Church of the Sacrifice
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| “ | About two months ago a family of negroes consisting of father, mother, and child was murdered under similar circumstances at Crowley, and about a year and a half ago a negro family of four, man, wife and two children were killed [in the same] manner at Rayne. The crimes are so alike that they may be the work of the same terrible monster. | „ |
| ~ Excerpt from an article in the Lafayette Advertiser detailing the Church's crimes. |
The Church of the Sacrifice, also known as the Human Five Gang, was a cult that existed in Louisiana during the early 1900s. The main beliefs of the cult were centred around black magic and voodoo, and in particular the idea of gaining riches via human sacrifice. To that end, the Church massacred at least 12 families, almost all of them poor blacks, until the cult's leader was exposed and imprisoned in 1912. Clementine Barnabet was convicted of the killings, but some historians dispute whether she was really guilty of all of them and whether the Church existed at all.
Known crimes edit
The first family identified as possibly connected to the case was that of a woman named Edna Opelousas and her three children, who were murdered in Rayne, Louisiana in 1909. The family had been hacked to death with an axe, with buckets of their blood at the scene and the weapon propped up against the wall. The horrific crime shocked everyone in the local area, but the police were unable to find any leads.
Two years later, the Byers family (including their young son) were murdered in almost identical circumstances in 1911. Soon after, four members of the Andrus family in Lafayette were found murdered in the same way. At this point, the police and media linked the cases as being the work of the same people.
Raymond Barnabet, father of the cult's leader Clementine, was apprehended after his mistress claimed he had to be involved. Clementine and her brother Zepherin (also a cult member) then falsely testified that he had bragged to them about killing the Andrus family and told them they were next.
However, while Raymond was behind bars, Clementine and her church struck again. Norbert Randall, his wife, their three kids and a nephew were found slaughtered in a fashion similar to the previous murders. The only difference was that Norbert had been shot in the head. Clementine and Zepherin were both arrested due to their actions at their father's trial and having had blood on their clothes. Zepherin had an alibi and was released, but Clementine was charged with the killings because she had no alibi, having committed the murders. However, the Church continued to operate and killed three more families, along with leaving a message from "Human Five". The Church was dubbed "the Human Five Gang" by the press.
Eventually, Clementine confessed to the murders and told police about the Church's existence, claiming her brother was a member. She confessed to 17 murders, and claimed the the Church had killed 35 people in total. However, she constantly changed the details of the murders, leading to speculation that she might have been lying. Zepherin and the other two leaders were arrested, and the Church was destroyed.