THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Wednesday, September 29, 1993
Section: News
Edition: Final
Page: A1
OCCULT PUBLICATIONS DRAW SCRUTINY IN TRIPLE-SLAYING
By Marc Perrusquia and Bartholomew Sullivan
The Commercial Appeal
Police investigators exploring links between the occult and the West Memphis triple murder case have been looking into reading material that can include themes such as ritual killings and encounters with vampires and demons.
One item brought to the attention of police is an underground newsletter published by a California cousin of Domini Teer, 16, the girlfriend of murder
suspect Damien Wayne Echols.
Police searched the homes of three teenage suspects June 3, looking for ''occultic" paraphernalia that included "satanic" reading materials, a police detective testified at a court hearing Monday.
Police suspected three 8-year-old boys were killed by members of a satanic cult, testimony shows, and three teenagers have been charged with the May 5 murders. Authorities have not revealed in detail what they found in the June house searches.
But West Memphis detectives have shown an interest in a publication known as the Secret Order of the Undead, an investigation by The Commercial Appeal found.
Tammy Jo Teer, 22, of Upland, Calif., said her newsletter has no connection to the West Memphis slayings, saying she first heard of the deaths when contacted by a reporter last summer.
Teer described her publication, called SOUND for short, as a "poetry" newsletter for artistic young people. She said she started the newsletter several years ago as "a joke."
"I go to church every Sunday, believe it or not," Teer said in a telephone interview last summer. "I'm not in the occult." Subsequent attempts to reach her have been unsuccessful.
Copies of SOUND and a San Francisco publication called Necropolis obtained by The Commercial Appeal indicate Tammy Teer is involved in a nationwide network of people who share a fascination with horror fantasy, vampire folklore and occultic matters. Necropolis means "city of the dead" or a cemetery.
Teer said her cousin Domini Teer once submitted about five poems to SOUND, but they were never published.
Domini Teer's mother, Dian, said Tuesday her daughter had just one copy of SOUND and had no direct involvement in its publication.
Dian Teer also disputed an attorney's claim this week in open court that her daughter was seen near the crime scene the night of the murders. Dian Teer said her daughter was "at home in bed" that night.
A copy of a 1991 edition of SOUND includes a drawing of a winged demon molesting a woman, a list of 13 songs "suitable to accompany any ritualistic murder," and a column instructing "boys and girls" how to build a homemade ''landmine" using shotgun shells, a piece of threaded pipe and other materials.
The newsletter was found by a reporter in trash removed from the mobile home where Echols, 18, often stayed with Domini Teer and her mother. The trailer was searched by police the night Echols was arrested on murder charges. Police later became interested in SOUND, making inquiries into the publication, according to a source close to the investigation.
At the hearing, detective Bryn Ridge testified that authorities searched the homes of three suspects looking for candles, black T-shirts and other ''occultic materials" that included "satanic" books, reading materials and knives. Ridge did not say precisely why police showed an interest in such materials.
Police inspector Gary Gitchell declined comment after a hearing Monday.
Ridge said police found a poem of "questionable nature" and a knife and scabbard in the home of one defendant. At the hearing in Marion, Ark., Circuit Judge David Burnett denied defense motions to suppress evidence seized at the homes of defendants Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, Echols and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley, 18.
Ridge also testified that Misskelley provided police a list of members of a satanic cult, naming himself, Echols and Baldwin among its members. Eight- year-olds Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were tied up with shoestrings the night of their murders and one victim was partially castrated, detectives said at the hearing.
Tammy Teer is listed as a correspondent in the June 1993 issue of Necropolis, a 24-page photocopied mailout that offered to help put its readers in touch with others across the country who have interests ranging from vampire pornography and using blood in the cooking of food to dark poetry and heavy metal rock and roll.
SOUND and Necropolis - which serve part of a nationwide subculture of teens interested in death and horror - are two of a rising number of "zines," or underground magazines.
Most often produced by amateurs serving a small group of readers, 'zines generally deal with esoteric topics that the mainstream media doesn't address. One 'zine is written strictly for people who collect Pez candy dispensers, another is for people who want to tamper with phones; others deal with more commonplace topics like sports or music, according to The World of Zines: A Guide to the Independent Magazine Revolution, a 1992 book by Mike Gunderloy and Cari Goldberg Janice.
Anyone with access to a personal computer and a photocopier can produce a 'zine; there are an estimated 20,000 'zines worldwide, the authors wrote.
About 2 percent of all 'zines are of an "occultic nature," said Jerod Pore, contributing editor of Factsheet Five, a publication that monitors 'zines.
"The people (who publish 'zines) aren't interested in making money so much as they are in building a community or staying in touch," Pore said.
The 40-page SOUND newsletter was produced at a Kinko's photocopy shop, the newsletter asserts. In addition to several poems, fictional writings and drawings dealing with murder and other dark themes, the newsletter includes advertisements for books on vampire history and folklore.
Tammy Jo Teer said she doesn't know how many people read SOUND and said she makes no money from it.
Teer also said she didn't know how Domini got a copy of her newsletter, saying she hadn't seen her cousin in several years.
Dian Teer, 44, said her daughter grew up in Ontario, Calif., but hasn't seen her first cousin in about three years. Ontario and Upland are about 3 miles apart.
Mrs. Teer, who said she would not let a reporter speak with her daughter, said Domini had Damien Echols's son on Sept. 12 and named him Seth. Domini, who has dropped out of the Marion, Ark., high school, is seeking a general equivalency diploma.
Mrs. Teer and her daughter were subpoened by Deputy Prosecutor John N. Fogleman earlier this month to answer questions under oath. Mrs. Teer said she and her daughter were asked about their whereabouts on the night of the murders.
"And we've given them the same answer: We were home in bed, asleep."
