“The Castlegar Sun JSEAN SELLERS GREW UP TO BE n May 18, 1969, Vonda Sellers gave birth to a beautiful, bluc-cyed baby boy. The cuddly little bundle of joy pond Brow up to be a multiple ler. Vonda was 16 years old when Sean was » Three years later, when “her marriage dissolved, she was forced to struggte. at menial jobs to support herself: and her son. : Vonda was a survivor, She met and fell in love with Lee Bellofatto, On Jan. 1, 1977, Vonda became Mrs. Lee Bellofatto, _, Lee was a long-distance truck driver who spent lengthy periods of time away from home. He was a ‘good husband to Vonda, a loving father to Scan. To ‘Increase the famlly's Income, Vonda often accom- ‘panted Lee on his long trips. On these occasions, yi ft In the care of his grandparents. Ho “was a polite, loving youngster who did. well at school and in no way caused teachers or parents “any trouble. He and his stepfather grew extremely xelose, i 4 h Unfortunately, Lee's profession necessitated his ,moving the family from location to location, In 10 “years the Bellofattos moved a total of 30 times. It seemed to Sean that he would just make new ‘friends when he would have to up and feave with his “parents, “Sean first became acquainted with Satanism in California when he was only cight years old. By the time the Bellofi moved to McA , Ol ‘the cute littte blond boy was reading everything 2about Satanism that he could fay his hands on. His obsession was still a secret. ~ At Will Rogers Elementary School, he made straight A's. At home, he was Vonda and Lee's “pride and joy. Scan, with his blue cyes and ready smile, was the epitome of wholesome small-town »American youth. Under this facade lurked a 13- year-old loyal follower of Satan. * Scan Sellers, the all-American boy, made f special friends — boys and girls who took sin drinking cach other's blood, boys and girls .B to perform the “Black Mass. enn emerged as a leader, a self-pro- claimed priest, who now was well acquainted with alcohol, marijuana, speed and valium. All the while, his parents had no idea that the driving Si force in their son's life was to please jatan and carry out his commands, For some time it had been the rule in the Bello- fatto family to respect their son's privacy. His room was his sanctuary, until the day he got into a fight at school. The fight was over possession of a book. Not just any book—a Satanic bible. Vonda was shocked. Now curious, she entered her .son’s room. There she found his makeshift altar, complete with silver goblet, sword and black can- dies. Vonda told her husband of her discovery. Lee was fit to be tied. His stepson had been one of the ‘joys of-his life, a top student, a budding athlete. Now. came the realization that he didn't really know Sean at all. A heated argument ensued in which i Lee forbade his son to practise Satanism, . : The tecture had no effect on’Sean. If anything, his ractise of Satanism grew In intensity. Sean was no longer satisfied with drinking blood and destroying ale. Satan crled out for human sacrifice, Sean took one of his friends, Richard Howard, into his confidence, Later, Richard's story. of what tran- spired on the night of Sept. 7, 1985 would differ considerably from tho tate told by Sean, We'll relate Sean's verston, The two boys talked about a ritual killing. They agrecd that.a Robert Bower, who had once refused to sell them beer at the Circle K convenience store, would make a fine victim, Equip; with a .22 calibre handgun and a .357 Magnum taken from . a relative’s home, they drove out to the store.’ It was after midnight. They engaged the 36-year-old Bower in conversation before Sean shot him ‘to death with the 357 Magaum. On the drive home, the devil's disciptés laughed at the thrill of the kill, A few hours later, customers discovered Robert. Bower's body and called police. From the time of the Bower killing, Sean's per- sonality altered drastically, He underwent abrupt mood changes, Often he argued with his mother for no apparent reason. In time he grew to hate his mother and stepfather, whom he perceived to be overly strict. Soon*Satan was telling him that he would be far better off without Vonda and Lee. Six months after the murder of Robert Bower, Sean was convinced that he had to kill his parents. He would do it with Lee's loaded .44 Smith and Wesson, the one Lee kept hidden in a closet. It was March 5, 1986. Sean slowly undressed. He then put on a black-hooded cape to perform his Satanic incantations at the altar in the privacy of his room. : After relnforcing himself with the will of Satan, he carefully made his way to his parents’ room. They were fast asleep. Sean killed his stepfather first. Then he shot his mother in the face. Sean took a refreshing shower. He laughed as the water cascaded down upon his shoulders and washed away his mother’s blood. Sean Sellers, 16 