FILE 226 / 3 June 2021 / 169 MIN / full

Satan's Carnival

Auburn, IndianaListen

The town

N ↑Public placePublic placePublic placePublic placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

It's in northeastern Indiana, all the way near the Ohio border... it's into DeKalb County, area code 260 about 0:05:25

History, in brief

1843

In 1843 a storm destroyed the cabins and crops and wiped out life in the settlement.

about 0:07:22

Town note

The town incorporated a few years later, after the malaria and the storm.

about 0:07:34

Town note

By the end of the Civil War the town had about seven hundred people.

about 0:08:31
All 13 history facts

1843

In 1843 a storm destroyed the cabins and crops and wiped out life in the settlement.

about 0:07:22

Town note

The town incorporated a few years later, after the malaria and the storm.

about 0:07:34

Town note

By the end of the Civil War the town had about seven hundred people.

about 0:08:31

1872

In 1872 another storm destroyed the Odd Fellows Hall and the Methodist Episcopal Church.

about 0:08:39

1872

A few months after the 1872 storm the new brick block of buildings collapsed entirely.

about 0:09:09

1900

The Auburn Automobile Company was founded in 1900 and produced its first car in 1903.

about 0:09:56

Town note

E. L. Cord controlled the company, which acquired Duesenberg and Lexington, and started the Cord car company.

about 0:10:04

1913

The Auburn Rubber Company started in 1913 as the Double Fabric Tire Company, became a maker of rubber toys and left in 1959.

about 0:10:38

1933

John Dillinger and his accomplices robbed the Auburn police station on October 14, 1933, taking a submachine gun, two steel vests, three rifles, six pistols and over a thousand rounds of ammunition.

about 0:11:16

Town note

The city logo is based on the former Auburn Automobile Company logo.

about 0:11:34

Town note

The town motto is 'home of the classics', which the website completes with 'because everyone else has left'.

about 0:06:13

The figures, as told

Religious

41%

Biggest faith: Faith breakdown, some Methodists, a Lutheran or two, some Catholics, a lot of other Christian

about 0:14:21

Who lives here

White 97.1% · Black 0.3% · Asian 0.2% · Hispanic 1.9%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▼ just under the national average

about 0:23:43

Violent crime
▼ about one third

about 0:23:43

Money

Median home value$136,600
Two-bedroom rentabout $715
Median household incomeabout $47,000
Cost of living76

For sale

$79,900

Foreclosure listing, two-bedroom two-bath house

about 0:17:57

For sale

$1,250,000

Five-bedroom seven-bath house on six and a half acres

about 0:19:02
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2021

Property crime

"just under the national average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:23:43

Violent crime

"about one third"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:23:43

Population

"13,004"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:13:35

Population growth

"up 39% since 1990"

Direction: above.

As told in 2021 about 0:13:41

Town area

"seven and a half square miles"

Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:06:04

Median age

"about 40"

Comparison: "a couple of years older than the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2021 about 0:13:54

Single with no children

"4%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:14:12

Married people

"a couple less than normal"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:14:00

Males to females

"a few more males than females"

Comparison: "usually the other way around". No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:13:48

DeKalb County Democrat vote, last presidential election

"25.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:15:06

DeKalb County Republican vote, last presidential election

"72%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:15:06

DeKalb County independent vote, last presidential election

"about 2%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:15:06

Religious

"41%"

Comparison: "national average is usually 50-50". Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:14:21

Faith breakdown

"some Methodists, a Lutheran or two, some Catholics, a lot of other Christian"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:14:21

Unemployment

"a little bit lower than the national average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:15:21

Household income

"about $47,000"

Comparison: "almost $58,000 in the rest of the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:15:33

Manufacturing jobs

"three times as many as usual"

Comparison: "usual". Direction: above.

As told in 2021 about 0:15:38

Cost of living

"76"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:15:57

Housing

"59"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:16:04

Median home cost

"$136,600"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:16:06

Homes worth less than $150,000

"about 70%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:16:18

Average two-bedroom rent

"about $715"

Comparison: "almost $500 under the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2021 about 0:17:14

Foreclosure listing, two-bedroom two-bath house

"$79,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:17:57

Fifteen acres of farmland

"$255,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:18:23

Five-bedroom seven-bath house on six and a half acres

"$1,250,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2021 about 0:19:02

The reviews

2.6 / 5 · average of 5

5 stars

“Born at the hospital in Auburn and still living five minutes from it at 23; a small town where everyone knows everyone, with an amazing community that came together in 2016 when the town lost more teenagers than normal, mostly in car accidents.”
about 0:11:47

