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Edward Alexander CROWLEY

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 


Birth name: Henry Allen Bibby
 
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Stalker
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: May 7, 2000
Date of arrest: Same day
Date of birth: 1948
Victim profile: Diego Pineiro-Villar, 12
Method of murder: Stabbing with knife
Location: London, England, United Kingdom
Status: Sentenced to life in prison on February 12, 2001
 
 
 
 
 
 

Man charged with Covent Garden stabbing

By Jonathan Gibbs - The Independent

Wednesday, 10 May 2000

A man was tonight charged with the murder of 12-year-old Diego Pineiro-Villar in Covent Garden, London on Sunday. According to police, Edward Alexander Crowley, 52, unemployed and of no fixed address, was also charged with the attempted murder of a 15-year-old in Covent Garden.

Crowley, who remains in custody, is due to appear at Highbury Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Thousands of people were out enjoying the balmy weather conditions in central London when the attack took place at about 8.10 on Sunday evening. People nearby, including shopkeepers and restaurant owners, intervened to help the boys.

Diego, who lived with his Spanish mother in nearby Charing Cross Road, died from multiple stab wounds despite frantic efforts to save him by paramedics. He and his elder step-brother were taken to a south London hospital, but the younger boy was declared dead 40 minutes later. The 15-year-old boy's injuries were said not to be life-threatening.

Floral tributes were placed below a sign reading "Rest In Peace" which was nailed to a tree in the location of the incident.

Two messages attached to bouquets read: "You didn't deserve to die like this, we hope you are at peace now" and "Our sympathy".

A two minutes' silence was held at Diego's Spanish school, Canada Blanch in Ladbroke Grove, west London, this afternoon. Tomorrow will be an official day of mourning with lessons cancelled and a religious service instead.

 
 

How loner's obsession with occult led to fatal stabbing

By Jeevan Vasagar and Nick Hopkins - The Guardian

Tuesday 13 February 2001

A row of dilapidated swings is the only sign that Phoenix gardens in central London was intended as a children's playground. The grounds, in the courtyard of St Giles's church, Covent Garden, are a haven for drug addicts who hide in the bushes to shoot up.

It was here that 12-year-old Diego Piniero-Villar befriended Edward Alexander Crowley, a drifter four times his age, nearly two years ago.

According to Diego's mother, her son took pity on Crowley, 52, when other children started throwing stones at him. It was a kindness that cost him his life.

Diego could not have known the scruffy man carrying a plastic bag had a long history of mental illness and that he had developed an obsession with the occult.

Crowley's and Diego's relationship started with conversations by the swings and trips to play games at a local arcade, and were followed with visits to the swimming baths. Crowley bought Diego gifts and treats such as hamburgers, and for a while the schoolboy seemed flattered by the attention.

Police have never found any evidence that Crowley abused Diego, but the relationship was uncomfortably physical; it involved play-fights in which Crowley licked his ear and tickled his navel.

Diego appears to have kept their friendship a secret until the summer of 1999, when his mother became suspicious and contacted police. Officers were already on the case. Crowley had come to their attention in June that year, when residents reported seeing him approach children at Phoenix gardens.

In September 1999, Crowley went to Holborn police station to confess he was having a relationship with a 12-year-old boy, which he described as "loving but not primarily sexual". He then retracted the claim.

The subsequent investigation disturbed officers; a psychiatric nurse concluded Crowley was "a definite risk to young boys", and Diego's mother told them she had received calls from an anonymous man asking for her son. The boy, who by this time was unhappy with Crowley's attentions, was interviewed but gave no evidence of sexual abuse.

When detectives went to Phoenix gardens, they found messages painted with correction fluid on the swing seats. "I will always love you, Diego," stated one. "Please forgive me for everything. I couldn't stand the pain. One day you'll know how much you hurt me. How much I need you."

Another, dated November 2 1999, read: "Always cheat others before they cheat you - if they are clever enough. I wasn't and I wouldn't want to be."