years of age, acted in a- cool and calculating manner. He entered his parents’. room and opened bureau drawers in order to simulate a robbery. He unlatched a patio door. He hid his Satanic parapher- nalia in a closet in his room, Only then did he wrap the murder weapon in a towel and leave. Sean went to his friend Richard's house and told him what he had done, Next morning, the two boys drove to the pizza parlor where Vonda worked, ostensibly to pick up a note advising Sean's first- class teacher that he would be late for school that day. Believing that he was reinforcing an alibi, when he didn’t find his mother at work, Sean pro- ceeded to his home with Richard, Sean entered the house and “discovered” the bedies of his par- ents. He ran hysterically out of the hot hot “Call an ambulance. Hurry!” eae Z QIN TIMES PAST — A smi and, his stepfather: Lee B killed Robert Bower. right, would later murder. his mother, Vonda, A MULTIPLE KILLER) iling Sean Sellers, ellofatto. He also , AuzThe, Castlegar Sun i by Nancy Lingtoy ‘Experie _ learned of hi “ mates confirmed his devotion to Satan. That same Detectives were soon questioning Richard Howard. He told them that Sean had slept over at his house the night before, but was returning home to get a note from his mother. Sean was questioned, He was calm, potite and cooperative. Despite his apparent. straightforwardness, detec- tives inquired about Sean at his school, They is fight over the Satanic bible. Class- day, Sean became the prime suspect in the murder of his parents, Detectives decided to requestion Richard Howard. Richard broke down and told the whole story. He Jed police to the murder, weapon, which he had tossed Into a trashcan. at his grandfather’s home after Sean had entrusted him with its disposal. In regard to the Bower illing. Richard swore that he had‘ witnessed the killing from his vehicle and had had no idea that Sean had been about to commit murder, Sean was Immediately taken Into custody. He too confessed in detall to his years of Satanic worship and to the murders of his mother, stepfather and Robert Bower. : Richard Howard's lawyer plea bargained. Richard recelved a five-year deferred sentence on a reduced charge of accessory to murder in exchange for his testimony in all three murders. Sean Sellers was found guilty of the murders of Robert Bower, Vonda Bellofatto and ac Bellofatto. He was sentenced to death and presently resides on Death Row in Oklahoma State Prison. 000 “New: manual fo VICTORIA — Solicitor General Ivan Messmer. and the McCreary and I guide- lines to assist parents with their Centre Society today a new driving manual for parents of young drivers. NOW OPEN BEAVER FALLS ACHINING LT GENERAL MACHINING & FABRICATING CWB Certified Welders Driveline Parts & Repair Steel-in. Stock Member of Steelworkers Union 4190 Minto Road LOCATED IN THE ELECTRO DOHMEN BUILDIN Call Greg or Gary 365-5464 Fax 367-7696... said, “This manual will be a welcome addition to our exist- ing instructional material and should aid us in our continual efforts to improve highway safety, especially among our young people.” The concept, developed over several years by the McCreary driver edi and training process. The title of the manual is “Co-Pilot.” The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and the Motor Vehicle Branch of the ministry of Solicitor General have assisted the McCreary Society with the manual. The McCreary Society is a reg- istered non-profit society whose aims are to further the study of also spon- Centre Socicty, provi * Happy belat: & Love Carrie, Steven, Pearl & Randy « Happy belated birthday Auntie Cheryl Love Carrie & Steven + Irene Diamond from Nadine, Nick, * Fawn-Lee & Nicholas + Bill Diamond from Nadine, Nick, Fawn-Lee & Nicholas + Cecil Mark from Corey, Charlotte, Christopher & Carol ed birthday Dallas THIS WEEKS WINNER IS Phone In Your Birthday Wish & We Will Bhthday Greetings Must be Phoned (36: ‘Pick Up Your |ROYAL TREAT ‘Jat the ‘Thureday Of Tho Wook Balora The Paper Comes Out. : ee ais Cy wee ; Castlegar Dairy Queen BY LOGO Print it Froe of Charge. All 5-266) In By Noon ¢ r-parents of young drivers ‘Sors seminars on various aspects of child and adolescent health. In British Columbia, young drivers account for a disproportion- ate number of traffic accidents. In 1989, approximately 20 per cent of all persons injured, or killed, in motor accidents were between between the ages of 16 and 20. Each year, approximately "40,000 persons-aged 16 to 19 receive their first drivers licence. Messmer added, “When the statistics tell us two people are killed every day, and injured at a rate of almost 130 a day, it is my hope this manual can help us reduce these fi; “Co-Pilot” will be available at all Motor Licence Offices, Govern- ment Agents offices and Autoplan agents, CONTACT: Janice Schmidt