Italy: Satanist Heavy Metal Murders Prompt Urgent Response From Police

BBC News reports: Italian police want to set up a special unit to tackle the growth of new religious sects, particularly a violent new breed of home-grown Satanists.

The new police squad would include psychologists, as well as a priest who is an expert on the occult.

It would co-ordinate — nationwide — investigations into potentially dangerous religious movements.

The move follows a spate of high profile, gruesome murders blamed on a new generation of Satanists.

They indulge in a lethal blend of black magic, hard drugs, sex and heavy metal.

In the most recent case a gang known as the "Beasts of Satan" bludgeoned, then buried alive, two of their own members — a young woman and her boyfriend — in woods outside Milan.

Experts say the number of Satanists in Italy is tiny — and the product as much of youthful alienation as of any more traditional religious conviction.

Read more at BBC News.