On February 5, 2001, a foul odor drifting through a Las Vegas storage facility led police to a discovery straight out of a nightmare. Inside a trash can sealed with duct tape and plastic wrap was the decomposed body of an elderly woman, submerged in her own liquefied remains. Surrounding the unit were books on witchcraft, astrology, black magic, and devil worship. The renter of the unit was Brookey Lee West — a woman police would soon label the Witch of Las Vegas.

In this episode of The Ritual Rewind, we rewind to the early 2000s to uncover the disturbing case of Brookey Lee West and the murder of her mother, Christine Smith. Was this a satanic ritual sacrifice born from occult obsession, or a far more human crime driven by greed, hatred, and lifelong family trauma? Drawing from court records, investigative reporting, and the book Witch: The True Story of Las Vegas’ Most Notorious Female Killer, we examine a lineage of violence, mental illness, and generational rage that culminated in one of Nevada’s most unsettling murder cases.

This is a story of hidden bodies, occult beliefs, alleged warlocks, and a crime concealed in plain sight for years — where Satanic Panic fears collided with a very real act of murder.

The Ritual Rewind explores true crime, occult history, and conspiracies from the late 20th century — when cassette culture met cult culture.

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On January 13, 1995, the mutilated body of 17-year-old Colleen Slemmer was found near the Knoxville Job Corps campus — a crime so brutal it shocked Tennessee and reignited fears lingering from the Satanic Panic era. This episode of The Ritual Rewind dives deep into the disturbing case of Christa Pike, the youngest woman ever sentenced to death in the United States, and the violent path that led to one of the most haunting murders of the 1990s.

We explore Christa Pike’s traumatic upbringing, her relationship with Tadaryl Shipp, the influence of occult symbolism, and the toxic, dangerous environment within the Job Corps program. From jealousy and manipulation to abuse, mental illness, and escalating violence, this case raises unsettling questions: Was this fate shaped by nature, nurture… or something darker?

Join us as we rewind through the crime, the investigation, Pike’s trial, her later violent incidents behind bars, and the legacy of a case that continues to disturb decades later.

🕯️ The Ritual Rewind — where cassette culture meets cult culture.

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The Devil and Union County - The Unsolved Murder of Jeannette DePalma | Ritual Rewind Podcast

In September of 1972, a dalmatian trotted out of the New Jersey woods carrying a human arm in its jaws — and with it, unleashed one of the most disturbing true crime mysteries in American history. When police followed the trail into the overgrown quarry known as Devil’s Teeth, they found the decomposed body of 17-year-old Jeannette DePalma, surrounded by what looked like ritual symbols: twig crosses, rock formations, and a coffin-shaped outline in branches.

Whispers spread fast through Union County: witches, cults, Satanic sacrifice, and a coven believed to be operating in the Watchung Reservation. But Jeannette’s case was only one part of something far darker. Within a few square miles, five young women were murdered or vanished — including Columbia doctoral student Joan Kramer, hitchhiking victim Carol Anne Farino, and the brutal double homicide of teenagers Mary Ann Pryor and Lorraine Kelly.

Was Union County gripped by occult terror… or was a hidden killer stalking New Jersey’s suburbs? From rumors of ritual altars to the violent past of Otto Nilson — a man linked to multiple strangulation murders and a green Buick that keeps appearing like a ghost — this episode retraces a string of crimes long buried under local legend, police missteps, and the early rumblings of the Satanic Panic.

The Devil and Union County pulls you deep into a world where faith, fear, and folklore collide — and where the truth is as unsettling as the myths that tried to explain it.

🎙️ Ritual Rewind explores the crimes, conspiracies, and occult anxieties that shaped the 1970s and 80s — when cassette culture met cult culture, and paranoia became a national pastime.

👉 Subscribe for more investigations into dark history and forgotten true crime 📲 Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook: @theritualrewind

SOURCES -

Death on Devils Teeth by Jesse Pollack

https://a.co/d/iD7qaow

#TheRitualRewind #TrueCrimePodcast #JeannetteDePalma #UnionCountyMurders #NewJerseyTrueCrime #SatanicPanic #DevilsTeeth #OccultCrimes #DarkHistory #JoanKramer #OttoNilson #WatchungReservation #ColdCase #RitualRewindPodcast

The Devil and the Three Girls | Ritual Rewind Podcast

On a warm June night in 2000, in the quiet mountain town of Chiavenna, Italy, a nun received a desperate call for help. Hours later, Sister Maria Laura Mainetti was found brutally murdered — stabbed 19 times, her hands still clutching the hair of her attackers. When police discovered who was responsible, the truth stunned the nation: three teenage girls — her former students — had lured her into a trap, claiming to offer her as a sacrifice to Satan.

What drove three ordinary girls from middle-class families to commit a crime so monstrous it shocked the Vatican? Was it rebellion, mental illness… or something darker hiding in the cracks of a modern Europe still haunted by the Satanic Panic?

This is the story of The Devil and the Three Girls — a crime that blurred the line between faith, fear, and obsession, and the nun whose final words were an act of forgiveness.

🎙️ Ritual Rewind resurrects the forgotten horrors and cultural hysteria of the late 20th century — when cassette culture met cult culture and moral panic turned to madness.