It was addressed to "Bravo, mi chico Latino".

Crowley was arrested on November 3 on suspicion of indecently assaulting Diego, but released almost immediately for lack of evidence.

Crowley was not put off. On December 6, he went to Canada Blanch, the independent school Diego attended in west London, and painted in Spanish and English, this message across three doors. "Why did you cheat me Diego? Why all the lies? I should hate you but I don't. Alex."

He was arrested outside the school, and appeared before Marylebone magistrates the following day to plead guilty to causing criminal damage. He was given a two-year conditional discharge and released back on the streets.

Diego was clearly at risk. He was given a police mobile phone, enabling him to dial 999. Patrols around the school were stepped up and his step-father Juan Fernandez began escorting him to west London.

A few days later, Crowley was charged with harassment and remanded in custody by Highbury magistrates for mental health assessment. According to Camden council, a forensic psychiatrist who saw Crowley in prison concluded he was "dangerous and should be detained".

On March 20, three and a half months after his arrest, the CPS went back to magistrates and admitted the case was not ready to go to crown court for trial. Despite the objections of the police, district judge Dorothy Quick granted Crowley bail on strict conditions.

A charge of gross indecency was dropped a week later.

Crowley was ordered not to contact Diego, attend the boy's home or school, or go to Phoenix gardens. He was also to report daily at a police station, though this was relaxed after two weeks. Neither the police nor social services knew where he was. Crowley was not on medication and he was not under supervision from social services.

Mentally unstable and bearing a grudge that had festered in prison over 14 weeks, Crowley sought revenge.

On the evening of May 7, Diego's stepfather asked Diego and his stepbrother Roberto, 15, to run an errand.

As they passed Phoenix gardens at 8pm, they were confronted by Crowley, who was armed with a kitchen knife. He slashed the older boy, then turned on Diego, who managed to dial 999 on his mobile phone. The operator only heard his screams as he was stabbed more than 20 times. Diego was pronounced dead on arrival at St Thomas's hospital.

After the murder, police began to unravel Crowley's past and his fascination with the occult. They discovered his name was not Crowley. He was born Henry Allen Bibby in Middlesbrough in 1948, and had spent most of his adult life jobless and drifting. His medical records showed he had tried to commit suicide by drugs overdose on at least seven occasions.

His fascination with the occult can be traced from 1998, when he changed his name by deed poll to Edward Alexander Crowley, apparently in honour of the black arts magician Aleister Crowley, who styled himself "the wickedest man alive" and "the Beast". Aleister Crowley was born Edward Alexander Crowley and he died in 1947.

On one of the websites dedicated to the magician, police found the quote: "A male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory and suitable victim."

When Crowley was arrested after the murder, police officers found in his bag a piece of folded paper covered in references to child sacrifice in religion, black magic and classical myth. The Latin words "Delendus est D.Piniero - "Piniero must be destroyed" - were at the top of the page.

 
 

Care in the community kills 12 year old,  not Satan

Saff.ukhq.co.uk

The British media told you this man was a Satanist who killed a 12 year old boy in an 'Occult Sacrifice'.  In reality he was an indigent who had been reliant upon the British mental health system for 28 years.  Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic in 1972  he had attempted suicide on eight occasions and had successively and repetitively asked for help from doctors, social workers, the police and various occult healers of all kinds at various time before committing this  heinous murder.

Make no bones about it Edward Crowley has committed evil.  No genuine occultist or New Ager would in any way defend this person over such a horrid and unnecessary crime.  He committed the most terrible act one human can inflict upon another - to take away their life, and as such he has no sympathy from any right-thinking person. Even moreso is this the case when the occult beliefs of karma are considered.  However in the background to this case we see not simply the prosecution of a man who clearly committed murder, but an attempt by the prosecution to ascribe the motive as Satanic Human Sacrifice and it is this  which we repudiate.

