Subliminal Messages Crux of Suit

Subliminal messages or “gobbledygook?”

That was a key question explored in a Washoe District Court here during the first week of a trial in which British rock group Judas Priest is accused of causing two teen-agers to shoot themselves in a suicide pact on Dec. 23, 1985.

Attorneys for the parents of Raymond Belknap and James Vance are trying to persuade Judge Jerry Whitehead that subliminal messages in the band’s “Stained Class” album led to the shootings.

Belknap, 17, was killed by the self-inflicted gunshot. Vance, then 19, survived his suicide attempt, but was horribly disfigured and died three years later of complications possibly associated with the incident.

To back the parents’ claim, William Nickloff, Jr., who calls himself an expert in subliminal messages, played the Judas Priest song “Better By You, Better Than Me” in the courtroom, saying it contained the concealed phrase “do it” at least seven times.

The phrase, combined with the record’s overt violent and suicidal imagery, led to the suicide pact, attorneys for the parents said.

The song was played forward, backward, speeded up and with quick switches from loud to soft volume by Nickloff. But Whitehead did not indicate whether he heard the phrases.

Those present in the courtroom had their own opinions. Some said they heard the “do it,” while others said there was nothing there.

Rob Halford, the band’s lead singer, said the alleged “do it” sounds are nothing more than the breathing noises or band instruments. He said that would become obvious when the defense plays the song on 24-track sound equipment.

Phyllis Vance, the mother of James Vance, conceded she could not decipher the “do it” phrase from the recording in the courtroom.

“I heard a ‘D’ but I didn’t hear the rest of it. I became too upset,” she testified. But she said she was convinced that these messages are on the record.

Gail Edwin, an attorney for CBS Records, which is also a defendant, called the so-called messages “gobbledygook,” and said the demonstration was an illusion much like visiting a fun house with distorted mirrors.

However, Kenneth McKenna, co-counsel for the parents, said of the alleged subliminal messages, “We demonstrated they exist.” Attorneys for the families also said that the messages “try suicide” and “let’s be dead” are also hidden on the record.

The debate continued Friday when attorneys defending the band challenged the credentials of a self-proclaimed expert on subliminal messages.

The parents are seeking unspecified money damages to compensate for the deaths, and to support a child fathered by Vance after the shooting. They are also seeking to recover money for medical bills plus punitive damages from CBS Records, which distributed “Stained Class.”