Criminal Mischief Episode 10: Rattlesnakes and Murder

Suspense Radio

SHOW NOTES:

“Good fences make good neighbors”—Robert Frost,”Mending Wall”

I suspect Ryan Felton Sauter’s neighbor, Keith Monroe, would agree.

People commit murder for a host of reasons. Things like financial gain, revenge, lust, anger, to cover
another crime, and many other motives. It seems that these motives can even
include a dispute with the dude who parked his RV next to yours.

All sorts of weapons are used for committing murder. Guns, knives, poisons, explosives, ligatures,
drownings, and gentle pushes off buildings or cliffs. Oh, don't forget
rattlesnakes. This seems to be what Mr. Sauter decided to employ. Simply
slipping the reptile into his neighbors RV might not work since rattlesnakes
make that buzzing noise to warn people away. So, wouldn't it be best to simply
remove the rattle. And I guess the best way for that is to bite it off.
You simply can't make this stuff up.

But snakebites are not always the result of some criminal activity. In fact, they rarely are. Most
snakebites occur accidentally. Hunters and hikers know this all too well. As a
kid growing up in Alabama, and stomping around in the woods on a daily basis, I
knew snakes well. I knew which ones to avoid and which ones were harmless. A
black racer was scary and fast, but harmless. Stumble on a rattlesnake or a
copperhead and that's a different story. And until you've seen a water
moccasin, or as we call them cottonmouth, you haven't seen an evil looking
serpent. These guys are thick, dark, and prehistoric looking. And very
dangerous. Yes, they can bite you in the water. So before you jump into that
swimming hole deep in the woods, you better make some noise and shake up the
water run off any cottonmouth might be around.

But other people are bitten while they are handling snakes. I don't mean just biologist or
herpetologist, those that study these creatures, but also those who use them in
religious ceremonies. You might think that snake handling is a thing of the
past and something that is only found in the South, but that's not true. There
are still several snake handling churches from coast-to-coast. Even though in
many locations snake owning and handling is not legal, the laws get shaky when
it's under the guise of religion.

Their justifications come from Mark 16:17-18

"And these signs
shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they
shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink
any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and
they shall recover.”

Snake handling in churches is often traced back to 1910 when George Went Hensley began incorporating them into his services at his Church of God with Signs Following. Many others have
followed in his footsteps. And many have been bitten such as John Wayne,
“Punkin” Brown and Jamie Coots, whose son Cody was also bitten while preaching
but saved when...