So, I encountered a story on the KOAT News website entitled “Police: Woman Stabs Man With Wiccan Dagger,” that is absolutely infuriating. According to the article which was posted on March 23, 2010, a woman in Albuquerque, New Mexico had murdered a man with what was being identified as a “Wiccan dagger,” on a hiking trail after she made claims that she was raped. Police received a call on Monday from a caller who said a woman was in the process of being assaulted on a bike path. Upon their arrival, the man was found dead on the scene from multiple stab wounds and the woman identified as Angela Sanford, 30, was then accused of stabbing the man to death.
The article goes as far as to explain that the “police said they don’t know if witchcraft had anything to do with the murder.” According to Officer Schultz:
“This is a time of the Wiccan holiday, being the solstice…We’re still investigating to determine if that had something to do with this particular homicide.”
A day later another article appeared in the Daily News where a spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Police Department, Nadine Hamby, stated that Sanford’s claims of Wiccan beliefs have no influence on the investigation. “A homicide is a homicide.” If that’s true, than why bring up the subject of Wicca at all?
First let me say that I feel for the deceased’s family. Now, with that being said let me point out the grave issues with what the police are reporting to the public. First of all, the incident occurred on Monday. The sabbat had already passed and occurred on the weekend. Second, it was not a solstice, but it was Spring Equinox and our rituals have nothing to do with blood, sacrifice or harming people or animals. Wiccans do not commit murder and just because this woman calls herself a Wiccan it doesn’t mean that she is; what it does mean is that she either seriously misunderstands what it means to be Wiccan, or she is looking for an excuse: any kind of excuse to cover up her behavior. Third, a Wiccan dagger is an athame and I don’t know of a single Wiccan that carries his or her athame around everywhere they go, but maybe that’s just me. Further, athames are not used to harm people. In fact, they aren’t used for any mundane purposes whatsoever. What is clear is that the officer had no clue what he was talking about, but he didn’t hesitate to blurt out those misconceptions to the media.
I have since written a letter to Chief Schultz in Albuquerque as well as to the mayor of the city. I pointed out all of the major inaccuracies that were in the report offered by KOAT News. I also made it clear that our one commandment is “If it harm none do what ye will,” and that whatever misinformation this woman is providing to police or whatever misinformation the police assume they already know doesn’t define who Wiccans are. I don’t believe that people in a position of authority should be passing around such grave misconceptions about the Wiccan faith. We spend every day of our lives having to defend our faith system and who we are and misconceptions like the one’s offered by Officer Shultz only add fuel to the fire. I have requested that Schultz publicly correct and/or retract his earlier statements. Of course, I have yet to receive a response from either contact, but at least I have put the effort forth. Now I bring the issue to the pagan community and I am now encouraging others to do the same. You can contact Mayor Richard J. Berry at mayorberry@cabq.gov. You can contact Chief Scultz at: rschultz@cabq.gov. And the KOAT News can be contacted at: 505-884-6324.
“If we speak together, we are a chorus to be heard. If we whisper alone, we are but a sigh in the dead of night.”
