4 ‘Vampire Cult’ Teens Extradited

Four teenagers believed to be part of a self-described “vampire cult” were returned to Florida to face charges of killing the parents of one of the suspects. They joined another teenager extradited earlier on charges surrounding the Nov. 25 bludgeoning deaths of Richard and Ruth Wendorf of Eustis, Fla. Police say the youths drank their own blood and that of mutilated animals and became attracted to vampires because of a best-selling role-playing game. Defense lawyers called them scared youths and dismissed the vampire claims. But a bloodstained bedsheet and a paperback book for conjuring spells were among hundreds of items seized from a vehicle the five allegedly used to flee the slaying. Police said they also found a black-handled hunting knife and a mesh backpack with a dismembered doll hanging from it.