The three young friends accused of killing a respected Loudoun County scientist were fascinated with fantasy worlds, witchcraft and the occult, and the slaying had overtones of their fixation, friends and law enforcement sources said yesterday.
At least one was involved in a self-described coven and dabbled in self-mutilation and drinking blood, those who know him said. The trio's curiosities turned deadly Saturday when they carried out "a planned assassination" using a two-foot sword, a prosecutor said.
Michael Paul Pfohl and Katherine Erne Inglis, above and Kyle Hulbert have been charged in the killing of Robert M. Schwartz.
(Loudoun County Sheriff's Office)
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_____Robert M. Schwartz_____
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Kyle Hulbert, 18, the purported ringleader of the plot, bounced among foster homes, wore black and spent countless hours in Internet chat rooms. He was known to some as "Demon."
Katie Inglis, 19, a talented artist who often was teased in high school because she was quiet, abruptly left a Navy basic training camp in Illinois in May. And Michael Pfohl, 21, Inglis's boyfriend, painted his nails dark colors and often spoke of violence.
Loudoun law enforcement authorities said the three piled into a black Honda Civic on Saturday and drove in the rain up the steep, winding dirt road to Robert M. Schwartz's isolated fieldstone-and-log farmhouse. Authorities are uncertain what exactly went on inside, but they said that Schwartz, 57, was stabbed and slashed repeatedly with the sword and that an "X" was carved in the back of his neck.
During a hearing yesterday in Loudoun District Court, Commonwealth's Attorney Robert D. Anderson said, "There were statements made that these individuals were involved in the planning, execution and cover-up of this planned assassination."
County officials will not comment on a motive in the slaying. They said the three suspects are acquainted with Schwartz's younger daughter, Clara. Law enforcement sources said detectives are investigating whether Robert Schwartz may have been killed because he would not allow Clara to associate with the others. Clara Schwartz has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Pfohl and Inglis, who were arrested Wednesday in Manassas, were ordered held without bond yesterday and remain at the Leesburg jail. Hulbert, who was arrested Tuesday night at his girlfriend's house in Millersville, Anne Arundel County, is scheduled to be brought to Loudoun on Monday, prosecutors said. All are charged with murder.
Loudoun Public Defender Bonnie Hoffman, who was appointed to represent Inglis, did not return calls. Prosecutors said they do not know whether Pfohl and Hulbert have hired lawyers. Pfohl's family declined to comment.
Matt Hulbert, Kyle Hulbert's father, said his son has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. "Kyle has serious, serious mental issues," Matt Hulbert said. "He has been off his medication for three months."
Investigators are interviewing the suspects and their friends and family members and searching computer records to piece together the connections among Hulbert, Pfohl and Inglis -- and Clara Schwartz. Friends said that Pfohl and Inglis have been dating for years and that the two often hung out with Hulbert. One friend said Hulbert was especially close to Pfohl, calling him "my brother." Inglis and Clara Schwartz graduated from Loudoun Valley High School last year.
The suspects favored all-black outfits, long black coats and colored hair, neighbors and friends said. None of the three was employed, according to neighbors and court records.
Fran Broomall, 55, of Woodbridge, who let Hulbert live with him for a few months this year, said Hulbert seemed obsessed with the occult but was not dangerous.
"He was into witchcraft, and some of the people he was running with -- a coven they called it -- would get together and talk about things of that nature," said Broomall. "But Kyle never came across as a person to be afraid of. He didn't go out of his way to look for trouble."
Hulbert's "coven," it appears, was a ragtag group of young men and women who apparently delved into the mystical. They read books on witchcraft and donned dark outfits. They were obsessed with blood and corresponded in letters and on the Internet about drinking it, according to letters left behind at Broomall's home.
Self-mutilation was common, and Broomall said Hulbert often had fresh cuts.
The leader of the coven, who asked not to be identified, said that Pfohl and Inglis were not members but shared their interests. She said the coven is peaceful.
Hulbert sometimes carried weapons. He was arrested Oct. 8 at Potomac Mills Mall on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, court records say. Broomall said the weapon was a foot-long knife, adding that police also confiscated his "throwing cards" -- a set of sharp-edged metal weapons.
Law enforcement sources said scores of knives and an altar were found during a search of the home Pfohl and Inglis shared in Haymarket. Inglis, who used to live with her parents in a rural part of Loudoun, was shy, former classmates said. They said she excelled in art class and often read fantasy novels.
In January, Inglis reported to the Naval Recruit Training Command center in Great Lakes, Ill., Navy officials said. She had been training to work in aviation but left May 28. Her discharge is pending.
Inglis's parents could not be reached for comment, but John Kerkham, a friend and neighbor who spoke last night to Inglis's father, Robert, said he was distraught and baffled by the arrest. "She was the last girl in the world I would have thought would be involved in this, though I think she might have been easily led," Kerkham said.
Perry Nicholson, who owns the Sweet Springs Country Store about a mile from the Inglis home, said Pfohl was first seen in the area about three years ago.
Shortly afterward, Nicholson said, Pfohl came by and asked for lessons at the shooting range Nicholson operates. Nicholson said Pfohl often spoke of the military and said he wanted to join the Special Forces. "He was always talking about violent stuff," Nicholson said.
On Friday, Hulbert appeared in Prince William County General District Court and pleaded guilty to trespassing -- the October concealed-weapons charge was dropped -- and was released on the condition that he perform 25 hours of community service and stay on good behavior.
The next day, police said, he and his friends drove to Schwartz's house.
Schwartz's family members, who are gathering at his parents' house in Silver Spring, are trying to tune out the grisly details of the crime and focus on happy memories. Schwartz's three children, Catherine, Clara and Jesse, are there, as are some of his six siblings. The family has planned a funeral tomorrow in Purcellville.
"This is so unbelievably awful, what happened," sister Maria Schwartz said. "All of his children are beside themselves. We're trying to pull together as a family."
Staff writers Rosalind S. Helderman, Fredrick Kunkle, Manuel Roig-Franzia and Peter Whoriskey contributed to this report.
