A man with Bay Area ties and a history of mental illness is at the center of a bizarre, Satanist-related murder investigation in North Carolina.

Pazuzu Illah Algarad — who was born in San Francisco as John Alexander Lawson and appears to have long-ago connections to Sonoma and San Mateo counties — was one of three people arrested Sunday in Forsyth County after skeletal remains of two unidentified people were found buried in shallow graves in the yard of his home, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

Algarad, 35, reportedly changed his name in 2002 for religious reasons. Pazuzu is a name that often refers to a demon lord, perhaps most prominently in “The Exorcist” films.

Algarad and Amber Nicole Burch, 24, whom he called his wife, were charged with murder and accessory after the fact. Authorities believe the two victims found were killed in 2009.

Pazuzu I. Algarad, 35 & Amber N. Burch, 24, Both Arrested After Skeletal Remains Found In Yard http://t.co/lcDqsCOszQ pic.twitter.com/PNkdaWGo8Z — Chone Ealy (@ChoneEaly) October 8, 2014

A third person, Krystal Nicole Matlock, 28, was arrested Monday on suspicion of being an accessory to murder.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, psychiatrists who evaluated Algarad in 2010 believed he was schizophrenic and agoraphobic, as well as an alcoholic. Here’s an excerpt from the newspaper report:

During the interview with the psychiatrists, Algarad shook uncontrollably and admitted to drinking up to 18 beers a day, according to the doctors’ report. The doctors also noticed that Algarad had intentionally filed down his teeth, had poor hygiene and body odor, the report said. “And he admitted that he bathed no more than once a year, and had not brushed his teeth in years,” the report said. “He felt such actions stripped … the body of its defenses in warding off infection and illness.”



He had been interviewed in 2010 because he was charged with being an accessory to manslaughter in the death of a man. Psychiatrists ultimately determined he was competent to stand trial, and he pleaded guilty in 2012 and was sentenced to 10 to 12 months in prison.

He was on probation when the bodies were allegedly discovered in his yard.

WGHP, a local Fox affiliate, quoted a person who knew Algarad and had visited his home as saying he had a split tongue and sharpened teeth — and sacrificed rabbits, typically on a full moon.

“When you walked in the first room, it was kind of blacked out and the wallpaper had been peeled off,” the man said. “There was like scribbles, and scratches, and graffiti, and Arabic and Satan and swastikas. … You could tell when his demons needed something from him, because they took over.”

Algarad’s Facebook page is still up. It features some interesting images — and some very angry new comments.