Teen mom claims she has killed at least 22 people in five states

Published 4:03 pm Saturday, February 15, 2014

A diminutive teenage mother charged with the stabbing death of a central Pennsylvania man she lured with an online companionship ad says she has been on a cross-country murder spree since she became involved with a satanic cult six years ago.

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Miranda Barbour, 19, made the shocking admission to the Sunbury Daily Item during a recorded interview Friday in the library of the Northumberland County Prison where she is an inmate.

The soft-spoken, five-foot tall Barbour could not recall specifically how many murders she had committed, saying: “When I hit 22, I stopped counting.”

She said some of the slayings occurred in Alaska, Texas, California and North Carolina and that she had no remorse because she killed only “bad people.”

Barbour said she confessed to the murder spree because “it is time for me to be honest and I feel I need to be honest.” She said she is willing to work with authorities “to pinpoint … on a map” where the murders occurred.

Sunbury police said they are working with authorities from several states and the FBI regarding Barbour’s possible involvement with unsolved murders elsewhere. The investigation includes looking into the death of a man with whom Barbour had a 1-year-old child.

“From information we gathered, we are seriously concerned and have been in contact with proper authorities,” said Sunbury Police Chief Steve Mazzeo.

Barbour and her husband, Elytte Barbour, 22, are accused of killing Troy LaFerrara, 42, of Port Trevorton, Pa.. three months ago.  Both are being held without bail.

LaFerrara’s body, with 20 stab wounds, was found Nov. 12 in an alley in Sunbury. Police said he had responded to a Craig’s List posting promising female companionship in exchange for money.

The murder occurred three weeks after the Barbours were married and had moved to the Sunbury area from North Carolina. Elytte Barbour told police at the time of the couple’s arrest in early December that they had planned to kill someone to celebrate their marriage, and that his wife took him to a strip club afterwards as a birthday present.

Miranda Barbour said in her jailhouse interview that she became associated with a satanic cult when she was 13 and living in Alaska with her mother. She said she came under the influence of the cult leader and that he helped her kill her first victim.

“It was in an alley and he shot him,” she said. “Then he said to me that it was my turn to shoot him. I hate guns; I don’t use guns. I couldn’t do it so he came behind me and he took his hands and put them on top of mine and we pulled the trigger. And then from there I just continued to kill.”

Eventually, she said, she moved to North Carolina, had a baby and sought  “to start over and forget everything I did. I knew something was bad inside me and the satanic beliefs brought it out. I embraced it.”

Francis Scarcella is a reporter with the Sunbury, Pa., Daily Item.