The people of Clemmons, North Carolina, got a shock of their life when the Pazuzu Algarad case broke into the news. Algarad, a notorious Satanist killer, terrorized the people when he was found guilty of murdering two citizens in 2010. Even after he died more than five years ago, his life story still makes people scared and horrified.
This man was a tattooed punk who regularly made animal sacrifices, performed satanic rituals, and all things commonly associated with the dark occult. On top of that, he filed his teeth pointed like a demon, did not take showers, and lived inside a house filled with satanic symbols!
His life seems like a real-life depiction of some eerie horror story. His home at 2749 Knob Hill Drive in Clemmons still is a horrific sign of the past and what happened here.
The Pazuzu Algarad case became a national and international sensation as the police investigation released a video of his house!
In this article, we have tried to uncover the mystery of Pazuzu Algarad and his life as a Satanist serial killer!
Pazuzu Algarad- His Early Life
Pazuzu Algarad, born John Alexander Lawson, was a shy, emotional and exclusive child in his early life. Born to ordinary middle-class American parents Timothy J and Cynthia Lawson on August 12, 1978. He spent his childhood in San Francisco, California.
Algarad moved to Clemmons, North Carolina, in 1990 after his parents got divorced. He started to suffer from Agoraphobia and schizophrenia during his teenage years. Her mother tried her best to offer him treatment. Her unstable economic condition prevented her from giving her son comprehensive treatment. As a result, Pazuzu suffered a lot, and his demeanor started to change during his teenage years.
Pazuzu started to become violent during his early teenage years. He began to take drugs and consume alcohol from 13 years of age. By his prime youth, he was a drug and alcohol addict.
Even it is his mother who bears the initial suffering. He was charged with battery as a juvenile when he attacked his mother from behind and tried to kill her by encircling her neck with his arm. But, due to his juvenile status, he was only released after twelve months of probation!
Patricia Gillespie, who directed a documentary film “The Devil You Know” on Pazuzu’s life, also voiced her difficulty understanding his personality. She said that Pazuzu often made up stories about himself due to his mental disease. So, it was difficult to grasp his original personality.
She had expressed her opinion by saying, “He told people he was from Iraq, he told people his father was some high priest. But the people who knew him as a child described him as a little off-kilter, a little emotional. Things that might indicate the beginning of a mental illness: harming animals, consuming alcohol and drugs at a very early age.”
Pazuzu’s mother somehow also voiced the same opinion. As per his mother, he was a simple child. But, she did not dream that her son would become a notorious serial killer! She had said in the documentary, “He wasn’t by any means an angel, but he wasn’t a bad person or a bogeyman or whatever phrases people have called him.”
Many psychologists and experts theorize that probably his parents’ messy divorce and his troubled childhood led him to the dangerous path. His violent streak can be a way to cope with the bullying and oppression he had to endure! But, like any serial Killer, he remains a mystery!
Name Change and Foray into so-called Satanism
In 2000, Pazuzu started to immerse himself in Satanism completely. As a result, he changed his name in 2002 and called himself “Pazuzu Illah Algarad ”. The affidavit of his name change stated that he had religious reasons behind his decision.
Even though he did not reveal his inclination towards Satanism, the changed name is enough to connect. Pazuzu is the name of the Assyrian demon featured in The Exorcist movie.
Pazuzu then shaved his head and started to get tattoos in mysterious symbols. His whole body, even his face, was covered in tattoos. Besides that, he began to file his teeth in sharp pointed edges. He also stopped taking showers and said that he never took a bath more than once a year! His intention was probably to welcome infections and illness, which he believed were blessings from satan!
Many psychiatrists associated with the Pazuzu Algarad case also claim that he wanted to rebel against the god. In his mind, may be he failed to find solace there. The Clemmons neighborhood was an area known for religious Christians!
Despite his twisted mentality, he managed to have two girlfriends or fiancés who became his partner in his crime. Amber Burch and Krystal Matlock claimed to be in a relationship with him and frowned at his house!
Pazuzu’s friend Nate Anderson has said, “He had a twisted sort of charisma, it’s the kind of charisma that isn’t going to appeal to everyone. But certain minds are going to be drawn in by that: the misfits, the outcasts, people living on the edge or people who want to live on the edge.”
His house gradually became a hub for the outcasts and lawbreakers attracted to his satanic beliefs. In short, Pazuzu started a satanic cult in his home. He never cared what people did inside his house and welcomed everyone to perform satanic cult rituals.
His former friend Nate Anderson offered an interesting take in the documentary “The Devil You Know .”He was a regular visitor in the infamous house which was a chaotic world with filthiness, sexual promiscuity, and lawbreakers moving around freely. In his words,
“We just hung out and chilled around and whatnot maybe did a little bit of heroin every now and again. Just a crazy s–t-ton of drinking, cutting ourselves and each other, maybe drinking the blood of a bird or so. Just all around having a good time.”
As per “Krazy Dave” Adams, another friend of Pasusu Alagard, “People would come visit his house ’cause they knew it was free reign. There were no rules; there was nothing you had to abide by. You could piss in his carpet, you could smash a TV, you could hit somebody in the head with a beer bottle, you could throw a knife at his wall, it just didn’t matter,”
His Arrest
Pazuzu’s stint with the court and police department started in 2010. He was arrested on May 28, 2010, for putting his mother Cynthia in a chokehold. The Poor lady was choked to the point where she almost could not breathe at all.
