Remembering Satan (27 page)

Authors: Lawrence Wright

Tags: #True Crime, #Non-Fiction

BOOK: Remembering Satan

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^*Cf. Phillips Stevens, Ir., “Universal Cultural Elements in the Satanic Demonology,”
Journal of Psychology and Theology
20, no. 3 (Fall 1992). There are other common elements of folklore involved in the Ingram case-notably, Chad Ingram’s dream of the witch that comes into his window and sits on his chest. This common nightmare is known as an “Old Hag attack” in Newfoundland, where it has been extensively studied. David J. Hufford has written about this fascinating phenomenon, in both Newfoundland and the United States, in
The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions
(University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982).

A Note on Sources and
a Few Words About Journalism

The investigative files into the case of Paul Ingram and those of Jim Rabie and Ray Risch occupy many boxes in the Thurston County Courthouse, and they were the primary material for much of this book. Some of these interview sessions were recorded, although only a few such tapes survive. Those that do provide a better understanding of the emotional interactions between the investigators and the victims and the suspects who were caught up in this extraordinary affair.

Most of the investigators spoke freely to me (I was not able to talk to Tom Lynch or Paul Johnson). All of the detectives I dealt with were helpful and candid. I also interviewed various people in the prosecutor’s office, including Patrick Sutherland, David Klumpp, and in particular Gary Tabor, who gave generously of his time and made many materials available to me. Psychologist Richard Peterson agreed to speak to me on two occasions. In addition, I interviewed Jim Rabie and Ray Risch; their wives, Ruth and Jodie; defense, attorneys G. Saxon Rodgers, Judith Weigand, Wayne Fricke, and Gary Preble; many members of the Church of Living Water (although not Pastor John Bratun, who no longer serves as associate pastor); friends of the Ingram family and teachers of the Ingram children; Kenneth Lanning of the FBI; Karla Franko; Tyra Lindquist and Ann Bridges at Safeplace; Bart Potter, the former
Olympian
reporter who covered the case; Mark Papworth, an anthropologist at Evergreen State College, who supervised the excavation and search of the Ingram property; Richard Ofshe; psychologist Chris Hatcher, director of the Center for the Study of Trauma at the University of California, who spoke with members of the Ingram family on behalf of the prosecution; and psychiatrist Dr. Alan Traywick, counselor Geri Walter, and therapists Margaret Cain Roberts and Sydney Gienty, all of whom gave me the benefit of their perspectives without compromising their relationships with their clients.

When I attribute thoughts or reactions to people in this book, they themselves are the sources, through either personal interviews or statements they have made on the record. Frequently a scene will have several sources with conflicting perspectives; for instance, the scene in which Richard Ofshe performs his “little experiment.” Not only Ofshe but also Brian Schoening, Joe Vukich, and Paul Ingram participated in that discussion and shared with me their versions of the event. Where I have quoted dialogue in that scene, it consists of the words each man attributed to himself.

I was able to interview Paul Ingram several times, by phone and letter and in person; Julie I interviewed once, in the presence of Loreli Thompson, for a period of three hours; Chad spoke to me over the phone on several occasions. Sandy and Ericka chose not to be interviewed, and Paul Ross could not be found. Paul’s sister Robin Ingram was also quite helpful in providing family background. Where I have quoted family members I did not talk to, or attributed reactions to them (such as Sandy’s surprise when the detectives told her that her husband was a homosexual), such material comes from their interviews with the investigators or statements in court hearings or in the valuable recorded interviews with Ofshe. Sandy and Paul both kept diaries (Sandy’s is actually a series of notes to herself on scratch paper which form a haphazard log), which
were made part of the record. In addition, Paul has written several accounts of his life, in letters to friends and in a lengthy letter to journalist Ethan Watters, which were available to me.

There have been several other accounts of the Ingram case. Richard Ofshe wrote about it in a paper titled “Inadvertent Hypnosis during Interrogation: False Confession Due to Dissociative State; Mis-Identified Multiple Personality and the Satanic Cult Hypothesis,” which was published as the lead article in the
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
40, no. 3 (1992). In addition, there was the seminal article by Ethan Watters in the July/August 1991
Mother Jones,
titled “The Devil in Mr. Ingram.” The only critical account in Olympia was an excellent series by Chris Bader, a student at Evergreen State College, which appeared from October to December 1991 in the
Cooper Point Journal,
the student newspaper. I have had the benefit of their insights and research.

