Wiccan Woman Killed Man as Apparent "Sacrifice," Says Detective; Accused Claims Self-Defense

By: Barry Leibowitz
Topics: Daily Blotter

Angela Sanford (KRQE)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (CBS/AP) Angela Sanford, an Albuquerque woman thought to be a practitioner of modern witchcraft, killed a man in an apparent sacrifice, authorities say. A detective reviewing Sanford's cell phone said the victim's phone number was actually programmed under the word "sacrifice."

Sanford is accused of killing 52-year-old Joel Leyba last month with a dagger, after inviting him to join her in a Wiccan celebration of spring. She claims Leyba tried to rape her near a popular hiking trail east of Albuquerque, and that she stabbed him in self-defense.

A Bernalillo County grand jury indicted the 30-year-old Sanford on Wednesday.

Authorities have previously said that Sanford, a self-described witch, stabbed Leyba at least a dozen times with a ceremonial knife, and that her account of the killing doesn't add up.

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
March 25, 2010 - Wiccan Woman Charged With Murder, Stabbed Victim With Ceremonial Knife, Say Cops

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by bluegreenseas August 23, 2011 4:03 PM EDT: It is sad seeing Wicca being portrayed like this... If she was Wiccan she would have stayed by the Harm None rule...; Reply to this comment


by Witegaschadde March 14, 2011 7:25 PM EDT: From the looks of it better than 75% of the people commenting have no idea what the Wiccan religion is or is about. Do a little research people before opening your mouth and sounding off about things you know nothing about. Not all witches are Wiccans.; Reply to this comment


by theo-j July 6, 2010 7:55 PM EDT: I've practiced Wicca as a celebrant, a student, and a cleric for fifteen years; Angela Sanford is no more typical of Wiccans than albino Siamese twins are typical of the human species. She reads as being mentally ill---and to an irrational mind anything can be 'rationalized', including human sacrifice. She doesn't register as someone who can readily sort out their spiritual leanings from their supertitions. Tabloid grotesques aside, the question here is whether this woman understood the consequences of her actions in the real world. But of course, tabloid grotesques are always good for high ratings, big audience shares and brisk newsstand sales; hence the media's tone in this case. I only hope the presiding judge sees through the horror-movie patina which Ms. Sanford's case has already aquired.; Reply to this comment


by theo-j June 16, 2010 7:07 PM EDT: This case weirdly parallels one here in Washington state, which is only just concluding. Sherry Harlan, whom I knew from a Wiccan church's rituals, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend Eric Christensen. Eric claimed that she'd joined him in a "Wiccan blood oath", and that her violation of same gave him the right to revenge. Eric had a long criminal past which he'd concealed from all of us---a prison stretch in Oregon for armed assault, a string of arrests, and a rating as a level-one sex offender. Sherry was seeking a restraining order (encouaged by friends who attended the same Wiccan church), but Eric got there first. Senior clergy from our church helped set the prosecutors straight about Wiccan practices, with the result that Eric Christensen was convicted of first-degree murder. The co-operation with law enforcement (and their willingness to listen) represented a huge step forward---but it cost us a much-beloved friend's life. Be at peace, Sherry.; Reply to this comment


by OhNoez May 20, 2010 10:09 AM EDT: Wiccans are by far the most peaceful people I've ever met. They're comfortable to be around, and I love nature with all my heart. I "love" how the CBS jerks said she was Wiccan just so they could paint her in a bad light. What would happen if a Christian burned a person at the stake and said "I needed to make a sacrifice to God"? They would say "Man burned another man at stake" or something similar. This article makes me sad that this crazy lady would demean the true nature of Wicca. If anything, she's more than likely apart of a cult.