Wednesday, September 29, 1993
Section: News
Edition: Final
Page: A1
OCCULT PUBLICATIONS DRAW SCRUTINY IN TRIPLE-SLAYING
By Marc Perrusquia and Bartholomew Sullivan
The Commercial Appeal
Police investigators exploring links between the occult and the West Memphis triple murder case have been looking into reading material that can include themes such as ritual killings and encounters with vampires and demons.
One item brought to the attention of police is an underground newsletter published by a California cousin of Domini Teer, 16, the girlfriend of murder
suspect Damien Wayne Echols.
Police searched the homes of three teenage suspects June 3, looking for ''occultic" paraphernalia that included "satanic" reading materials, a police detective testified at a court hearing Monday.
Police suspected three 8-year-old boys were killed by members of a satanic cult, testimony shows, and three teenagers have been charged with the May 5 murders. Authorities have not revealed in detail what they found in the June house searches.
But West Memphis detectives have shown an interest in a publication known as the Secret Order of the Undead, an investigation by The Commercial Appeal found.
Tammy Jo Teer, 22, of Upland, Calif., said her newsletter has no connection to the West Memphis slayings, saying she first heard of the deaths when contacted by a reporter last summer.
Teer described her publication, called SOUND for short, as a "poetry" newsletter for artistic young people. She said she started the newsletter several years ago as "a joke."
"I go to church every Sunday, believe it or not," Teer said in a telephone interview last summer. "I'm not in the occult." Subsequent attempts to reach her have been unsuccessful.
Copies of SOUND and a San Francisco publication called Necropolis obtained by The Commercial Appeal indicate Tammy Teer is involved in a nationwide network of people who share a fascination with horror fantasy, vampire folklore and occultic matters. Necropolis means "city of the dead" or a cemetery.
Teer said her cousin Domini Teer once submitted about five poems to SOUND, but they were never published.
Domini Teer's mother, Dian, said Tuesday her daughter had just one copy of SOUND and had no direct involvement in its publication.
Dian Teer also disputed an attorney's claim this week in open court that her daughter was seen near the crime scene the night of the murders. Dian Teer said her daughter was "at home in bed" that night.
A copy of a 1991 edition of SOUND includes a drawing of a winged demon molesting a woman, a list of 13 songs "suitable to accompany any ritualistic murder," and a column instructing "boys and girls" how to build a homemade ''landmine" using shotgun shells, a piece of threaded pipe and other materials.
The newsletter was found by a reporter in trash removed from the mobile home where Echols, 18, often stayed with Domini Teer and her mother. The trailer was searched by police the night Echols was arrested on murder charges. Police later became interested in SOUND, making inquiries into the publication, according to a source close to the investigation.
At the hearing, detective Bryn Ridge testified that authorities searched the homes of three suspects looking for candles, black T-shirts and other ''occultic materials" that included "satanic" books, reading materials and knives. Ridge did not say precisely why police showed an interest in such materials.
Police inspector Gary Gitchell declined comment after a hearing Monday.
Ridge said police found a poem of "questionable nature" and a knife and scabbard in the home of one defendant. At the hearing in Marion, Ark., Circuit Judge David Burnett denied defense motions to suppress evidence seized at the homes of defendants Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, Echols and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley, 18.
Ridge also testified that Misskelley provided police a list of members of a satanic cult, naming himself, Echols and Baldwin among its members. Eight- year-olds Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were tied up with shoestrings the night of their murders and one victim was partially castrated, detectives said at the hearing.
Tammy Teer is listed as a correspondent in the June 1993 issue of Necropolis, a 24-page photocopied mailout that offered to help put its readers in touch with others across the country who have interests ranging from vampire pornography and using blood in the cooking of food to dark poetry and heavy metal rock and roll.
SOUND and Necropolis - which serve part of a nationwide subculture of teens interested in death and horror - are two of a rising number of "zines," or underground magazines.
Most often produced by amateurs serving a small group of readers, 'zines generally deal with esoteric topics that the mainstream media doesn't address. One 'zine is written strictly for people who collect Pez candy dispensers, another is for people who want to tamper with phones; others deal with more commonplace topics like sports or music, according to The World of Zines: A Guide to the Independent Magazine Revolution, a 1992 book by Mike Gunderloy and Cari Goldberg Janice.
Anyone with access to a personal computer and a photocopier can produce a 'zine; there are an estimated 20,000 'zines worldwide, the authors wrote.
About 2 percent of all 'zines are of an "occultic nature," said Jerod Pore, contributing editor of Factsheet Five, a publication that monitors 'zines.
"The people (who publish 'zines) aren't interested in making money so much as they are in building a community or staying in touch," Pore said.
The 40-page SOUND newsletter was produced at a Kinko's photocopy shop, the newsletter asserts. In addition to several poems, fictional writings and drawings dealing with murder and other dark themes, the newsletter includes advertisements for books on vampire history and folklore.
Tammy Jo Teer said she doesn't know how many people read SOUND and said she makes no money from it.
Teer also said she didn't know how Domini got a copy of her newsletter, saying she hadn't seen her cousin in several years.
Dian Teer, 44, said her daughter grew up in Ontario, Calif., but hasn't seen her first cousin in about three years. Ontario and Upland are about 3 miles apart.
Mrs. Teer, who said she would not let a reporter speak with her daughter, said Domini had Damien Echols's son on Sept. 12 and named him Seth. Domini, who has dropped out of the Marion, Ark., high school, is seeking a general equivalency diploma.
Mrs. Teer and her daughter were subpoened by Deputy Prosecutor John N. Fogleman earlier this month to answer questions under oath. Mrs. Teer said she and her daughter were asked about their whereabouts on the night of the murders.
"And we've given them the same answer: We were home in bed, asleep."