👉 Subscribe for more deep dives into the occult, crime, and cultural paranoia that defined a generation. 📲 Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook @theritualrewind

#TheRitualRewind #TrueCrimePodcast #SatanicPanic #OccultCrimes #DarkHistory #CatholicChurch #TrueCrimeItaly #SisterMariaLauraMainetti #RitualMurder #Cults #OccultHistory #1980s #FaithAndFear #TheDevilAndTheThreeGirls

In 1980, on the eve of Easter, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was found murdered inside the chapel of Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. The brutality of the crime shocked even seasoned investigators — her body arranged in what appeared to be a desecrated ritual, an inverted cross carved into her flesh.

At the center of the mystery stood a quiet hospital chaplain: Father Gerald Robinson. For decades, whispers of ritual abuse, satanic ceremonies, and a secret Catholic cabal haunted Toledo. But when new witnesses came forward — nuns who claimed to have survived ritualistic torture at the hands of priests — the old case cracked open once more.

This is the chilling story of The Devil and the Heretic — a murder buried by the Church, a cover-up protected by power, and the question that still divides believers and skeptics: was this the work of a madman, or a ritual sacrifice hidden behind holy walls?

The Ritual Rewind resurrects the dark heart of the 1980s — where cassette culture met cult culture, and the line between faith and fear was forever blurred.

Subscribe for more true crime and occult history. 📲 Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook @theritualrewind

----

Sources:

The Clermont Sun

https://www.clermontsun.com/2024/03/20/the-1980-killing-of-sister-margaret-ann-pahl

The Toledo Blade

https://www.toledoblade.com/

Bishop Accountability

https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2004_01_06/2004_05_02_Erb_AFamily.htm

Sin, Shame & Secrets: A True Story of the Murder of a Nun, the Conviction of a Priest, and the Cover-up in the Catholic Church by David Yonke

https://a.co/d/5pyPrty

In the quiet farmlands of Ohio, 1985, the devil was said to walk among them. Sheriff James Telb believed he had uncovered a vast Satanic network — one that stretched across churches, daycares, and police stations. He spoke of hundreds of cultists, blood rituals, and children taken in the night. Television cameras descended. Paranoia ignited. Neighbors turned on neighbors.

But when the sheriff ordered his men to dig — no bodies were found. No cult. No proof. Just a trail of ruined lives, false confessions, and a town swallowed whole by hysteria. This is the story of how fear became evidence, how moral panic replaced truth, and how the Satanic Panic spread like wildfire through America’s heartland.

From the false prophets to the believers, this episode unravels the machinery of madness that powered a generation’s darkest obsession.

Ritual Rewind explores the haunted corners of the 1980s — where true crime, cults, and the occult collide.

Subscribe for more deep dives into the Satanic Panic, ritual crimes, and forgotten dark history.

Follow: @theritualrewind on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook Listen to full episodes wherever you get your podcasts

Sources:

-- Digging Up Devils: The Search for a Satanic Murder Cult in Rural Ohio

https://a.co/d/bTZr1r3

-- The Toledo Blade

https://www.toledoblade.com/

Spring Break 1989. Thousands of college students flood the Mexican border town of Matamoros for nights of partying and cheap drinks. Among them is Mark Kilroy, a 21-year-old pre-med student from Texas. But by morning… Mark has vanished without a trace.

What begins as a missing person case soon unravels into one of the most shocking true crime stories of the 1980s — a narco-satanist cult, ritual human sacrifice, and a manhunt that would end in bloodshed in Mexico City.

In this episode of The Ritual Rewind, we uncover:

🔸 Mark Kilroy’s abduction during spring break

🔸 The twisted rituals at Rancho Santa Elena

🔸 The cult led by Adolfo Constanzo and Sara Aldrete

🔸 The discovery of 13 bodies and the terrifying truth behind the nganga

🔸 The violent standoff that ended Constanzo’s reign of terror

This is the story that blurred the line between cartel crime and black magic—and shocked the world.

👉 Follow us on TikTok, Instagram & Facebook @theritualrewind

🔔 Subscribe for more true crime & occult history.

Sources

Cauldron of Blood by Jim Schutze

https://a.co/d/1hwuFj7

Sacrifice by Jim Kilroy & Bob Stewart

https://a.co/d/6S207N6

The Work of the Devil by Gary Cartwright for Texas Monthly

https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/the-work-of-the-devil/

The Narco Satanists

https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0G68X4LST5U8S6G097Z7J9LPDX/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

Before the world knew his name, Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo was initiated beneath a sacred Ceiba tree—crowned with leaves to lure spirits into his mind. He would rise from this ritual to become El Padrino, the Godfather of a deadly cult that mixed Palo Mayombe, drug trafficking, and ritual human sacrifice on the Mexican border.

Constanzo and his high priestess Sara Aldrete built a following that believed they were untouchable—until a horrific spring break kidnapping shattered their illusion of power.

🎧 In this episode of The Ritual Rewind, we uncover:

🔸 The dark roots of Palo Mayombe

🔸 Constanzo’s rise as a cult leader and cartel sorcerer

🔸 Sara Aldrete’s initiation and the Matamoros murders

🔸 The rituals that fed their nganga — and their delusions of invincibility

Step inside a story where true crime meets black magic.

👉 Follow us on TikTok, Instagram & Facebook @theritualrewind

🔔 Subscribe for more true crime and occult history.

Sources

Cauldron of Blood by Jim Schutze

https://a.co/d/1hwuFj7

Sacrifice by Jim Kilroy & Bob Stewart

https://a.co/d/6S207N6

The Work of the Devil by Gary Cartwright for Texas Monthly

https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/the-work-of-the-devil/

The Narco Satanists

https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0G68X4LST5U8S6G097Z7J9LPDX/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r