Ah well, as most have said, there are freaks in every religion that ruin it's name for everyone else. BAH! And I can't believe in happened in the city I live in! Horse guano, I say, horse guano!; Reply to this comment


by elder_one April 15, 2010 3:24 PM EDT: if people remember last new in new mexico a group of christian women tortured a lady and and her child not yet one years of age and decapatated and burned for being a witch the child was a innocent and yet. it seems the burning times of salem past are still alive and well. Question do not wiccan have the right to defend them selves or are they prey for any one that decides to take their bad hair of on some unsupecting soul. if we seek answers we will find that 6 million people died by christians because they were called witch, and they were torutured and their fate the same burned alive. Remember that violence is not aceptable. CBS seems to be sensatlization the story....; Reply to this comment


by elder_one April 15, 2010 3:14 PM EDT: this is ludicrus. Now if a christian killed some one they dont plaster another christian kills a person. Or they dont comment a christian rapes a woman. and they dont say a christiam phediphile priest still claiming victims. and yet they decide to broadcast that a wiccan does it shows how narrow minded cbs reporters are and may be they should understand more..In this world our jails are filled with what religion hmmmm not hard to figure filled with chritians......; Reply to this comment


by danacorby April 14, 2010 11:54 AM EDT: UKRAINLOVER & All: Nobody said human sacrifices occur in the Spring NOW. Good grief, no! In some (not all) ancient Pagan cultures, there were springtime sacrifices in commemoration of the death and resurrection of a god -- usually a crop god like Tammuz or Dionysos. The victim was chosen by lot, so no human had a hand in the decision -- it was left up to the gods. This history is the reason Christianity placed the feast of Jesus' death and resurrection in the Spring: Nobody knows for sure what time of year Jesus died and the church fathers intelligently decided they might as well take advantage of the associations the people already had with this time of year.

Please understand that today's neoPaganism and Wicca are not the same religions as those of the ancient world, for the simple reason that this is not the ancient world. We honor and hark back to ancient ways, but in keeping with modern sensibilities. What the Assyrians and Carthaginians (two cultures notorious even in their day for excessive sacrifice) may have done, or even the ancient Greeks, is entirely irrelevant to modern practice except insofar as cosmology and myth.; Reply to this comment

by scarletdaisies April 11, 2010 3:52 PM EDT

Wiccan are supposed to be vegans, although it's not required. They worship celtic gods, meditate for faeries in trees and flowers, or water, or where ever they feel there is one. They don't sacrifice animals or people, it's against their religion and has been for a thousand or more years.

Maybe Devil worshippping, but not Wiccan. It's totally out of character of their religion. They are a nature worshipping religion.

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by Witegaschadde March 14, 2011 7:22 PM EDT: You are an idiot. Wicca is a new religion that has only been around since the 1950s started by Gerald Gardner. Nothing you have stated is even close to the truth. Stop spreading misinformation that you read in a Lewellyn book.

by Tygrehart April 11, 2010 2:36 PM EDT

Ultimately what we have too little information. How did these two meet? Does she have any past history of violence or mental illness? Did her alleged victim for that matter? Is she really a Wiccan or did investigators find a couple books in her apartment and make the assumption? Does it matter if she is or not? A man is dead and the best motive we can come up with is he was to be a pagan sacrifice? While I am not pleased at the law enforcement officials for latching onto possible the "witchcraft" facet of this case I am more displeased at the shoddy reporting and sensationalist headline of this piece.

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by danacorby April 14, 2010 11:37 AM EDT: Tygerhart: Actually, we have plenty of information. We know that the police got the so-called 'Wiccan' connection from Angela Sanford herself, who told them she was one and apparently believes herself to be one even though she knows very little about it. We know that she met the gentleman some weeks previous to the killing, at a casino, and that they had phoned/texted back and forth several times in the interim. And we know from her blog, unless it has been taken down by now, that she was seriously disturbed with a fixation on religion. The oddest part of the whole thing is that her ex-boyfriend posted on another site that she had been raped in the past and had 'issues' with men because of it. She appears to have been a responsible young woman who raised two children, one not her own, and then suddenly got weird. Did she have a psychotic break? Did she plan to kill a random man in revenge for her rape? These are the things we don't know and may never know.