If the prosecution's case had been floated before the Satanic Ritual Child Abuse Myth  had become fashionable it would have been laughed out of court - but after a dozen years of black-propaganda by sectarians and others, it was amazingly accepted.  And so another leaf is turned in the Intolerance which is being continually stacked up against unorthodox religious beliefs in the Western world.   The truth behind the Edward Crowley case is very different to that which the British press dolled out ,  as you will discover.

THE PROLOGUE

During his time in London leading up to this horrible murder Edward Crowley began to descend the slippery slope of indigence. He lost his abode and became dependent upon church communities in central London for sustenance.  Earlier he had fallen into the hands of priests in Westminster Abbey who, he declared, exorcised him!   Who knows how this experience impacted upon Crowley's mind.  

In previous instances of ad-hoc exorcism murders have followed. In one infamous case in Barnsley in the early 1970s, a man was exorcised by church ministers and promptly strangled his wife to death.  We are not for one minute suggesting that the exorcists at Westminster Abbey are in any way responsible, we simply mention this to show that Edward Crowley was running the gamut of  charitable institutions and help agencies over a long period of time. To ignore all these influences and jump to the conclusion that the murder he committed was intended as a satanic human sacrifice  needs much more evidence than the prosecution produced.

THE KILLING

Edward Crowley attacked poor Diego Piniero-Villar, a twelve year old from London's Spanish community, stabbing him to death with an ordinary  kitchen knife in a vile act of senseless murder in front of hundreds of witnesses. The killing took place in the middle of the day and in the centre of the  busy Covent Garden shopping precinct.   What evidence did the prosecution have to conclude that this was a Satanic sacrifice - precious little as it turns out. 

If this tragic case proves anything it is not that satanists sacrifice children but that 'Care in The Community'  has yet again failed our society and the weakest amongst us has had to pay for it.  At the trial all the authorities had something to hang their heads in shame about - no wonder the 12 year old's mother blamed them publicly for Diego's death.  

  • Where were the social workers who had a hand in Edward Crowley's life?   

  • Where were the police who had already arrested the man thrice previously for harrassing Diego and then let him out unsupervised?  

  • Where were the doctors who had supplied Edward Crowley with treatment over the years?  

  • Where were all the other free-lance counsellors he had turned to in the past?

  • Why did the system fail when so many knew and were involved?   

Edward Crowley never admitted to being a satanist, yet he was portrayed to the British public as a heinous occult criminal.  Was this to paper over the cracks in the British mental health system?   Many people think so and that is why an official inquiry has already begun into the case.   That is why the murdered boy's mother said  

"I blame the police as much as this criminal for what happened.".  

Is it looking less and less like a ritual killing to you?  Then read on , there's more to come.

THE BLACK-WASH BEGINS

At his trial the prosecution said that Edward Crowley emulated the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley and murdered Diego because he was influenced by the instructions on ritual sacrifice in the magical workbook titled 'MAGICK'.  

Observers of the decade long anti-occult propaganda war perpetrated by Christian fundamentalists against anyone with an interest in the New Age, will about now be starting to understand what has happened here.   For a dozen or more years fundamentalist agitators have been working-up this small section of  'Magick' as supposed "proof"  that Crowley's occult system  involves child sacrifice.   They have injected this disinformation into various cases; disguised themselves as 'experts' to confirm prejudices in investigating officers and generally promote the idea that some occultists will be lead to committing sacrificial murder because it is required by 'Magick'.  Once the 'idea' was coined that there was a book which outlined how and whom to sacrifice, it became common currency amongst other 'experts'.

In a less formulated way this is just what the fundies did during the Orkney and Rochdale Satanic Abuse cases which outraged the public in the 1990s.   Unfortunately for the fundies  every previous case which they claimed was proof of Satanic Ritual Abuse has failed , but they keep pushing, and each time they push, the conglomeration of  'circumstantial evidence'  accepted incidentally by the courts gets bigger and more impressive to the untutored onlooker.  Only this week yet another 'satanic abuse case' came to the courts in Plymouth. It was thrown out, making this the 86th  failed case which they have used to float their paranoia about supposed Satanic Ritual Abuse. Yet can you, dear reader, find information on these failed cases in the British Media?  

In comparison with the coverage they give cases like that of Edward Crowley the truth is buried in a small report somewhere at the back of the news where few will see it.  The result is that the Great British Public are having their reality modified and are more prepared to believe in the existence of Satanic Ritual Abuse because of this biased coverage than the fact that it is all a figment of the warped imagination of rabid fundamentalists and therapists on the make.   That's how propaganda works.

Yet each time the British media rush to headline the sensational claims of Satanic Crime they  also do the fundamentalists bidding and distribute  sectarian poison to infect the minds of the unstable.  With each day that passes it becomes more likely that a maverick loner, or mentally ill person, will  make a terrible call for help, or release their frustration with the system by taking action on a monkey-see monkey-do basis because the thought has been put into their heads.  Copy-cat crime is a known phenomenon amongst criminologists - what has that got to do with Satanism or the Occult? .

 It is testimony to the inherent responsibility of  occult method that despite the massive amount of such  continuous black-propaganda disseminated over the past  decade no such case has ever occurred but if the authorities of this country keep on allowing these harbingers to perpetuate these myths and lies, by the law of averages it will probably happen sooner or later and THEY will be responsible for it, just as they were responsible for the excesses of Satanic Hysteria in the 1990s.  With the Edward Crowley case the fundies were salivating in the hope they had struck lucky - but that is not what has happened as you will see.  

One of the fundamentalists' most circulated accusations about satanic child abuse concerns a 35 word statement in a chapter of  the  book 'Magick' where the Victorian occultist Aleister Crowley appears to be saying that children should be chosen for ritual sacrifice.  This small section has appeared in and been distributed through virtually every one of the 4,000 fundamentalist groups and house churches in the U.K.  Now, thousands of people who have never even read the book believe implicitly that it contains recommendations to commit human sacrifice.  

In fact, the twisted summations of the anti-occult sectarians are provably incorrect because the historical discussion on human sacrifice in this book  clearly contains its own repudiation elsewhere on the page. The fundamentalists never refer to the repudiation  in an effort to sell the lie that Aleister Crowley was a satanist who advocated the sacrifice of human beings.  Indeed to overcome this now perennial  disinformation the editors of the latest edition of Magick have included a new footnote explaining the repudiation clearly to avoid  sectarians misusing the passage . Unfortunately, because some prosecutors  and police appear ready to accept this catch-all in cases where a clear motive is absent they don't look further into it and rely  soely upon their experts' opinions.  

When seen clearly, devoid of the emotional turmoil surrounding these issues, the motives of the fundamentalists are clear - this is simply censorship and suppression.   Aliester Crowley was perhaps the single most influential occult author of the 20th century. His writings have a world-wide audience. He is a prime target for their sectarian poison.  They seek to discredit occultists and censor books which contain alternatives to Christian thought so that they can retain their monopoly over the spirituality of the nation and stop people leaving their fold.     If our society is to be truly inclusive and pluralist we must clearly fight such suppression and point it out for what it is, lest anyone becomes confused with their gambits.

Crowley's 'Magick' was originally published in 1929 and has been reprinted many times since.  The part which the fundamentalists continually quote consist of 35 words in a footnote. There are another 279,965 words which do not suggest that human sacrifice is required, but these are ignored by the bigots in favour of the 35 words which might do!   There are plenty of other books which have researched the incidence of  human sacrificial rites throughout history and perhaps the best of them (Sir James Fraser's THE GOLDEN BOUGH) is actually referred to by Crowley in his overview.  Of course nobody would dare to claim that Fraser's work was intended to cause human sacrifice, yet others are perfectly willing to criticise Crowley for writing about the same thing!   The proof of the pudding is in the eating; there are hundreds of thousands of Crowley devotees who have  over the past seventy years, read this section and employed Aleister Crowley's' magical method to better their lives.  Not one case of 'sacrifice' linked to Crowley's teachings has ensued.

