Trio killed girl in ‘satanic ritual.’ 2 are free

Pair who pleaded no contest in 1997 are on parole. Third says his case was mishandled.

- By SANDRA McDONALD

ELYSE PAHLER was 15 when she was killed by the three boys in San Luis Obispo County in 1995.

It was a July evening when Elyse Pahler, 15, sneaked out of her bedroom in the Central Coast town of Arroyo Grande, planning to get into some mischief. A boy from school had gotten her number from a friend and invited her to smoke weed in the woods near her family’s home.

The boy was Jacob Delashmutt, also 15, and he brought along two friends. Delashmutt and his schoolmates Royce Casey, 16, and Joseph Fiorella, 14, all shared a passion for death metal, and they formed their own band called Hatred.

One of their favorite groups was Slayer, a popular metal act that featured a song with lyrics about worshiping Satan and sacrificing a blond, blue-eyed virgin.

Pahler fit that description as she walked to join the three metal heads that night in 1995. Three decades later, Delashmutt described what happened next to a state parole board.

Delashmutt, now 45, said that once they had smoked marijuana, he and the two other boys attacked Pahler when she was distracted by the sound of a passing car. He wrapped his belt around her neck, strangling her while Fiorella stabbed her and Casey held down her arms. Then they each took turns stabbing her with a 12-inch knife, according to his testimony, first in the neck then in the back and shoulders.

ROYCE CASEY, left, Jacob Delashmutt and Joseph Fiorella shared a passion for death metal. One of their favorite bands sang about Satan and human sacrifice.