The murder trial in the death of Sherry Harlin is beginning, and prosecutors are going to be making killer Eric Christensen’s religion “exhibit A” in proving that it was premeditated. Both Christensen and Harlin were involved in the Everett, Washington-area Pagan community, which included attending gatherings organized by the Aquarian Tabernacle Church.
“Prosecutors believe modern witchcraft drove a Gold Bar man to kill his girlfriend, dismember her body and scatter her remains around Snohomish County … Christensen met Harlan through the Internet, and the two later moved in together. ”And we know this is a significant relationship, because Eric introduced her to his friends. He introduced her to his church,” said defense attorney Kathleen Kyle. Christensen told detectives the woman took a “blood oath” to break-off a relationship with another man. But when Christensen found text messages from an ex-boyfriend, he admits he flew into a jealous rage. ”In ancient times, people who broke blood oaths were sometimes killed,” Christensen told investigators.” – KOMO 4, Seattle
“Sherry Harlan’s sin was breaking a promise. Her punishment was death, mutilation and dismemberment. That’s the theory prosecutors began laying out in front of jurors on Tuesday in the first day of testimony in the trial of a Gold Bar man accused of planning and carrying out the brutal murder of his girlfriend. Eric James Christensen is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors allege that Christensen, 40, became enraged after learning that Harlan broke what he called a “blood oath” and continued communicating with another man … Jurors are expected to hear from the man who allegedly helped Christensen hide Harlan’s remains. That same man, who Christensen met while attending a Wiccan church in Index, is expected to testify that he witnessed the blood oath between Harlan and Christensen.” – The Daily Herald, Everett, Washington
It is not known if the prosecution or defense will call local Pagan leaders to testify. ATC Archpriest Pete Pathfinder Davis has already told prosecutors that Christensen’s death-invoking “blood oath” wasn’t a part of his church’s teachings, or of Wicca in general.
“As the Archpriest of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church of Wicca tradition, I supplied the prosecutor with many references about the Wiccan belief system, and the absence of any such “blood oath” tradition or violence of any kind. It was refreshing to see that the Ms. Polly Keary, editor of the Monroe Monitor, a local small-town newspaper, pointed out that violence to another was against Wiccan beliefs and not part of the religion.” – Pete “Pathfinder” Davis, in a letter to The Wild Hunt
In addition both Davis, and other locals who knew him from Pagan events, have expressed shock at Christensen’s sudden outburst of violence. They were not initially aware of his violent past, or conviction for first-degree sexual abuse.
“Christensen initially was arrested and booked Jan. 7 into the Snohomish County Jail for failure to register as a sex offender. He has a 1990 conviction in Oregon for first-degree sexual abuse and is classified as a Level 1 sex offender. He was later charged with second-degree murder, which was upgraded to first-degree murder.”
Whether the jury finds the murder premeditated or not, Christensen is going to prison for a very long time, most likely for the rest of his life. I will be keeping an eye on this trial, how the prosecution team invokes modern Paganism in order to prove premeditation, and what this might mean for local Pagans in the Everett, Washington area, and beyond.
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