Witchcraft cited as possible factor in ‘ritualistic’ Pensacola triple murder

The bodies of 77-year old Voncile Smith and her sons, 49-year old Homeland Security employee Richard Thomas Smith and 47-year old Walmart employee John William Smith were discovered inside her home on Deerfield Drive last Friday morning about 9:30 when deputies responded for a welfare check.

“Initial research has led us to believe it was a ritualistic killing”, Morgan said. “While it doesn’t bother me to release that particular thing, I most assuredly do not want to defame or demean any particular practice”, Morgan said.

The way the victims were killed, the position of their bodies and the timing of the slayings has detectives wondering whether a triple homicide was a “ritualistic killing” tied to last week’s blue moon, a sheriff told reporters Tuesday. Investigators noted that their murders occurred on the night of a blue moon, which is heavily referenced in witchcraft lore, and occurs once every three years. The three individuals died of blunt force trauma; all three were hit with a claw hammer and were found with their throats slit. A person of interest in the case is also known to practice witchcraft.

Based upon a review by the medical examiner’s officer, Morgan said the victims are believed to have been killed sometime after 7 p.m. Tuesday. There were no signs of forced entry into the home, which is bordered in the back by woods.

The family was reportedly “very reclusive” and police said there was no evidence of any break-in at the home in Deerfield Drive. “Neighbors have related to us that they’ve never met members of this family”, he said.

Though Hobbes, like Morgan, mentioned that the police have a “person of interest” in mind who they think might have committed the murders, no arrests have so far been made.

Morgan, according to the Daily Mail, mentioned that “There are different factions of [witchcraft]”. A blue moon happens when the moon rises in its full stage twice during the same month.