Director, Road Safe! 387-1065 aoe _ Selling something? Phone 365-5266 Do A Number On Your ’ Garbage. For information on how, * what and where to recycle in Greater Vancouver call R-E-C-Y-C-L-E 5 (732-9253) Or Call Toll Free 1-800-667-4321 age British Columbia Handle with care 1 Ministry of Eerrronment Mon, CUI Serwa, Minister Rabbit Rousing © At our house, when I used to be little (O.K., when I used to be younger), Easter came second only to Christmas on the hysterical, can't-wait-for-it, anticipation scale, as far as my brother and I were concemed. ese Ke Even though our knowledge of basic biology at that age was pretty rudimentary at best, it did seem, perhaps, just a tiny. bit odd that a giant white rabbit: (shades of Alice in Wonderland) would hippity-hop into the house and spend the night hiding brightly colored eggs, small stuffed animals, and baskets filled with candy and toys in strange, but Not too terribly hard to find, places, And that was another thing. Given this rabbit actually laid these eggs,.some with our names on them even, Easter Bunny was, suppos- edly, male. : Our knowledge of. basic biology may have been poor, but we weren't stupid. We kept our questions to ourselves and believed whole- heartedly. — And continued to rake in the loot well into our teens. - - But the Easters of my childhood weren't totally without their down- side, Every year, my mother — probably unintentionally, maybe not, I do, after all, take after her — was the cause of a major, major trauma during this otherwise happy time. Yearly, at a tender age, I had to deal with the Easter Burny Cake Calamity. F Each and every year, for Easter dinner, my mother would bake a cake that, with its fluffy coating of white coconut, resembled a better than reasonably life-like bunny. : She'd bring this cute litle fellow, in his nest of green coconut, to the dinner table. Then, with a certain amount of ceremony, she'd take the GREAT BIG KNIFE and cut off his head, with it’s litle red gum- drop eyes, and its little black gumdrop nose, and feed it to my father, much to my total and complete horror, . ‘would never, never considertisecting him li I just box him up and give him to my nearest and dearest with instructions to release him safely out in the bush somewhere on his way to work. And I prefer to assume that all those people who work with the man T love and who, by the way, trust completely, normally have coconut stuck between theirteeth. |. ve * see ’ Easter Bunny Cake You don't need a special pan to bake this cute little fellow. Golden Sponge Cake 6 eggs, separated 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar 1/4 tsp. salt 1-1/2.c, sugar 1/2 c. cold water 2 tsp. vanilla ‘1 tsp. lemon extract 1-1/2 c, all-purpose flour 3/4 cup of the sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Beat egg yolks, the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar, water, vanilla, and lemon extract until thick and lemon-colored. Blend in flour. Fold stiffly beaten egg whites into egg yolk mixture until no streaks of either color remain. Pour into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Pull the spatula through the batter once to take out large air bubbles. Bake at 325 F. for 60-65 min- utes, until top is dry and springs back when touched lightly. Remove from oven and hang pan upside down on a funnel or bottle until com- pletely cold. Loosen cake from sides of pan and remove. Cut cake as illustrated. Split the leg sections in have to form two hind legs and two front legs. Assemble as illustrated on a serving tray. White Mountain Frosting 1/2 c. sugar. 1/4 c. com symup 2 tbsp. water 2 egg whites L tsp. vanilla : ~Fhese-days, balways make a“Bunny: Cake: forsEaster; too, Only: I 4 liketitat, So ee Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until foamy. Gradually add |: Dear Ann Landers: recently wrote that she'was con- fused and concemed about what she. thought’ might be her,husband's! preference for men. She: was the! mother of 92-year-old child and had no idea how to handle ‘the situation.’ hope my experience will give her, _ Strength because she will need it, ”,"} +: When I met my, husband I was! bowled over because he was so dif- ferent from'any man I had-ever. dated. He behaved like a perfect gentleman during our courtship and: never once made an attempt:to get me in bed, His: gentleness was ‘ charming. I enjoyed his company -° and loved being showered with After we married there was hug- ging and kissing but no sex. I. ‘decided he was just shy and inex- Perienced and in time things would’ change. After several months when they didn’t change, I-became extremely frustrated and decided it was OK to have an affair. Soon after, I found myself with a king- size case of the guilts. At the time, it didn’t dawn on me that'my hus- band was‘a homosexual. , The thought never entered