Some parents will go the extra mile to protect their children, as long as they believe they’re doing the right thing. Sometimes, feeling like they’re doing the right thing means suing a world famous metal band.
Elyse Pahler was born on April 24th, 1980 to parents David and Lisanne. She was the oldest of four, and generally a very happy child. The Pahler family all got along relatively well, and were very active in their church and within the community of Arroyo Grande, California overall. Elyse was known for being a very creative person, who enjoyed painting, and was very talented in the arts.
During the summer of 1995, Elyse was a very charming, very active 15-year-old with a large social circle. Her parents knew most of her close circle of friends, but were aware that Elyse had started hanging around a rather rough crowd. Elyse hadn’t began acting out in a manner that concerned her parents, but they kept an eye on her, though they let her have a fair amount of freedom and autonomy.
On the evening of July 22nd, 1995, Elyse spent the night at home with her family, watching movies. At around 10:00 PM, she received a phone call from a friend, but didn’t seem to be too alarmed by it. A short time after, she received a 2nd phone call.
After this second call, Elyse announced to her parents that she was feeling tired, and going to bed. She told them she loved them, and then went on to her bedroom. This was the last time her family ever saw her.
Later that night, Elyse’s father and her sisters went to check up on her. Instead of finding her in her bedroom, they found pillows tucked up under her blankets instead of Elyse herself. It appeared as though Elyse had snuck out of the house after shutting herself up in her bedroom.
Elyse had snuck out before, but had always returned before dawn. While frustrated, her parents let it be, and figured they’d have a talk with their daughter in the morning.
However, Elyse never returned home that morning. Panicked, her father, David, called the police and filed a missing persons report.
The investigation was quick to go cold.
Nearly a year after Elyse had gone missing, her case turned in an extremely unsettling direction.
On March 16th, 1996, a young man walked into the Sheriff’s department, and told the officers investigating Elyse’s disappearance an extremely troubling story.
Royce Casey informed investigators that he and his friends, Jacob Delashmutt and Joseph Fiorella, had murdered Elyse the night they lured her from her home in July of 1995. Casey had been overcome with guilt, after a renewed devotion to Christianity had prompted him to confess.
Casey told investigators that he and his friends had formed a metal band, and would often browse online forums that were devoted to the occult. Through these forums, they were told by another user that if they “committed the ultimate sin” by sacrificing a virgin, their band would find fame and fortune.
Fiorella had a crush on Elyse, and put her forward as a sacrifice. Fiorella and Delashmutt then began planning how they would go about their plan, according to Casey. They believed that Elyse was perfect for their goals.
For weeks, the three stalked Elyse, monitoring her movements, and figuring out her routine. They wanted to make sure that everything went flawlessly.
On the night of July 22nd, they lured Elyse from her home with the promise of marijuana. While Elyse never bought any for herself, according to those who knew her socially, she would partake if it was offered to her.
Fiorella, Delashmutt, and Casey met up with Elyse, and then brought her to a eucalyptus grove on the Nipomo Mesa, near her home. They smoked a little marijuana, and then Delashmutt attacked Elyse by wrapping a belt around her neck.
Elyse was brutally abused, and murdered as the three took turns attacking and stabbing her.
Casey led law enforcement to where her body had been hidden.
On March 19th, 1996, a public statement was made announcing that Elyse Pahler’s body had been found, and positively identified.
With Casey’s confession, all three felt the pressure of a trial looming over them. They pleaded no contest to her murder.
Royce Casey, Jacob Delashmutt, and Joseph Fiorella were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 26 years.
David and Lisanne were enraged at the circumstances that led to their daughter’s murder. They felt that the three men who committed the atrocious attack had been under the bad influence of heavy metal music. They felt that without songs such as “Postmortem” or “Dead Skin Mask”, both by Slayer, Casey, Delashmutt, and Fiorella wouldn’t have been influenced to attack Elyse.
As justice had been served on the three murderers, the Pahlers sought reparations through other avenues.
They sued the band Slayer, claiming that the songs had given Royce, Delashmutt, and Fiorella specific instructions on how to commit murder – any murder, but especially the murder of their daughter.
The trial was delayed until 2000, as those involved wanted to wait until the trials of Royce, Delashmutt, and Fiorella had concluded.
The judge threw the lawsuit out, concluding that the lyrics the band wrote had no influence on the actions of the three men who had committed the murder of Elyse Pahler.
David and Lisanne filed a second lawsuit, which met a very similar fate. In the end.
Delashmutt agreed with these conclusions. In a prison interview with the Washington Post, he stated that it wasn’t their love of Slayer that contributed to Elyse’s murder. It was Fiorella’s obsession with Elyse. He wanted her, and couldn’t have her, so no one else could either.
In June of 2022, Royce Casey was granted parole.
At the time of this writing, Joseph Fiorella had a parole hearing, which seems to have been denied. Jacob Delashmutt has a parole hearing scheduled for December 2024.
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Sources:
Local judge grants parole to Royce Casey, man convicted of killing Arroyo Grande teen – Claudia Buccio – KSBY
The Satanic Sacrifice of Elyse Pahler – Emily G. Thompson – Morbidology
Horror Hotspot: The Murder of Elyse Pahler – Grace Measles – Timber Creek Talon
True Crime Garage podcast – Episode 347: Elyse Pahler
Murder of Elyse Pahler Wikipedia page