Even if we were to accept those infamous 35 words as fact (instead of the allegory which was meant)  it would not explain why the prosecution decided that a human sacrifice had occurred in THIS case.   The prosecution cannot have their cake and eat .  If they are suggesting that Edward Crowley followed the historical details given in Aleister Crowley's book, then surely it stands to reason that the other requirements in the chapter on Sacrifice would also need to be found in the murder to qualify it as a 'sacrifice' - and they were not. The weight of the available evidence therefore repudiates the suggestion. These are the facts:

(1) The murder was committed in an open place, during the day, where there were onlookers who interrupted the attack and held Crowley down until the police arrived.  

(2) There is no suggestion that anyone else was involved with Edward Crowley, he was a loner.

(3) Though said to be a 'disciple' of  Aleister Crowley there is no suggestion that  Edward Crowley was a member of any occult group, was ever a member of an occult group,  or otherwise conspired with other occultists who were satanists.

(4) Aleister Crowley was not a satanist;  he did not term himself a satanist.  His books are freely available and their content speaks for themselves.  They concern monotheistic qabbalistic ceremonial magic- not satanism.  If Edward Crowley had chosen to be a Satanist (and there is no proof that he did) then why would he choose to follow the magical method of someone who wasn't a satanist?

(5) The murder was committed with an ordinary kitchen knife, not a sanctified sacrificial weapon.

(6) The murder did not involve a special killing blow but a succession of 30 random frenzied stabs. It was more like a crime of passion than anything else.

(7) Other people who intervened were also stabbed and injured.

(8) The murderer did not say magic words or spells or incantations - he reportedly said  'Don't say those things about me'

MOTIVE:

At first glance it is difficult to see any motive for the killing of  poor Diego except as a safety valve for the frustrations which haunted Edward Crowley.   The prosecution's case was based on two things.

  1.  The fact that Edward Crowley had an interest in occultism, and

  2. A drawing which was found amongst his papers after the murder.  

It is this drawing or sketch which provided  much of the 'evidence' which gives an occult slant to the murder.   This sketch is therefore crucial to an understanding of what happened and we have obtained , quite legally, a copy of  it so we can see exactly what the prosecution was talking about when it said there were 'diagrams relating to sacrifices'.

 In fact there were references to biblical sacrifices of Cain and Abel, Abraham and his first born.  Nothing to do with satanism there.

There was a Latin statement which was interpreted as meaning that Edward Crowley wanted to destroy Diego but it is not clear and no Latin scholar was called to give a definitive translation.

Taken as a whole Edward Crowley's sketch does  appear to provide proof of premeditation but there was nothing in the drawing which incontrovertibly indicated that a ritual murder was being planned.  To suggest that this was a plan of Satanic sacrifice, is stretching things too far.  Ultimately, the prosecution gilds the lily when they inferred that Aztec sacrifices were included.  The small doodle which their expert concluded was likely to be an Aztec altar, was nothing of the kind.   Aztec sacrificial altars were bee-hive shaped, not flat, as any archeologist will tell you.  In other words the prosecution had to work very hard to interpret this sketch as being  beyond any doubt evidence of  pre-meditated human sacrifice.  Having seen it, the most striking thing about the sketch is that there are no satanic links or references anywhere on it.

So, to the chagrin of the satan-hunters, this is yet another case which fails to fulfil their claims for satanic ritual child abuse.   Murder, yes.   Premeditated murder most probably,  but satanic sacrifice?  We think not.    We now wait to see how the fundamentalist machinery will rehash this case and re-present it as 'proof' of satanic ritual child abuse. If they run true to course, they will say that the conviction proves it, but the words of the Judge when summing up show that he was not convinced about the satanic sacrifice suggestion.  He said:  

'Whether your own beliefs had anything to do with the obsession or the killing I do not know, but you deliberately took the life of an innocent 12 year old..'  