my, mind,’ In retrospect, I don’t know how I could have been so blind. ! i Eventually, I discovered the truth. i stayed in that: marriage six years anyway, thinking.I ‘could straighten him out. Meanwhile I got ulcers and turned bitter. Final I divorced him. : “ We talked a lot after the papers were served, i wanted him to face the fact that he had tried to hide nce mi behind me in order to hide what he was, Today I scldom see him, although he lives nearby. I have Prayed for him and I want. with all my heart for'him to have a good life, He is still a wonderful n, person, kind and considerate, but I hope | that he doesn’t marry My regrets are few. I only wish many years while he was busy teaching chem- istry and doing research; he came into my kitchen only when I asked for his help. He made the world’s best gravy. Other than that, I did all the cooking and marketing. Now Jack is retired ‘and claims that cooking is the ideal outlet for a former chemist, he had taken that I had had more knowledge about homosexuality so that we could have discussed our relationship open: ., Dear Debby: Welcome to the club, I believe most women who : Stay married to homosexuals are convinced that they can straighten them out. Big mistake. Thanks for sharing your story and good luck to you, dear, Dear Ann Landers: The woman whose retired husband had nothing to do except interfere with her cooking needs to hear my story. Before Jack and I married, his ex-girlfriend warmed me: “Don't marty Jack, He'll ty to run your kitchen and drive you nuts.” Well, I over my kitchen completely and even insists on doing the market- ing. The man is so creative that we have wonderful meals every day. ‘What a joy!.I am now relieved of all cooking duties and love it. Please tell the women who read your column to find a chemist who likes to cook and marry him. — Happy in Tuscon f Dear Tucson: Lucky girl! Thad a letter just last week from a woman in Pennsylvania who mar- nied a chemist.'She didn't mention anything about his gravy, but she did say he made garbage out of her $400,000 inheritance. Dear Ann Landers: Will you Please allow me to respond to the woman who objected to young People calling her and her husband Mom and Pop? When our youngsters were growing up all their friends called us Mom and Pop. We were compli- mented and encouraged them to confide in us, We believe one of the reasons SO many young people are at loose ends today is because they have no sense of family life. Often both parents work, and the children come home to an empty house: I would like to ask the woman ght give st Encourage those kids you. Be their trusted friend. They . will be forever grateful and you: just might help tum around some lady. I couldn't have’ said it better myself. These days. when so many, youngsters don’t know what it is to sit down with their’ families at'a supper table, it must have 1 a’ great deal to those children‘to be, included as part of yours. I Joved your letter, Pu eeu Dear Ann Landers: When I - ‘was a young man, I had the honor of being asked to serve as an usher at the weddings of three of my © friends. I know that this is going to sound ridiculous, but due to. Teading, I Please tell me what I might do :to put my mind at ease. I’m really ashamed of myself. — Conscience- Stricken in N.Y. Dear Stricken: Send a gift.to the coupe who is still going strong and keep an eye on the divorced pals. If they should remarry, send a gift whether you are invited to the wedding or not. ‘ news: of+t he VET ] current compilation of themost iar thii people do, edited by Chuck Shepherd. © Proof that true stories are weirder than made-up stories. -Dee Dee Jonrowe, leading the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in January in northem Minnesota, took a wrong tum and went 300 yards before recognizing her error. ‘The error cost ber only a few min- : utes, but ing to the monks had armed thi with shotguns. After an alarm sounded, one brother fired a shot into the air, fushing out the bur- glars, and another blocked the bur- glars’ exit. The burglars began shooting, and the monks retumed fire before Brother Zepherin fell ‘with 200 pellets in his leg. + In October, at an international in.Helsinki, di from 22 countries arranged to peti- tion the United Nations to include, on its list of basic human rights, the right to smoke, ¢ A woman working as a researcher for the New Mexico State Office of Archeological Studies, arriving at a site near Lamy, N.M., recently, was attacked by a man and woman who claimed to be. protect- ing the site from disturbances. She ~~” said she was screamed at, kicked, beaten, tied up with electric cords, and cut with a knife in 27 places. + In December, the Canadian Cancer Society removed Darlene Betteley, 55, of Kitchener, Ont., from her job of counseling breast- cancer patients because she refused