In some cases, lengthy interviews have been compressed to be made more succinct, although, I believe, with no loss of context. If material is excerpted within a statement, the abridgment is indicated by an ellipsis. It is a convention of journalism, which I subscribe to, that when a quote closes, the next quote may actually skip over the dross that so often fills the spaces of open conversation. For instance, when the polygraph operator asks Jim Rabie, “Have you ever/found yourself to be vindictive?” I have Rabie respond simply, “When provoked, and my anger is really high, I can be vindictive, yes.” The actual response is:

A bit within—uh—one thing I—I try never to say something that I can’t back up. I try never to say anything that isn’t true and so if I—even in anger—say something, I may be very vindictive in saying too much of the truth. I don’t, uh, make up something or say something that isn’t the truth. Yet, I—I hurt Ruth once in a while because she’s got some very sensitive areas, and I know that, and if we get into an argument that I may bring it up or say something about some things that are very painful to her. So in some respects, I am probably a little bit vindictive and it—it’s not, not that much. I mean, it isn’t a constant thing, by any means. But when provoked, when my anger is really high, I can be vindictive, yes.

This is not at all an extravagant or unusual example, because this is what real conversation often looks like, when exactly transcribed. It is the same with a reporter’s notes or tapes of an interview. The reporter has a duty to sort through such material and draw out the pertinent statements. It is the reporter’s job, and his badge of honor, to present this material fairly and let the reader draw his own conclusions. But it is the writer’s job to prune away needless, ungainly verbiage and make the reader’s experience as interesting and pleasurable as possible. The reader should not have to recapitulate the boredom and frustration and confusion that the reporter endured while uncovering the story and that the writer suffered while trying to make it comprehensible. I feel the need to make such statements only because of the lowered level of public trust where journalists are concerned.

I arranged and paid for Jim Rabie’s second lie detector test from an independent polygraph operator in another county. As a reporter, I do not use polygraphs, nor do I believe that they should be used in court, because of their questionable accuracy. The decision to use the polygraph in this case was a writer’s decision. I supposed that for some readers Rabie’s failure to pass the lie detector test would be nearly conclusive proof of his guilt. In my mind, it was not; however, it seemed obligatory to test him again in order to represent the interest of the readers who believe strongly in the efficacy of such devices.

On the subjects of memory, hypnosis, and the subtleties of psychological states, I drew upon the books and papers cited
in the text, as well as personal interviews with Dr. George K. Ganaway, Dr. Paul McHugh, Ricardo Ainslie, Jev and Sydnor Sikes, Elizabeth Loftus, Dr. Harold I. Lief, Dr. Judith Lewis Herman, Margaret Singer, Randy Noblitt, Hollida Wakefield, Michael Nash, Linda Meyer Williams, Fred Frankel, Stuart Grassion, and Martha Rogers. I also relied on
Repression and Dissociation: Implications for Personality Theory, Psychopathology, and Health,
Jerome L. Singer, editor (University of Chicago Press, 1990);
Hidden Memories,
by Robert A. Baker (Prometheus Books, 1992); and
Trauma and Recovery,
by Judith Lewis Herman (Basic Books, 1992); and the Standard Edition works (translated and edited by James Strachey) of Freud. In addition, I want to thank Urs Frei and Susan Engel for their thoughtful letters on the subject of repression. On the folklore of satanic-ritual abuse, I was able to talk with Sherrill Mulhern at the University of Paris, Jeffrey S. Victor of SUNY, and journalist Debbie Nathan, who has done ground-breaking work in this field. I also referred to Victor’s
Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend
(Open Court, 1993);
The Satanism Scare,
James T. Richardson, Joel Best, and David G. Bromley, editors (Aldine de Gruyter, 1991);
The Myth of Ritual Murder: Jews and Magic in Reformation Germany,
by R. Po-chia Hsia; and
The Witches’ Advocate: Basque Witchcraft and the Spanish Inquisition,
by Gustav Henningsen (University of Nevada Press, 1980).

As is evident, this book is a collaboration of the thought and goodwill of many people, and I thank them for their kindness.

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