ta Clara County to ask if there had been any breaks in the case , but was told there was no new information . Of Terry ’ s book , King said : “ It didn ’ t surprise me that someone came out with some kind of conspiracy around her murder . I don ’ t know if I agree with the author that she was stalked from Bismarck to California . I remember a lot of weird religious stories going on around here in that time , like covens dancing under the full moon and rituals taking place down by the river bottoms . But in her case , I think she was at the wrong place at the wrong time .”
Jon Martinson , lifelong Bismarck resident and former psychology professor at Bismarck State College , remembered both the murder of Arlis Perry and alleged Satanic activity in the area . At one point , he actually assigned his students the task of tracking down cult activity in Bismarck . “ I believe it ’ s possible that people in North Dakota were involved in [ Perry ’ s ] murder in some way . Over the years , however , that ’ s been very difficult to prove .”
When The Ultimate Evil was published in 1987 , many in Bismarck were skeptical of Terry ’ s theories , but Martinson was convinced the author was on the right track , “ Folks would say : ‘ If something like this was going on around here , we ’ d know about it .’ And that those who knew Arlis would have said : ‘ If she was being stalked , we ’ d know about it . And how can the writer get information that we can ’ t ?’ North Dakotans are often suspicious of the outsiders investigating their city .”
Recalling the time when he and his students were attempting to track down local Satanists , Martinson said : “ It was like water running through your fingers . It was so elusive , you ’ d think there was something , you ’ d go , and there was nothing there . We would search for rituals in parks and cemeteries . In class we ’ d say that the [ cult members ] are one step ahead of us . Someone is telling them about us .” He believed it was possible someone in his psychology class was tipping off local cult members concerning the activities of the research project .
Kathleen Atkinson , a university employee , was quoted as saying : “ There was never any activity on the hill until this book used it as a reference point . Talk only came as a reaction to that , making the rumors selfperpetuating .”
Jon Martinson remained in contact with
Maury Terry and continues to believe there is a connection between the Son of Sam murders and the killing of Arlis Perry . The strongest link , he says , is that Berkowitz admitted to spending time with cult members in Minot , including John Carr , shortly after the Son of Sam murder spree began . This association was documented in Terry ’ s book . However , according to Martinson , what wasn ’ t documented is just as compelling : Berkowitz recognized a man from Bismarck during a jailhouse interview when he was shown a series of photographs of individuals whom Terry believed may have been involved in Mrs . Perry ’ s murder . Berkowitz identified the man in the photograph as someone he had met during a cult meeting in Minot . Martinson says he , too , has seen the photograph . “ When Berkowitz identified the man in the photograph , it confirmed [ Terry ’ s ] suspicions that that may have been the visitor at the law firm the day before Perry was killed . And it ’ s entirely possible that Berkowitz met that person while he was in North Dakota .”
* * *
Shortly after the body of Arlis Perry was found , a church official commenting on the murder described the scene as “ ritualist and Satanic .” No one can deny the sight of an attractive young woman lying on her back , her legs spread wide , with a 24-inch candle protruding from her vagina , is , indeed , a vision from hell . But the symbolism didn ’ t end there , for above the corpse was a huge cross carved years before into the wall of the Byzantineinspired place of worship ..
Over 40 years later , the killing of the young woman from North Dakota is as much a mystery as it was in the early morning hours of October 13 , 1974 , when her corpse was discovered and years of investigation has yielded nothing more than a series of unanswered questions .
* Sources : The Ultimate Evil by Maury Terry , The Great Plains Examiner , Before It ' s News , The San Jose Mercury , The Bismarck Tribune , Spawn of the Sphinx , Tripod and Chicago Reader .
* Note : Bruce Perry went on to become a child and adolescent psychiatrist and is currently affiliated with the Child Trauma Academy in Houston , Texas . He later remarried and he and his second wife have five children .
By Stacy Sturm
Staff Writer
WITCH. Such an evil word
to Christians. Witches practice black magic and put hexes
on people. Witches sacrifice
babies. Witches cast spells,
dance around naked, have crazy
orgies, and summon demons.
Witches hole up in spooky old
houses, hide out in shacks, and
caves in the woods and only
come out at night.
Or maybe.... just maybe...
Witches are moms, dads, teachers, business owners, PTA
members, volunteers, and upstanding members of society.
In fact, when not sacrificing
babies, some of them may actually work as nurses caring for
them.
"We actually prefer to be
called Pagans," said Brandon
Lee, of Bismarck.
"There is actually less of a
stigma in pagan than witch,"
said Sarah Lee, of Bismarck.
"People are like 'Oh my god
don't talk to me', when I say I'm
a witch. "
"They think green colors,
hook nose, worts, spells," Brandon chimed in.
Sarah started her bewitching journey back in high school
in a very conservative Christian
household, "I started spreading
out knowledge wise as far as
religions. I had books I would
read and my mom would try to
destroy them. But as I read,
Paganism just worked for me.
It had less rules. It wasn't as
strict. It wasn't like if you do
this you're going to hell and if
you do this you'll have many
many blessings. I tend to gravitate more towards the Celtic
mythology."
Brandon came from the opposite environment, coming from
a very open and freethinking
household. "I never even saw
the inside of an actual church
until I was 16. We were allowed
to explore for ourselves and figure out our own path in life. The
more I got into the history of religions the more it seemed to
10 full circle and it just
come back
clicked with me."
Brandon grew up in the Bay
24
Area of California where there
were many people who thought
and believed as he did. Sarah
however grew up in South Dakota where there was not a very
big pagan culture. She learned
a lot on her own through books.
Social media has been a big
game changer.
"Social media is connecting a
lot of witches, even in Bismarck,
rather quickly," Brandon said.
He joked more and more people
are "coming out of the broom
closet."
According to a 2014 study,
Wicca (aka witches, aka pagans)
is the fastest growing religion in
America. It is currently growing
at an astounding pace. It has
been estimated that the number
of Americans that are Wiccans
is doubling every 30 months,
and at this point there are more
than 200,000 registered witches
and approximately 8 million unregistered practitioners of Wicca. Wicca emerged as a faith in
the middle of the 20th century,
but the origins of many Wiccan
practices actually go back for
thousands of years, and some
researchers believe that certain
aspects of Wicca can actually
be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon.
According to Wikipedia, Wicca
“is a modern pagan, witchcraft
religion”. And it is important to
remember that Wicca is just one
form of witchcraft. Like Christianity there are many different
sects of Wiccans just like there
are many different sects or denominations of Christians.
Alexandrian Wicca: A tradition founded in England by
Alex Sanders. Basically uses
Gardnerian ritual, although they
have been modified with many
Judeo-Christian and Ceremonial Magic elements. C ݙ[��ܚ���X�Y
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