Recent trial puts focus on Wiccans

Members of faith say real Wiccans do not believe in hexes or murder
By Mark Hodapp
Clinton County Editor



CENTRALIA - Wiccans and witches from across the country have responded to the story of Irenia Cotner, convicted of murder last week in Circuit Court in Clinton County for the murder of Joshua Bennett in August 2005.

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Nearly 20 members of the Wiccan faith have responded, and all say the same thing - hexes and murder are not a part of their belief system and is not something a real Wiccan would ever do.

The state argued successfully that Cotner and her companions believed that they had been hexed and that only by killing the hexer could they be freed. They intended to have a pregnant 16-year-old killed, but Bennett, a 20-year-old soldier about to be deployed to Iraq, was killed instead.

Elizabeth wrote, "I'm saddened by the loss of life in this case. Witches and Pagans are the type of people that believe all life is sacred, down to the smallest ant. A true witch would never do what these people did."

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