Edward Crowley deserved his sentence for killing that poor young boy.  Nothing will exonerate him from that, so justice has been done; but when we find the inevitable meanderings of the fundamentalist lobby on this case and their worked-up claims about proof of satanic sacrifice, we will add a link to this page so that our readers can follow this plot of black-propaganda which has continued for centuries.   Keep tuned to this page.

 
 

Horror of devil worshipper's killing of boy

From the Northern Echo

Tuesday 13th Feb 2001.

The mother of a murdered 12-year-old boy was dragged from the Old Bailey yesterday after she hurled objects and abuse at a North-East devil worshipper who stalked and killed him.

Angeles Villar-Fernandez - with other relatives - threw water, plastic containers and court files at Teessider Edward Crowley, 52, as she heard how he had formed an intimate relationship with her son which ended in murder.

After they were hustled from court by police and officials the Common Serjeant of London, Judge Neil Denison, sentenced Crowley, who admitted killing Spanish schoolboy Diego Piniero-Villar, to life imprisonment.

Police said the boy suffered more than 30 stab wounds during a premeditated frenzied attack.

Crowley, of no fixed address but originally from Coulby Newham, near Middlesbrough, appeared unaffected as he heard details outlined of how he murdered the boy he was obsessed by.

He admitted murdering Diego on May 7 last year.

Born as Henry Bibby, Diego's killer was a disciple of the notorious satanist Aleister Crowley, and adopted both his hero's name and demonic philosophy.

A diagram found in his possession afterwards was headed "D Piniero is to be destroyed" in Latin. There were also diagrams relating to sacrifices.

Unlike his historical hero, who was born into wealth, Bibby had an unremarkable upbringing in Middlesbrough, becoming a pattern-maker for a short period after leaving school before settling into long-term unemployment.

By the time he was 24, he had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and went on to attempt suicide on at least eight occasions.

He moved to London in 1994, losing contact with his parents. His father died and his mother now lives in a home.

After his arrest, police discovered that Bibby had changed his name to Edward Crowley in December 1998.

A loner, Crowley haunted Phoenix Gardens in central London where he first spotted and befriended Diego. Residents were concerned about him hanging around the boy and informed police.

Crowley said their relationship became "flirtatious but not sexual".

Although Crowley was arrested three times, police found no evidence of any indecency.

He was finally charged with harassing the boy, who lived with his mother and her partner in Covent Garden.

Crowley was remanded in custody for psychiatric assessment in December 1999, but eventually released on bail.

Two months later he stabbed Diego to death in a crazed attack with a kitchen knife.

Now an independent inquiry has been started into the mental health and child care aspects of a case which ended in tragedy.

Diego's mother had repeatedly called police to tell them that her son was being stalked and harassed, and was petrified that something would happen to her "precious angel".

Crowley's counsel, Edward Fitzgerald, said: "This offence occurred against a background of a relationship of deep affection.

"There was no sexual content, but when Diego rejected him, he found it impossible to accept."

"He simply could not stop thinking about him.

 
 

Man gets life for Diego's murder

DailyMail.co.uk

The mother of a murdered 12-year-old boy was dragged from the Old Bailey today after she hurled missiles and abuse at a devil worshipper who had stalked and killed him.

Mrs Angeles Villar-Fernandez - with other relatives - threw water, plastic containers and court files at Edward Crowley, 52 as she heard how he had formed an intimate relationship with her son which ended in murder.

All were hustled from court by police and officials. Crowley was taken back to cells until the outburst was over.

The Common Serjeant of London, Judge Neil Denison, said he was not having them back into court "as there will, perhaps understandably, only be a repetition of this conduct".

He went on to sentence Crowley who admitted killing schoolboy Diego Piniero-Villar to life imprisonment.

Outside court afterwards Mrs Villar-Fernandez's sister Teresa called for the death penalty.

She said: "I wanted to kill him myself when I saw him in court. I feel the law is not good enough for child murder. It should be the death penalty for this man."

 
 


The victim, Diego Pineiro died from multiple stab wounds.

 

 

 
 
 
 
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