Richard Allan Kasso Jr. (March 29, 1967 – July 7, 1984), also known as the Acid King, was an American murderer who killed his friend, 17-year-old Gary Lauwers, in

Northport, New York Northport is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, New York (state), New ...

, on June 19, 1984. Two other teenagers, Jimmy Troiano and Albert Quiñones, were present at the murder, which took place in the Aztakea Woods of Northport; all four were under the influence of what they believed to be

mescaline Mescaline, also known as mescalin or mezcalin, and in chemical terms 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, is a natural product, naturally occurring psychedelic drug, psychedelic alkaloid, protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, found ...

, but was most likely

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

. The murder became a sensational news story due to the alleged torture of Lauwers and supposed

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

aspects of the murder. The murder took place during a period known as the " Satanic panic", when there was much public concernThere were two famous suicidal deaths in the 1980s that led to trials in U.S. courts, one involving

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

and a second involving

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

.Several political groups advocated censorship and/or ratings for rock music, most notably

Tipper Gore Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore (née Aitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate. She was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to the 45th vice president, Al Gore in 1970, from who ...

Parents Music Resource Center The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related, or sexual themes via labeling albums ...

and

Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch ...

's Moral Majority.A history of music censorship is given in: Deflem, Mathieu. 2020
"Popular Culture and Social Control: The Moral Panic on Music Labeling."
''American Journal of Criminal Justice'' 45(1):2-24 (First published online July 24, 2019). See also: Lynxwiler, John and Gay, David, 'Moral boundaries and deviant music: public attitudes toward heavy metal and rap', Deviant Behavior, 21:1, 63 – 85. over the effects of Satanic and occult content in

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...

and in

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

s. Kasso was wearing an

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

T-shirt at the time of his arrest and was a fan of groups such as

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

and

Biographical background

Ricky Kasso was the son of a local high school history teacher and football coach at affluent Cold Spring Harbor High School. He was often thrown out of his home as a young teenager and lived on the streets of

, a suburb of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; he usually slept in the local woods or in the cars, garages, backyards and houses of friends. Kasso often took drugs, mainly

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

hashish Hashish (; ), usually abbreviated as hash, is a Compression (physics), compressed form of resin (trichomes) derived from the cannabis flowers. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, As a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive ...

, PCP and purple "microdots" of what he believed to be

but was most likely low-grade LSD. He tended to save all of his drugs for his own use but had on occasion dealt drugs in Northport as well. Kasso was acquainted with the members of a loosely organized group of friends who sold marijuana; they referred to themselves as the "Knights of the Black Circle." After the murder, several newspapers and television journalists incorrectly reported the Knights as being a "satanic cult." Kasso allegedly participated in

ceremonies, mostly in Northport, and celebrated

Walpurgis Night Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German language, German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve) and Walpurgisnacht, is the Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations ...

at the infamous Amityville Horror house in 1984. He also expressed to friends his interest in Anton LaVey's book ''

The Satanic Bible ''The Satanic Bible'' is a collection of essays, observations, and rituals published by Anton LaVey in 1969. It is the central religious text of LaVeyan Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. It has been descr ...

''. On at least one occasion, Kasso's parents admitted him to the South Oaks Psychiatric Hospital (formerly known as Amityville Asylum) in Amityville for drug rehabilitation and psychiatric care. In the year prior to the murder, Kasso had been arrested for digging into a colonial-era grave inside a local cemetery. Less than a month after his arrest for this crime, he contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and was treated at Long Island Jewish Hospital. During his hospital stay, Kasso's parents tried to convince doctors to commit him for involuntary psychiatric care. However, the conclusion of the psychiatrists was that Kasso exhibited

antisocial behavior Antisocial may refer to: Sociology, psychiatry and psychology *Anti-social behaviour *Antisocial personality disorder *Psychopathy *Conduct disorder Law *Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 * Anti-Social Behaviour Order *Crime and Disorder Act 1998 * ...

but was neither psychotic nor a violent danger, and he was released upon recovering from his bout with pneumonia.