to wear a is to disguise the result of her own breast cancer operation, : + A Brookings Institution report in October revealed that the nation- al prison population had risen by: 80,000 over the last, to 1.2 million, a pace that would have one of every two Americans in jail by the year 2053. : : ° A recent study, noted in the gan's Medi cut the number of free condoms per client from a maximum of 24 per day to aa maximum of 12 because many were being resold. One health offi- cial criticized the change, pointing out that crack addicts often discov- er their libidos stimulated and may have sex 100 times a month, Weird Zoology + Pepper the parrot, hired last fall for a TV commercial for Alas- com, the long-distance telephone carrier for Alaska, actually only lip-synched his line because the erinarians, wild raccoons are usual- ly healthy, but those that hang around humans acquire problems such as rotten teeth and high cholesterol because they-eat buman leftovers, + Researchers at three universi- ties reported in December that they had resolved a 100-year-old medi- cal mystery about the ‘suspected link between men’s eating frog legs and developing priapism (pro- longed penile erection): Frogs eat Sponsor thought Pepper sounded too human. The company wound up hiring a human actor who imi- tated a parrot's voice. n + After firefighters in Dudley, England, rescued a family from a blazing home in November, they went back inside and, using a soup ladle, rescued the only survivor of the family’s four pet tarantulas. eA di: * Dorena Ann Coon, in a Iast- ditch effort to save her aggressive 4-year- Calif, to allow her to arrange for Pester Pup to have all of his teeth pulled. (Send you Weird News to Chuck ; ig to a Sep report by University of Ilinois vet- Dp P.O. Box 57141, Wash- ington, D.C. 20037.) To See It. If We Ran This Ad On TV, You’d Have Only 30 Seconds Now you'd only have 25 seconds, and you wautin' be able to go back and look at the opening [ine again or pause (19..18..17..) to consider ts with you. Infact, it'we tried to say just a bri ofier coupons, give you New England Journal of i revealed that men who live to be 40 years old in Bangladesh have a bet- ter chance of reaching age 65 than 40. id men in: Harlem. where she was allowed her team a Test, and by the time she was ready to tum the sled around, two of ber dogs had begun to copulate. She was forced to wait on them and lost |: 25 minutes and the race. Seeds of our Destruction _ ° A gun battle at.the Notre - Dame des Neiges Trappist wine- making monastery in France in N left one monk Because the monastery had been (Women have a better chance in Harlem.)\ : ¢ Among Miami crime news in 1990: Two Nicaraguans were arrested in a routine traffic stop with TOW missiles and an anti-tank rocket in their pickup truck, and one drug enforcement agent was knocked unconscious by a 200- pound bale of $20 bills that had been tossed out a window during a raid. (The bale contained almost $2 million.) : ¢ Recent regulations in Michi- ty of size, and can leave a lasting i we'd run out of. . advertising dollar, call your customer, To find out how you can get the most from your The Castlegar Sun Advertising Dept. 365-5266 . Combine sugar, com syrup and water in a small span. Bring toa (mixture will spin a six to eight-inch thread when dropped from a spoon.) Meanwhile, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Pour hot vanilla. : ; Assembling the cake 2-1/3 c. shredded coconut two red gumdrops : one black gumdrop j |pink and white construction paper: green food color ‘ i : Jon Tne sections of the cake with dabs of frosting, then frost the entire cake; Don't worry. overly much about loose crumbs because the “coconut will cover them. Sprinkle 1-1/3 c. of the coconut over the cake: to cover ly. Put on the red eyes and the black gum- dtop nose, Cut ears from’ white construction paper, as illustrated, cut little pink insides and tape or,glue them on the, white outsides. Stick vears in the top of his head. Put remainder of coconut into a clean screw. “top jar, add several drops of green food color, put the lid'on, and shake’ suntil the ‘coconut tums ‘green..Spread green coconut around bunny’ tray, scatter some candy eggs around artistically, and you're don. Makes 12 servings but you wouldn’t’cat him, sould ou? WOULD boil and cook until mixture reaches, 242 F. on a candy thermometer ™: syTup over beaten whites in a thin, steady stream, beating constantly at high speed. Continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks from. Beat in, burglarized twice before in 1990, Assembling the bunny (side view) : Cutting the cake. Des (top view) 0 "a 3 (Limited time only) Money Maker CLASSIFIEDS Money Maker ads are low-cost, non-commercial ads tailor-made for you, the individual advertiser. Call Today to Place Your Money. 365-/ laker Ad ‘