Florida police investigate ‘witchcraft’ murders

Florida police are treating a recent triple murder as a “ritualistic killing” and believe that the suspect had ties to witchcraft.

A 77-year-old woman and her two adult sons were found hammered to death with their throats slit in their Penascola home on Friday, but there was no sign of a break-in.

The way the victims were killed, the position of their bodies and the timing of the killings has Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan  questioning whether the murder was connected to Friday’s “blue moon”, an unusual astronomical phenomenon.

A “blue moon” is a nickname for a second full moon within one calendar month, an event that can occur once every three years.

Sheriff's office spokeswoman Sena Madison told CNN that authorities have questioned a person of interest but that no arrests have yet been made. 

Sheriff Morgan said that the three victims -- 77-year-old Voncile Smith and her sons, 49-year-old Richard Thomas Smith and 47-year-old John William Smith -- came from a "very reclusive family” and that neighbors who'd lived near them for years told investigators they'd never met them.

Authorities haven't released the identity of the “person of interest” or detailed why they believe that person, who practices witchcraft, is tied to the case.

"There are different factions of witchcraft,” Morgan said. “While it doesn't bother me to release that particular thing, I most assuredly do not want to defame or demean any particular practice.

"While we have a person of interest, there are still many things about this case we want to pursue."