Murder of Gary Lauwers

The conflict between Kasso and Gary Lauwers had started some time earlier, when Lauwers stole ten bags of PCP from Kasso's jacket after the latter had passed out at a party. Kasso confronted him soon after the incident, prompting Lauwers to immediately return five of the ten bags. Lauwers also promised to repay Kasso $50 for the five bags of PCP that had been used. Kasso reportedly beat Lauwers on four occasions. On the night of the murder, he visited the small

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

in Cow Harbor Park and borrowed a radio from a friend. He then invited Lauwers to get high with him, Jimmy Troiano and Albert Quiñones. The group walked to Aztakea Woods, set up camp and ingested several doses, or "hits", of what they believed to be mescaline. The drugs they ingested were tablets called "purple microdots", and while they were erroneously referred to as mescaline on the street, they were likely LSD. The teens also smoked several bags of PCP before attempting to start a small fire, but all of the available firewood was too wet and would not ignite. Lauwers used his socks, as well as the sleeves from his denim jacket, as kindling to start the fire. At some point during the night, the situation escalated into violence. Kasso scuffled with Lauwers, bit him on the neck and stabbed him in the chest. Kasso continued his assault on Lauwers, Quiñones initially claimed that Troiano helped Kasso and held Lauwers during the attack. During subsequent testimony, provided under immunity, Quiñones claimed that Troiano did not assist Kasso. Lauwers was stabbed somewhere between 17 and 36 times and his eyeballs were possibly sliced out during the stabbing. During the attack, Kasso allegedly commanded Lauwers to "Say you love Satan", and Lauwers is said to have instead replied "I love my mother," before finally giving in to Kasso's demands. After the attack, Kasso and Troiano covered Lauwers' body with leaves and small branches and left it in the woods. The date of the murder was initially misreported by the police and press as June 16, 1984. In 2018, it was revealed that the murder had actually taken place three days later on June 19.

Aftermath and death

In the aftermath, Kasso bragged about the murder to friends. Kasso claimed Satan manifested in the form of a black crow after killing Lauwers, and that the crow had cawed, something he interpreted as Satan's approval of the murder. Kasso even brought several disbelieving teens to view Lauwers' body before he and Troiano returned to the woods to bury the decomposing remains in a shallow grave. However, it wasn't until two weeks went by, on July 1, that the murder was reported to the police via an anonymous tip. On July 4, 1984, police used dogs to search Aztakea Woods and recovered the decomposing and mutilated body of Gary Lauwers. Kasso and Troiano were arrested the next day. On July 7, Kasso died of suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell. Jimmy Troiano signed two confessions that he later recanted. Quiñones gave witness account that Troiano helped Kasso during the murder, but later denied this during his testimony at Troiano's trial. Due to Quiñones' drugged state at the time of the killing, his testimony was brought into question and Troiano was acquitted of

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

in a trial by jury in April 1985.

Books, films, songs, and bands inspired by Kasso

Books * ''Say You Love Satan'' (published October 1, 1987 by

Dell Books Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, I Confess (magazine), ...

; ) by David St. Clair, a heavily fictionalized telling of the events that is no longer in print. For his book, St. Clair plagiarized several portions of "Kids in the Dark", an article by David Breskin for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', and Breskin considered legal action. Literary critic and journalist Phil Jenkins of the

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

called it "trash", "lowbrow", and "junk" in his review. Documentaries * ''The Devil Worshippers'' (1985, TV), episode of ABC news program '' 20/20'', featuring the Lauwers murder. * ''Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground'' (1988, TV), prime-time episode of '' Geraldo'' narrated by

Geraldo Rivera Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Rivera; July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, attorney, author, and political commentator who worked at the Fox News Channel from 2001 to 2023. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Geraldo'' from 1987 to 1998. He g ...