He was later related on probation. Then, in September 2010, Pazuzu Alagard’s fiancé(self-proclaimed) Amber Burch was charged with charges of battery and assault on Alagard’s mother. The police put her on probation for twelve months. Later, she was again accused of battery when she hit Alagard in his face.
Alagard’s lifestyle attracted police, and his criminal history was unveiled in October 2010. At that time, he was charged with involuntary manslaughter. He allegedly killed a Man Joseph Emmrick Chandler by shooting him.
Emerick’s body was found on a boat ramp in Doraha Pak, Yadkin County, with visible gunshot wounds. Alagard was then arrested for misleading the investigation and protecting a suspect.
This charge prompted a police investigation of his house. The police officers started a search operation on his home. This, in turn, uncovered the bigger murder picture.
The police officers who investigated the home of Pazuzu Illah Algarad were horrified at the state of the house. The house was completely uninhabitable. It was dirty, filled with garbage, animal feces, piles of dead flies, feces, urine marks on floors and walls. There were also decayed animal parts, bloodstains on walls, and animal carcasses.
The home also has numerous satanic symbols. In the investigation, the police discovered a skull poster and crossbones with the slogan “Evil will triumph.”Other phrases like “The house of devil worship” “the house of devil worshippers’ ‘ are in Arabic also.
The police started to expand their investigation and dug the backyard and the areas around the house. On October 13, 2014, two male skeletons were found from home. The police found that Joshua Fredrick Wetzler and Tommy Dean Welch were these skeletons. Both of them were killed due to a gunshot in their head.
There is no clear data on how these two unfortunate men came into the house of Algarad. However, he claimed in “The Devil You know” that Wetzler started living in his home as he did not have anywhere to go- ” I don’t know where it came from,” James recalled of the killing of Wetzler. “I really honestly think that he just didn’t know what he was doing … He was not himself. He was on drugs or alcohol or both, probably…They were just friends, as far as I knew. They liked to sing music,” said James. “He didn’t have anywhere to stay … They turned his heat off or something and [he asked if he could] sleep on the couch. I didn’t have a problem with it. I enjoyed John having friends.”
In the investigation, it was revealed that they were killed in 2009. However, Pazuzu claimed that he killed them in July 2009. He also said that his girlfriend Amber Burch helped him bury the dead bodies.
The investigation also revealed another surprising fact. Algarad had two women who claimed to be his fiancés- Krystal Matlock and Amber Church. While Matlock had assisted Alagard in burying one man, Burch was convicted of killing the second man.
Investigating officers also found that Algarad had called Burch to buy the second victim, and at that point, she was not living with him.
These discoveries resulted in Pazuzu and his girlfriends’ arrest, and the police also issued a formal search warrant for intense investigation.
The police then issued a warrant saying that the house owner needed to make the house habitable by April 14, 2015. So on April 24, 2015, the house was demolished.
In the meantime, the police transferred Pazuzu to Central Prison in Raleigh. He was transferred for safekeeping due to his mental disorders. As per investigating officers, he was found fit for trial and presented in court. He and his girlfriend both asked for state-appointed attorneys for themselves.
His Death and the Proceedings
On October 28, 2015, Pazuzu Algarad was found dead in his cell at 4.20 am. The autopsy report stated that he died due to excessive blood loss from a wound in the pit of his left arm. He probably committed suicide by cutting himself.
Later, the Chief Medical Officer found an electric razor and an unlabeled bottle with red fluid.
Even after his death, the case continued as Amber Burch was alive. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed robbery, and accessory after the fact of the murder. The court ordered her for 30 years and eight months of minimum and 39 years and two months of maximum jail term.
She uses a .22 caliber rifle to kill Tommy Dean Welch as per the investigation. However, Pazuzu used the same rifle to kill Joshua Fredrick Wetzler.
The Media Frenzy Around the Case
As soon as the case found its place in local newspapers, rumors spread. Gillespie said in the documentary that many of the facts were sensationalized to create an exciting story to fuel the interest.
It also created a riot and uproar against the people who claimed to practice satanism. But, any member of the Satanic Temple denied any contact with Pazuzu Allard. Liz Bradley, a member of the Satanic Temple, expressed her views of this case in an interview with Oxygen.com. She said that neither they supported Alagard’s view nor acknowledged him. In her words, “He(Pazuzu Alagard) clearly was a messed up person. I don’t know why anyone would take anything he says super seriously. People love to use the scapegoat of Satan. We want to look for a solution or an answer, and since mental health is difficult to understand, we can just point at Satan — especially in this particular case because the guy had a bunch of face tattoos.”’
Liz Bradley also added that real Satanists love empathy and compassion and do not perform animal sacrifices or horrific deeds. She said, “We strive for justice, seeking knowledge, and using science to guide our beliefs and not the other way around. General enlightenment values. And kindness.”
As per her, Satanists or those who are associated with the Satanist Temple are non-theistic in nature- “We don’t even actually believe in Satan, we use Satan as a metaphor … Our third tenet is that one’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s will alone. So we’re never going to violate someone’s bodily autonomy. I just want people to understand that.”
In conclusion
Overall, the case continues to haunt many people due to its uncanny serial killing and a psychologically unstable man involved in those murders and crimes. While some people consider him to be someone who needed treatment and the right direction in life, others believe he was a true criminal at heart.
This will be one of the most compelling cases in the history of the American Crime sector and will continue to question why Algarad chose such extreme lengths during his short span of life. Unfortunately, the answers are unavailable as Pazuzu is no more.
