When I mention Fall River, Massachusetts, you may right away think I'm going to talk about Lizzie Borden...but you would be incorrect. That will be a blog for another day. Have any of you heard of the Fall River cult murders that happened between October 1979 to February 1980? Lets take a trip back to when some lives were about sex, drugs, and rock and roll...and we'll throw in a dash of satanic panic.
In Fall River, Massachusetts, during the late fall of 1979 to the early winter months of 1980, three young ladies were found murdered. The first victim was Doreen Levesque, 17 years old. She was killed on the night of October 12, 1979, and her body was found under the bleachers of Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School in Fall River the following morning.
Doreen was a resident of New Bedford who left her foster care residence and was not know to have a fixed address. She ended up working in prostitution and was out the night of October 12 looking for work. Witnesses stated that they saw Doreen that night and said she was intoxicated and participating in prostitution activities on Pleasant Street.
Around 6:00 a.m. on October 13, 1979, Doreen's body was found under the bleachers of Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School by two joggers, who were using the school's running track. Doreen had been severely sexually tortured and beaten to death. She was later identified by a composite drawn police released to the local newspapers.
The next victim was Barbara Raposa, murdered on November 7, 1979...but she was not discovered until January 26, 1980. Barbara was a 19-year-old, single mother with a history of drug abuse and worked in prostitution. She was reported missing on November 7, 1979, by her father after she had failed to pick up her son from a babysitter. She was last seen around 8:15 p.m. by a male friend who had dropped her off in the downtown area so that she could work as a prostitute.
Hunters had been walking through a wooded area on the outer parts of Fall River and came across Barbara's body the morning of January 26, 1980. Her autopsy results showed that she was killed shortly after she had last been seen on November 7.
The third victim in this tragedy was Karen Marsden, a 20-year-old. She was the mother to a young child at the time of her death and was another sex worker. Please understand that when I state that these young ladies were sex workers, I am not saying it with any judgement, just stating a fact. People do what they gotta do...
On the night that Karen went missing, police had actually talked to her as a possible witness in the murder of Doreen Levesque. This occurred on February 9, 1980. Karen refused to say anything, did not accept an offer for witness protection, and just asked police to drop her off at a church in Fall River. The next day, Karen's grandmother reported her as missing.
Karen's partial remains were found in Westport, Massachusetts on April, 13 1980. By partial remains, I mean literally the only thing found was pieces of her skull and teeth. Remnants of her clothing were also found, but no actual body, just pieces of the head.
So...we've got some drug/alcohol use and power hungry people...where does Satan fit into the picture? Mr. Carl Drew...called himself the "son of Satan" and ran the streets and the prostitutes with drugs and threats. Sounds like he was a mean guy that many people were afraid of. He would tell people that "Satan will take his toll". Now, is there proof of an actual cult, satanic rituals, human sacrifices? More like people thinking they were in a small formed group and didn't completely understand what practicing Satanism was actually about. Again, having all of this happen during the time of satanic panic did not help.
Was Carl Drew a mean, bad guy who did a lot of bad things? Yes. Did he give Satanism a bad name, especially during the Satanic Panic? Probably!!!
Carl Drew also had a bad group of friends...one of them being Andy Maltais who was mentioned to be a pedophile. Andy Maltais ended up being convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the killing of Barbara Raposa.
The investigation into the murder of Karen Marsden brought forth multiple names of people possibly being involved, but only Carl Drew and a young lady named Robin Murphy were convicted. Carl Drew was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and Robin Murphy plead guilty to second degree murder as part of an agreement to testify on behalf of the prosecution and received a reduced sentence.
No one has ever been convicted in the death of Doreen Levesque.
According to an article from The Herald News dated November 15, 2022, Robin Murphy was denied parole at her hearing. '“The Board is of the opinion that Robin Murphy has not demonstrated a level of rehabilitative progress that would make her release compatible with the welfare of society,” the board wrote in a decision released on Nov. 10.'
These "cult murders" are discussed in a 2021 documentary titled Fall River, produced by Blumhouse and directed by James Buddy Day. The documentary explains in more detail the horrible torture and deaths these three women experienced as well as discusses the court cases of the people convicted.
Overall, can we blame Satanism or Satan, himself, for the deaths of these three young ladies? I don't personally believe so. The people who decided to take the lives of these three young women are the only ones to blame...in my opinion.
I hope some day Doreen's killer can be caught and brought to justice as well.
Photo by: masslive.com
Sources:
heraldnews.com
Fall River - documentary
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