, also featuring the Lauwers murder. * '' Killer Kids'' (2012, TV), episode "Occult Killers", directed by Jean Leclerc for

The Biography Channel FYI (stylized as fyi,) is an American basic cable channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between the Disney Entertainment subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications (each owns 50%). The network features lifestyle p ...

, featuring the Lauwers murder. Films * '' Black Circle Boys'' (1997), directed by Matthew Carnahan. It was inspired by the events in Northport. "Shane Carver", the character very loosely based on Kasso, is played by Eric Mabius. * '' Ricky 6'' (2000), also known as ''Ricky Six'', ''Ricky 666'' and ''Say You Love Satan'', directed by Peter Filardi. "Ricky Cowen", the character based on Kasso, is portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser. Winner of the Audience Prize at the

Fantasia Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...

, it has never been officially released. * My Sweet Satan (1994), directed by Jim Van Bebber, a loose retelling of the murder in Northport starring Van Bebber as Ricky Kasslin. Albums and songs * "Sudden Impact!" (1985, ''

This Is Big Audio Dynamite ''This Is Big Audio Dynamite'' is the debut studio album by the English band Big Audio Dynamite, led by Mick Jones, the former lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. It was released on 1 November 1985 by Columbia Records. The album p ...

'') by

Big Audio Dynamite Big Audio Dynamite (later known as Big Audio Dynamite II and Big Audio, and often abbreviated BAD) were an English band, formed in London in 1984 by Mick Jones (The Clash guitarist), Mick Jones, former lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of th ...

* "Satan Is Boring" (1985, '' Bad Moon Rising'') by

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

* "0-0 (Where Evil Dwells)" (1987, ''

Dirtdish ''Dirtdish'' is the sole studio music album, album by English-based industrial act Wiseblood (band), Wiseblood. It was released in 1986 by K.422/Some Bizzare Records, Some Bizzare. It was re-released on CD in 1995 by Thirsty Ear. The CD release o ...

'') by Wiseblood. Covered by

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial met ...

on their 1998 album ''Obsolete''. * "Bad Party" (1988, '' Beelzebubba'') by the Dead Milkmen * "Cryin' Shame" (1989, '' Wake Me When It's Over'') by Faster Pussycat * "Psychedelic Sacrifice" (1993, '' Burn, Baby, Burn!'') by

the Electric Hellfire Club The Electric Hellfire Club is an American industrial rock band mixing elements of glam metal, techno, gothic rock, and psychedelia. The band's lyrics contain tongue-in-cheek references to sin, violence, sex, devil worship and similar theme ...

* "True Believer" (1999. '' The Gathering'') by

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

* " Teenage Dirtbag" (2000, ''

Wheatus Wheatus is an American rock band from Northport, New York, formed in 1995. They are known principally for their 2000 single, "Teenage Dirtbag". They also experienced success with their 2001 cover version of Erasure (duo), Erasure's "A Little ...

'') by

* "Catacomb Kids" (2007, '' None Shall Pass'') by

Aesop Rock Ian Matthias Bavitz (born June 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American rapper and producer from Long Island, New York. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerg ...

* "From Listening to Lightning" (2009, '' The Lightning EP'') by Wheatus * "Cat's Cradle" (2010, ''TV, Death And The Devil'') by Nü Sensae * "Severed Heads of State" (2012, '' The Grimy Awards'') by Ill Bill * '' Time to Die'' (2014) by Electric Wizard * "Acid King" (2018, '' Malibu Ken'') by Malibu Ken (

and

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

)

Notes

External links

"Kids In The Dark" by David Breskin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasso, Ricky 1967 births 1984 deaths 1984 suicides 20th-century American murderers American murderers of children American people who died in prison custody American Satanists Crimes involving Satanism or the occult Male juvenile murderers Murderers who died by suicide in prison custody People from Northport, New York Prisoners who died in New York (state) detention Suicides by hanging in New York (state)