# It's A Long Road To Salem : Church Witchcraft Killing N Y State **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913 "2015-10-17T16:23:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/1 "2015-10-17T16:23:14Z")
Via [**Fox News**](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/10/17/witness-reportedly-says-witchcraft-accusation-precipitated-fatal-beating-at-ny/) from the New York Times: - The witness heard the pastor at the secretive Word of Life Christian Church in New Hartford tell the congregation Sunday night that someone among them was practicing witchcraft, the paper reported. Lucas Leonard, 19, who was fatally beaten, said identified himself the one, and that he wanted church elders to die and that he had considered making a voodoo of a church leader, according to the Times. The paper cited as its source a statement Word of Life deacon Daniel Irwin, 24, gave to the authorities investigating Leonard’s death. The statement has not been made public. Authorities say Leonard and his 17-year-old brother, Christopher, who was seriously injured, were beaten for hours. Police have charged their parents Bruce Leonard, 65, and Debra Leonard, 59, of Clayville, N.Y., with manslaughter. Four other church members, including the dead teenager’s sister, have been charged with assault. All have pleaded not guilty.\* \*\* There is absolutely no explanation of why the victim wanted to leave the Church of his fathers.\*\* _Irwin is an important prosecution witness. He testified at a Friday at a preliminary hearing that he watched Bruce Leonard strike the two teen brothers with what appeared to be a belt during a counseling session after services._ ---
**Author:** ![yawuntz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a5b964/32.png) [@yawuntz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawuntz)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/2 "2015-10-17T18:06:32Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > \*\* > …There is absolutely no explanation of why the victim wanted to leave the Church of his fathers.\*\*… Right, I don’t get it either. And now those poor parents…first they lost their son, and now they’re being persecuted for their religious beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/3 "2015-10-17T19:32:44Z")
One of the articles I read mentioned how small that congregation is – Just 5 families, or 35 people including the children. That seems like a lot of children for 5 families. Maybe they felt some need to cull the herd. I hadn’t seen any mention of witchcraft before reading the above OP. Count on Fox to get to the heart of the matter! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/4 "2015-10-17T19:42:37Z")
God hates hags? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/5 "2015-10-18T21:38:19Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > God hates hags? …but loves Human Sacrifices? ---
**Author:** ![TheSpeculationElucidation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@TheSpeculationElucidation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSpeculationElucidation)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/6 "2015-10-19T06:16:45Z")
> [@yawuntz](#): > > Right, I don’t get it either. And now those poor parents…first they lost their son, and now they’re being persecuted for their religious beliefs. I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/7 "2015-10-19T06:27:59Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > \*\* > There is absolutely no explanation of why the victim wanted to leave the Church of his fathers.\*\* Could it be that they’re the kind of people who would beat a man to death? That would certainly make me consider leaving a church. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/8 "2015-10-19T13:36:23Z")
His witchcraft, in some sense, does seem to be working, I’m sure he pretty much have destroyed that church through his personal sacrifice and the legal and social repercussions they will potentially face for their actions. Though that probably was not how he intended the spell to work, obviously he used too much eye of newt. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/9 "2015-10-19T14:03:44Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > His witchcraft, in some sense, does seem to be working, I’m sure he pretty much have destroyed that church through his personal sacrifice and the legal and social repercussions they will potentially face for their actions. Though that probably was not how he intended the spell to work, obviously he used too much eye of newt. If Satan’s given up on souring milk, if he’s focused on obtaining legal justice for victims of murdering cultists, maybe we should reconsider Satanism as a viable religious choice. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/10 "2015-10-19T15:18:31Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Could it be that they’re the kind of people who would beat a man to death? That would certainly make me consider leaving a church. No, that can’t be right. There must be another reason. Could it be… **Satan??** ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/11 "2015-10-19T15:21:31Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If Satan’s given up on souring milk Satan soured milk? Cite. #BlameTheCow ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-long-road-to-salem-church-witchcraft-killing-n-y-state/734913/12 "2015-10-19T16:36:51Z")
> [@TheSpeculationElucidation](#): > > I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic. Damn you, [Nathan Poe](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Poe%27s_Law), damn you!