old Troy LaFerrara
I thought you said women don’t become serial killers.
I thought you said satanic murders were a myth.
I thought you said that women take out their emotional problems on themselves rather than others.
So what’s the answer?
Without having access to the case files or Ms. Barbour herself, our guess is that she is an extreme narcissist. She may also have a borderline personality disorder, but let’s not get too psychiatric. Everything in her world revolves around her and she is the star of her own drama. And the murder she allegedly committed with Elytte was despicable. Whether she would do something like this on her own without a male sicko partner is questionable.
As is her claim to all of the other murders. Her father, Sonny Dean, doubts the story. While acknowledging that she was a heroin addict and believing she might have been involved in one other murder, he says his daughter is a liar and manipulator – typical traits for malignant narcissists. “Miranda lives in a fantasy world,” he told The Daily Item. “She has a long history of extreme manipulation and dishonesty.”
It is not uncommon for those suspected or convicted of murder to claim many other crimes. Once they’re tagged with one killing, it seems to enhance their egos, auras and sense of importance to claim others. So we will have to await further investigation to see if she is on the level with her claims.
One more thing, our experience with convicted killers suggests that murder is not an act you usually forget, so the range between 22 and 100 is highly, highly suspect.
As for the satanic connection, we are extremely skeptical. There is nothing to verify her claim, and the idea of killing so many people with a knife and leaving no evidence is nearly impossible to comprehend. Frankly, we have never heard of a female serial killer of such “productivity” operating with a knife. And there have been no credible reports of any murders in the places and time frames Barbour describes that have any dark, ritualistic aspects to them.
Avowed Satanists Peter Gilmore, high priest of the Church of Satan, and Lucien Greaves, representing the Satanic Temple, were quick to distance themselves. It should be noted that these two sects both deny the existence of any ritualistic murders in the name of Satan, and investigative fact bears this out.
“Murderers,” Gilmore declares, “deserve to be punished to the full extent of the law.”
Now, to demonstrate just how mixed up and messed up this young woman seems to be, consider the juxtaposition of her claims of scores of murders and her plea through her attorney to be spared the death penalty. She can’t very well say she’s innocent while “admitting” to so many homicides, but she does call capital punishment “cruel and inhuman,” and argues that even if convicted, she should not be executed because “the criminal justice system is fallible, thereby subjecting inappropriate persons to the death penalty.”
What else is there to say?
Even if it were true (which I highly doubt) the exception does not disprove the rule.
I find this case fascinating. Although I certainly do not put it out of the realm of possibility that a woman is capable of these type of crimes, I am of the opinion that Miranda Barbour is definitely not a serial killer–or multiple murderer of any type. From the information that I have gathered, my opinion is that Ms. Barbour suffers from some sort of psychiatric illness or disorder that provides inherent propensity toward clinical delusion. I would further suggest that, due to the salience of pseudo-religious overtones in this case, schizophrenia would be at the top of the possibles list. In other words, I honestly would have trouble believing anything this woman says. It appears to me that she really has no grip on reality. If I were investigators I would check back after she has been on antipsychotics for a while (because I am betting she will be getting them) and then ask her questions. But even then is not a guarantee of getting the truth. Sometimes delusions go so deep that they become an inherent part of the personality. I honestly have sympathy for this woman because she is obviously, at least to me, in need of serious mental health intervention.
Additionally, it has been my pleasure in this life to have been acquainted with some real Satanists, not the posers and proclaimers and crazies that seem to crawl out of the woodwork, and these true members of the official Church of Satan most certainly do not do the type of things this woman has claimed to doing and do not condone these behaviors in anyone. Whatever this woman may or may not have been, she is definitely not a true Satanist and I can guarantee she would not have even passed the screening required to get membership to the COS.
True Satanism is not an anti-Christian religion, in fact, it is not a religion of any type, it is a philosophy. I think that perhaps much of this confusion relates to the misnomer of what “Church” means in the Church of Satan. In true Satanism, you are the church. You are the universe. So, in effect, the “Church” of Satan is not a place or a building or even the sum of its parts, but the dynamic universes of each separate member. True Satanists are not “devil worshippers” and would be appalled at being called such, much less describing themselves as that as Ms. Barbour has. In other words, as far as Ms. Barbour goes, A) I can say with some certainty that I do not believe she is a serial killer and does have some sort of psychosis/delusional disorder and B) I can say with absolute certainty she is not now and has never been a member of the Church of Satan and any affiliation with any group using any sort of name implying such is completely and utterly false.
M.D. Rice