Murderer Thought Victim Was Vampire

Sun., June 8, 1997

Associated Press

A man was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for stabbing and slashing his girlfriend to death because he believed she was a vampire.

Christopher Michael Rowland was sentenced Friday for the 1990 murder of 18-year-old Roberta Mosenthiem.

According to testimony, the two went to a motel in Van Nuys, Calif., on Feb. 12, 1990, to make wedding plans, but Rowland, then 21, slashed Mosenthiem’s throat and stabbed her, placed crystals around her head and draped a black T-shirt with a pentagram over her body.

Rowland testified that he was under the influence of LSD and also was mentally ill, believing that Mosenthiem was a vampire bent on taking his blood and power.

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Murderer Thought Victim Was Vampire

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