By Aaron Klein
Is Adam Lanza’s reported devil worship a missing link that could help explain what motivated the Sandy Hook gunman to carry out the school house massacre?
Was Lanza part of any larger Satanic or ritualistic subculture locally or online where the murderer could have revealed his plans or could have even received support in preparing for the killings?
Although largely under-reported, Satanic subculture and so-called devil worship has been a factor in numerous other mass killings, including the recent Batman shooting massacre.
Trevor L. Todd, a former classmate of Lanza’s, told the media that Lanza worshiped the devil and had an online page dedicated to Satan.
Lanza’s worshiping page had the word “Devil” written in red, Gothic-style letters against a black background, stated Todd, the UK Daily Mail reported.
Batman, Columbine shootings and the ‘devil’
While Lanza’s reported devil worship was mentioned in several news media items, it is seemingly not being considered as a possible motive in the national debate currently centered around the role of guns, drugs, violent video games or mental illness in the shooting spree.
The theme of so-called devil worship and Satanic-style “Goth” subculture has cropped up in numerous other mass shootings, although in some cases the phenomenon may have been under-reported or entirely unreported.
One such case is the July 20th mass shooting at a Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado.
While reports do not link the shooter, James Eagan Holmes, to either devil worship or the Goth community, an overlooked factor is the Satanic themes related to the “Joker” character after which Holmes modeled himself.
Holmes, a 24-year old former PhD candidate in neuroscience, had dyed his hair red like the Joker had and told police officers that he was “the Joker,” the villain in numerous Batman movies.
It was reported that Holmes was a big fan of Batman movies, and that his apartment was decorated with Batman paraphernalia.
In various Batman movies, including the recent Dark Knight series, the Joker’s calling card, handed out by the character in multiple scenes in the different movies, is a picture of a devil.
In the 1989 Batman film, the Joker character, played by Jack Nicholson, is first recognized by Batman as the perpetrator of his parents’ murder after the Joker asks Batman, “Do you ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light?” Batman has a flashback to when his mother and father were murdered by a man who asks the same question.
In the immediate aftermath of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre there were widespread reports killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were involved in Goth subculture. T
The two had initially been reported to also be members of “The Trenchcoat Mafia,” an informal club within Columbine High School, but later reports emerged that such characterizations were considered incorrect.