Prosecutor of 4 Youths in School Fires Hints at Witchcraft Connections

Four teen-agers charged in four Escondido school fires that caused more than $1 million in damage and an act of vandalism at an Escondido Catholic church may have been involved in witchcraft or magic, prosecutor Karen Walter said Wednesday.

One of the four, a 16-year-old girl, had a collection of books on witchcraft and magic in her bedroom, according to police investigative reports. Graffiti found at two of the arson sites and crosses, uprooted and inverted during the church vandalism on Feb. 18, were also cited as possible evidence of witchcraft connections.

Described as Quiet, Shy

In an all-day hearing to determine whether the four youths should be tried as adults or juveniles, Dr. Alan Minkowsky, a clinical psychologist called by the teen-age girl’s defense attorney, described her as quiet, shy and not a person who would initiate a criminal activity. Minkowsky said the interest in witchcraft was “not unusual” among teen-agers.

But Walter, a deputy district attorney, said the girl, who is charged with participating in two of the four arson fires, had suggested that the group go to Orange Glen High School, where fires were started in two classrooms and an adjacent workroom, causing an estimated $223,000 in damages.

Judge Sheridan Reed, presiding judge of the Juvenile Court, recessed the fitness hearing until 7:30 a.m. Friday to allow time for defense attorneys to argue on the teen-agers’ behalf.

Also charged in the arson fires are two 17-year-old boys and a 16-year-old youth.

Two of the boys are charged with participating in all four arson fires, the third in two. Three fires occurred in succession the night of March 18. Besides the Orange Glen fire, $900,000 in damage was done to the Escondido High School cafeteria and theater and $40,000 to a classroom wing at Del Dios Middle School. The fourth fire was set in a portable classroom at Escondido High on March 10 and caused about $40,000 damage.

Went to Other Schools

Evidence brought out during Wednesday’s fitness hearing indicated that the group had gone to several other schools but had left because there were people present. Screens had been removed from windows at two locations where no break-ins had occurred, and student lockers had been broken into and their contents scattered.

Walter argued that the four teen-agers should be tried as adults because of the magnitude of the damage caused, the danger to which dozens of firefighters were exposed and the inconvenience caused to hundreds of high school students and their teachers because of the damage to classrooms and to the cafeteria, which prepared hot lunches for all the city’s high schools until the fire.

The attorney also called Escondido fire investigators, who testified that each March 18 fire had been set at several points and that there was evidence that an “accelerant,” such as gasoline or lighter fluid, had been used at two of the fire sites.