Call to action: police question "solstice connection" in stabbing by Wiccan
KOAT News in Albuquerque, New Mexico released a story yesterday about how Angela Sanford, who claims to be Wiccan, stabbed her boyfriend to death with a "Wiccan dagger". The woman and her lover were on a hiking trail when Sanford claims that the man, Joel Leyba, attempted to sexually assault her. A witness on the scene found police and reported that a woman was being attacked. When police got to the scene, they found the couple, and Joel Leyba was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police claim that the stabbing was done with a "Wiccan dagger" that Angela Sandford carried on her at all times. The article claims that "Police said they don't know if witchcraft had anything to do with the murder." The police chief is quoted as saying "This is a time of Wiccan holiday, being the solstice. We're still investigating to determine if that had something to do with this particular homicide." KOAT did nothing to counter this misinformation.
Clearly, the police department has the wrong information not only on the solstice/equinox dates, but also on what Wicca and modern witchcraft are all about. Whether this woman did the crime and/or whether she thinks of herself as Wiccan is not the issue here. The issue is the misrepresentation, both by the media and the chief of police of what the basic premise of a Wiccan sabbat ritual is. Human sacrifice is certainly not on the agenda.
I suggest contacting Albuquerque police chief Ray Schultz and KOAT news and demanding that not only the correct information be given to the public, but that they both issue a public apology for their misrepresentation of the Wiccan religion.
http://www.examiner.com/x-26373-Domestic-Witchery-Examiner~y2010m3d24-Call-to-action-police-question-solstice-connection-in-stabbing-by-Wiccan