From cafés and bars to grocery and bookstores in the small but burgeoning Southcentral Alaska towns of Palmer and Wasilla, people don't have murder on their minds. The name Miranda Barbour elicits little reaction while the nickname "Craigslist Killer" makes eyes widen with recognition.
Still, residents in the central hub of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough said they are not discussing the alleged 19-year-old murderer's claims that she killed many of her 22 or more victims in Alaska. Barbour, formerly Miranda Dean, told a reporter with the Daily Item during a jailhouse interview that she joined a satanic group at 13, and she first murdered shortly thereafter.
"I don't think people are taking it seriously," said Palmer resident Judy Wilmarth as she enjoyed lunch at Vagabond Blues. "She claims she joined some sort of satanic group at such a young age ... I think they're all lies from a delusional person."
Whether or not Barbour killed when she'd just become a teen is unclear. What is clear is she faces a murder charge for the fatal knifing of Troy LaFerrara of Port Trevorton, Pa. She is accused of murdering 42-year-old LaFerrara after meeting him online via a Craigslist "companionship" ad and agreeing to have sex with him.
Barbour allegedly picked LaFerrara up at a mall on Nov. 11 while her new husband, 22-year-old Elytte Barbour, hid in the backseat. After the vehicle was parked, LaFerrara was stabbed to death, and both Elytte and Miranda reportedly admitted to the murder, saying Miranda stabbed LaFerrara while Elytte wrapped a cord around the victim's neck.
Real talk in the Valley
The peculiar murder story does not interest Wilmarth despite its Alaska connections. Her doubts were echoed by others around the Valley, the name Alaskans have adopted for the Mat-Su region. People are more concerned about the economy and more interested in world affairs than salacious news stories, she said.
"No one is talking about it at the gym," she said.
Stay-at-home mom Kelly Selmer said she can understand why the story would fascinate some Valley folks: "You know, bored people in the winter reading murder novels, and they may start to wonder about their neighbor of 15 years down the road who they don't really know."
However, most resident are more concerned about the Iditarod, which is shaping up to be a rough ride for competitors this year due to treacherous trail conditions, or the Iron Dog snowmachine race, Selmer said.
Skipping schools
Outside of Vagabond Blues, a light snow blanketed South Alaska Street, the main artery of what is commonly regarded as downtown Palmer. The street is lined with businesses -- barbershops, eateries and health care providers.
Across train tracks to the east of the heart of Palmer are the offices of the Alaska State Troopers and the Palmer Police Department. Law enforcement officials were busying themselves with webinars, phone calls and out-of-office training and declined to comment on what effect the now-worldwide story of an alleged satanic serial killer is having on residents.
The troopers -- who operate statewide, including the area in and around Valley communities -- issued a press release statement Tuesday reporting they had no evidence to suggest Barbour's claims of Alaska murders are true.
And locals are unconcerned with the girl who, according to local news reports, moved from North Pole in the Interior to Southcentral when she was 5 years old. She lived in Anchorage and Palmer before moving out of Alaska in 2011, according to Permanent Fund Dividend records.
Barbour attended school in the Mat-Su during the 2009-2010 school year, starting at Colony High School, which sits between Palmer and Wasilla. The 2009 yearbook doesn't include a photo of Barbour. Her second semester was spent at Valley Pathways High School, an alternative school for at-risk students. Pathways does not produce yearbooks because "we couldn't get kids to buy them," according to a secretary.
Satanism and multiple murders? Possible, not probable.
By friends' accounts, Barbour did live in or around Palmer as a teen. She was into snowboarding and partying with a small group of friends. "She was a normal kid with problems and wanted to hang out with older kids," one friend, who didn't want to be identified, said in a Facebook message.
She was, for the most part, a normal Valley girl, the friend said, although Barbour did have a tattoo on the back of one of her calves that the friend believed to be a Satanic symbol.
Residents contended they'd never heard of a satanic following or an established chapter of the Church of Satan in the area. Just like the murders, though, residents said such a thing was not out of the question.
"I haven't heard of (an established group of Satanists) but it wouldn't surprise me all that much. You can find everything everywhere, like weird murders and Churches of Satan," said Palmer resident Bryant Leader. "Everyone for one reason or another is obsessed with that stuff. It makes for good news stories."
Palmer is small, he said, and people know each other. But Leader's coworkers have all had the same reaction to Barbour's claims: "She's crazy. Maybe crazy for attention."
But Barbour's father told the Daily Item he did not dispute his daughter's claim of being a Satanist. He also said she can be manipulative.
Former friend Jake Moore said on Facebook, "This girl had some demons and for her to do something like this is just a cry for help. She's a kind girl and always has been but (she) has been known to stretch the truth.
"I'm not saying what she said isn't true. I could see her being misled so far that she would do this. She is a very persuasive person."
Perhaps more telling of her reportedly manipulative behavior is Barbour's alleged drug use. Friends say she fell into using heroin, another claim her father backs up. According to the Pennsylvania newspaper, Barbour's father Sonny Dean said his daughter has spent most of her life in and out of treatment since she became hooked on heroin.
Satanism alive and well
Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss said heroin is causing trouble in the area. Residents innocently get into partying at young ages, then the drugs take over and ruin their lives, he said.
Troopers reported last year that the number of heroin seizures in urban areas continues to increase, and the highly addictive drug has spread to less populated areas of the state.
DeVilbiss lamented about drug use as he peered out his office windows on the third floor of the borough's administrative building, a stone's throw from downtown Palmer. The snow-capped Chugach Mountains rose in the background beyond fertile but frozen flatlands. As he glanced at the outside world, the mayor said he lost his 15-year-old son to drugs.
Problems with drugs may be a given, but unlike other residents, he said he believes locals who worship the devil are just as real.
"Satanism is alive and well in the Valley," he said. DeVilbiss is by all accounts a religious man. He helped found the Lazy Mountain Bible Church in Palmer.
Having lived in the Mat-Su for a "very long time," DeVilbiss recalled friends calling police about possible séances, gatherings at which people attempt to contact spirits. Also, he said, such practices and drug use are oftentimes tied together.
Rational minds are pushed over the edge with hard drug use, he said, and their actions become all the more dangerous when tied to cult behavior.
Satanism exists in the area to DeVilbiss, but he remains skeptical about Barbour's murder claims. If she did kill, she had help, he said: "She was just bait on a hook." And given the timeframe and number of people the young woman allegedly killed, it's highly unlikely, he said.
The retired head of the troopers' investigation unit based out of Palmer said much of the same. If Barbour did in fact slay scores of people around the Valley, she would have come up on law enforcement's radar, Dallas Massey said. Massey -- who retired in 2006, before the Craigslist Killer allegedly began her killing spree -- has been keeping an eye on the story.
As for the Church of Satan ties, Massey said some offenders had fascinations with those ideals, but neither he nor other officers never came across an organized group.
Contact Jerzy Shedlock at jerzy(at)alaskadispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter @jerzyms.