Beasts of Satan
Written by: ML
Edited by: Grave Reviews Staff
The killings committed by the heavy metal band Beasts of Satan shocked Italy. It was deemed one of the most shocking crimes in this Roman Catholic country. Priests and parents were among the many others who feared that this might spread devil worshipping and drugs among the youth.
Heavy Metal and Devil Worship
Aside from the interest in heavy metal music and forming a band, Andrea Volpe had a strange fondness for snakes, the number 666, black candles, and goat skulls. He and the other band members were linked to a wider network of a satanic sect. Authorities found a notebook or diary of some sort containing phrases such as “blood and death, blood raining down, blood bathing all my body, blood thirsty for blood” and “crushing those who are our friends, or who would like to be but aren’t up to it, crush them then laugh” and other notes about conducting satanic rituals. It said, “Madness is always one of the risks. It is necessary to maintain concentration on hatred.”
Other notes include, “We are wicked individuals. We plague the people and we play with their lives. Pitiless, we will eliminate and cleanse, donating the ash of our enemies to he who sits on the throne.”
The Brutal Killings
It started in 1998 when two members of the band, Chiara Marino and Fabio Tolis went missing. They were involved in a sacrificial rite involving heavy metal music and were killed by their band mates Andrea Volpe, Nicola Sapone, and Marco Maccione.
The couple was reportedly killed under a full moon. Marino was stabbed with a knife through the heart just because the satanic cult thought her to be a depiction of the Virgin Mary. Tollis was hammered on the head trying to save her. They were both buried in in a large and deep grave in the woods near Milan. The killers even danced over it.
Another victim, Mariangela Pezzotta, was shot in the face and buried alive in 2004. She was Volpe’s ex-girlfriend who was said to have known so much about the Beasts of Satan and their involvement with the 1998 killings. Volpe invited her for a friendly dinner but they had a fight about this issue and Volpe shot her in the throat. He called Sapone for help. Sapone hit Pezzotta with a spade and buried her alive in the greenhouse of Volpe’s fiancée Elisabetta Ballarin.
Eventual Capture and Confessions
Heavily influenced with drugs, Volpe and Ballarin tried to get rid of Pezzota’s car. They were supposedly aiming to drive it into a river but they crashed and got arrested. They were questioned for the Pezzota murder and the discovery of the body in a shallow grave. This was when Volpe confessed to the 1998 murders. He cooperated with the authorities and led them to the woods near the town of Busto Arsizio where Marino and Tollis were buried.
During the investigation, Pietro Guerrieri confessed that he was the one who beat Tollis to death. Other members of the satanic sect were accused of pushing the band’s drummer, Andrea Bontade, to commit suicide because he refused to join them in killing Marino and Tollis. He got drunk, drove his car, and crashed. Because of this, there had been up to 14 other strange and similar cases of suicides, disappearances, and violent deaths in Italy linked to the Beasts of Satan.
Conviction and Sentencing
In early 2005, Andrea Volpe was sentenced to 30 years in prison. His prosecutors were asking to lower it down to 20 years for the reason that he had confessed and cooperated with the investigations.
Pietro Guerrieri was sentenced to spend 16 years in prison. A third suspect, Mario Maccione, was acquitted despite confessing because his role to the crime was only criminal conspiracy.
In 2006, Nicola Sapone was given a life sentence. Paolo Leoni, Marco Zampollo, and Eros Monterosso were sentenced to 24 to 26 years in prison. Elisabetta Ballarin, on the other hand, was given 30 years in prison for her involvement with the band.
In 2007, changes were made. Leoni was upgraded to life sentence. Zampollo’s sentence was increased from 26 years to 29 years and 2 months. Monterosso was also increased from 24 years to 27 years and 3 months. On the other hand, Ballarin’s sentence was decreased to 23 years.
This controversy involving the Beasts of Satan led the Vatican to strengthen their diabolical possession and exorcism expertise to prevent the rise of satanic cults in Italy.
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