A tragedy that completely dominated the Northport-East Northport community occurred on June 19, 1984. Chances are you haven’t heard about the murder of Gary Lauwers; it’s not a story that would be told by most parents. 

The ritual murder of a teenager in this very community? It’s too dark and disturbing a tale. But it’s also important to dissect and examine what happened. There are a lot of misconceptions about this event that are actively hurting and misrepresenting a certain group of people to this day. Allow this article to answer the following question: Was Ricky Kasso a Satanist?

Perhaps I should first explain who Ricky Kasso was and what happened that night on the 19th of June. Ricky was an avid drug user, with his narcotic of choice being hallucinogens like LSD and PCP, as well as marijuana. While he occasionally dealt drugs, he was most known by those around him for ingesting these barbiturates in large quantities. In fact, he was even awarded the moniker “Acid King” by those who knew him well.

Ricky’s former friends claimed that when he was in his junior year at Northport High School, Ricky became interested in devil worship, and claimed he went to the local cemetery in an attempt to communicate with Satan. While a lot about his alleged devil worship is unknown, his friends said he never participated in any Satanic rituals other than chanting the name of Satan. When his parents committed him to a mental hospital for the second time, he denied worshipping Satan to his counselor. 

On the night of the murder, Ricky and his friend Gary Lauwers were at a party. At this point, their relationship was contentious, as a few months previous, Lauwers had stolen ten bags of PCP from Kasso. It is unknown how the violence escalated that night. 

Gary was stabbed at most 36 times, and told by Ricky to “say you love Satan.” It was found that Lauwers had severe facial burns and damage to his eyes. During the murder, it was later discovered that both Ricky and Gary had taken a total of 40 tabs of LSD and smoked 17 baggies of PCP.

In the murder’s aftermath, Kasso would brag about what he had done, bringing people to the body. He claimed that a black crow sent by Satan came to him the next day and cawed, which he interpreted as Satan’s approval. Ricky was arrested on July 5, sixteen days after the murder. Ricky would kill himself two days later. 

The news sensationalized the event, with various headlines reading “L.I. Cops Hunt Teenage Devil Worshippers” and “Satan Teen Kills Himself in Jail,” emphasizing the press’s supposition that Satanism was connected to the murder. 

At the time of Kasso’s killing, an organization called the Church of Satan was the only Satanic religious organization in existence. The Church of Satan was founded in 1966, following a religion called Satanism created by Anton LaVey; this religion was codified in 1969 when LaVey wrote the Satanic Bible.

News articles reflecting the incident constantly bring up the fact that Kasso apparently owned or at least read the Satanic Bible, acting as if that makes him a devout Satanist. What most don’t know about the Satanic Bible is that it actually preached against the actions committed by Kasso. 

In the Satanic Bible, murder is never something that is advocated for, and in The Book of Lucifer within the Satanic Bible, it is stated that children and animals are seen as pure carnal beings, and sacred. 

Although published after the murder, the Church of Satan has 9 Satanic Sins which serve as actions a Satanist should avoid doing or falling victim to. One could say the sins Kasso broke that night were the sins of stupidity and self-deceit, as Kasso committed a murder in the name of a being that doesn’t exist. The Church of Satan itself does not believe in an incarnate Satan, and views the character as a symbol for values they find important, none of them being murder. 

Kasso’s murder goes directly against the values of the Church of Satan, and they themselves would not consider Kasso a Satanist. Although the church is the first and arguably most influential Satanic institution, the organization with the most attention in 2021 is the Satanic Temple. 

This organization boasts hundreds of thousands of members, and they’re known for their activism regarding abortion rights and the separation of church and state. Does the Satanic Temple condone the actions committed by Kasso, and would they consider him a Satanist? 

Unsurprisingly, the answer is an emphatic no, as The Satanic Temple is a much more progressive organization than the Church of Satan, and explicitly states in their FAQ that, “The Satanic Temple holds to the basic premise that undue suffering is bad, and that which reduces suffering is good.” Additionally, the organization’s seven fundamental tenets specifically say that “one’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.” 

While the murder Ricky Kasso committed was a disgusting crime, the media unfortunately lost track of its truth to instead fuel the Satanic Panic in America. 

Instead of reporting on the fact that Kasso was an avid drug user and under the influence when he murdered Gary Lauwers, they instead focused on his supposed links to devil worship; in doing so, the media continued to push a lie that Satanism was an innately violent and evil religion. Ricky Kasso is just one example of the conflation of Satanism and evil. 

Murderers like the Night Stalker and cult leaders like Charles Manson have been deemed Satanists by the media. Even as recently as November of 2021, Satanism is still America’s go-to scapegoat for tragedies, as was seen during the Astroworld concert tragedy when the media claimed the event was part of a Satanic sacrifice. 

It is truly disappointing to see this occur time and time again, as it is the job of the media to report factually rather than sensationally.