3 stars

“Several ethnic restaurants (Mongolian, Chinese, Greek and authentic Italian), plus the usual fast food and chain places; the specialty restaurants are awesome and offer 'quinine and drink'.”
about 0:12:49

3 stars

“Most people in this area are farmers and most are friendly and church goers.”
about 0:13:24

1 star

“Kathy B writes that she is two miles from the concert and can hear it like it is in her backyard; she has two babies trying to sleep, called the police, and notes it goes on until 11 p.m. with another hour and a half of nonsense. 'Auburn is the worst!'”
about 0:21:01

1 star

“Christin Draper writes that the damn car show is annoying her and her one-year-old trying to sleep, tells them to keep their obnoxious bad music to themselves and to use earbuds.”
about 0:22:07

In Indiana

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  3. A Grossly Insane Tale Of DeathMarion, Indiana · 27 January 2022104 km / 65 miShow on map
  4. Beauty And The BeastMarion, Indiana · 29 August 2024104 km / 65 miShow on map
  5. Cold Blooded, Not Blue BloodedPeru, Indiana · 19 December 2018109 km / 68 miShow on map

The story

In the early 1990s a small group of young carnival workers in central Indiana convinced themselves they were Satanists. At fifteen he founded a cult he called Satan's Disciples, which met in barns near Franklin, in dense woods east of Edinburgh and in an abandoned cemetery near Martinsville. He said he had made a pact with the devil that would give him anything he wanted for twenty years. He left the cult at eighteen when other members suggested killing a baby, and in 1991 he joined the Indianapolis Guardian Angels, from which he was thrown out after killing a cat for a ritual.

Another young carnival worker, Andrew Wright, eighteen, from West Milton, Ohio, was employed by Poor Jack Amusements. Wright was killed on 30 August 1991, the day before the Fulton County fair opened in Wauseon, Ohio. Deer hunters found his body on 9 November 1991 in a field along the Ohio Turnpike, somewhere between Wauseon and Tedrow, stabbed in the neck.

They laid an old door on the ground as an altar and asked Alt to lie on it, telling him he was being initiated. Alt was conscious throughout.

He told her he had witnessed a human sacrifice. On 13 December state police found Alt's body in a field off Morning Star Road near County Road 35. It had no hands and no head and had been cut open; skull and hand bone fragments and evidence of a fire were nearby.

Police there said Wright's death was not connected to the occult.

Alt's mother, Shirley Givens, told him in court that he damn well should be ashamed.

Tony Alt is buried at the Rochester IOOF cemetery in Fulton County, Indiana.

The case

Murder of Andrew Wright

Victims

Andrew Lee Wright (18). carnival worker from West Milton, Ohio, employed by Poor Jack Amusements

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 3 June 2021.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

The timeline

  1. August 30, 1991 Wright is killed the day before the Fulton County fair opens in Wauseon, Ohio. (Fulton County fairgrounds)about 0:30:54

Murder of Tony Alt

Victims

William Anthony 'Tony' Alt (21). carnival worker, just turned twenty-one; his mother is Shirley Givens

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 3 June 2021.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Brenda Ferguson. friend, drove the five men to the barn

The timeline

  1. 1991 joins the Indianapolis Guardian Angels and is later kicked out for killing a cat for a satanic ritual.about 1:02:31
  2. May 1991 needs to move and the group takes jobs with an amusement company travelling to fairs throughout Indiana and Ohio.about 1:19:22
  3. 1991 and write out and sign a contract with the devil in their own blood, believed to give them anything for twenty years.about 1:13:21
  4. September 26, 1991 After the carnival closes, Brenda Ferguson drives , , and and Tony Alt to a secluded farm building and drops them off. (Abandoned barn off County Road 40)about 1:27:51
  5. September 26, 1991 Alt is told he is being initiated, laid on an old door used as an altar, bound and gagged, and reads an invocation to Satan. (Abandoned barn off County Road 40)about 1:28:21
  6. September 26, 1991 asks Alt if he is ready to die, then cuts him from neck to pelvis and makes two more cuts side to side, carving a capital I; tries to cut out his still-beating heart and carves an inverted cross into him; Alt stays conscious. (Abandoned barn off County Road 40)about 1:29:53
  7. September 26, 1991 cuts Alt's throat and he bleeds to death; then cuts off his hands and head and the group burns them in a fire and carries the body out on the door. (Abandoned barn off County Road 40)about 1:31:23

Places and phrases

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Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode