Crucifixion MO¶
The Crucifixion MO is the pattern in the first Radford case in which victims were sedated with opiates and Xanax and nailed up, a method the team traces to the three stations in the old church and to a body in the Whateley cellar.
| Type | Lore / modus operandi |
| Known victims | Amanda Lucky; Phoebe Augustine (rescued); Mrs. Whateley; a body in the Whateley cellar later believed to be Abelforth Whateley |
| Site | The old-town church; the Whateley house cellar |
| Status | Case closed by police on a cartel and serial-killer theory |
| First appearance | Radford Horror 05 |
Amanda's autopsy¶
At the morgue, Dr. Harvey Mauden examines a body believed to be Amanda while the agents watch, and Kurt suggests what to look for. Investigate a Mystery rolls (an 8, then a 10) establish that the nails through her wrists and ankles were pulled through rather than removed, and that lividity shows the blood pooled in her limbs, so she was nailed up. There are no ligature marks, so she was crucified but not otherwise restrained. Her feet are torn up, muddy and cut by brambles. The large wound to her abdomen looks organic, not made by a knife or spear. Dr. Mauden spots old needle scars, at least six or seven months old, and one fresh mark from the last couple of days (Radford Horror 05).
Her toxicology shows trace Xanax and a large quantity of opiates, "enough that she should not have been walking around". Kurt proposes that someone drugged her and she stumbled away because of a pre-existing tolerance, and Mauden says that is what the sheriff's office is thinking too: the other missing people may be held the same way. Mauden also raises the possibility of a spree serial killer who "might be crucifying these women". Dr. Lori's files show Xanax prescribed to Amanda in rising doses with no explanation, but no opiates (Radford Horror 05).
The cellar body¶
In Radford Horror 06, in the hidden cellar under the Whateley house, the team finds a dried, long-dead body nailed to rough boards against the wall in an X-shaped pose, its legs spread, with the side of its head stoved in. It appears to have been there for years. Dante remarks that crucifixion on a sideways X is actually the more common form (Radford Horror 06). In Radford Horror 08 the sheriff reports that the body in the hidden basement is probably Abelforth, who "never ran away at all" (Radford Horror 08).
The church stations¶
In the abandoned church in Radford Horror 07, a woman hangs crucified on the wall above the pulpit, and the pews have been cleared to make an open space. Two more stations stand beside her, one thoroughly cleaned and the other slick with gore, and medical equipment lies around: syringes, gauze, scalpels and bleach. The woman is breathing; she is Phoebe, alive and unconscious, and Kurt works the nails out with his multi-tool. A pile of dog collars outside ties the place to the missing dogs. The team also finds an open baggie of heroin and syringes. The creature behind the church is the Radford Moth; see Moth life cycle (Radford Horror 07).
Aftermath¶
In Radford Horror 08 the sheriff says the police suspect Wilbur was "in bed with the cartel" and sedated his victims with cartel heroin, making him a serial killer. He reports finding the remains of Mrs. Whateley in the back of the church, burned and disemboweled. When the team revisits the burned church, Andre clarifies that she was found crucified. The cascade of gore at the front has been cleaned up and the dog collars removed. Andre confirms that both Amanda and Mrs. Whateley were disemboweled when found (Radford Horror 08).
The players weigh the disembowelments differently. Dante's theory is that Amanda was crucified, escaped through her heroin tolerance and was killed to stop information spreading, while Zack notes that "the Whateley kid who's crucifying people" might also disembowel them. Others suggest the moth ate them (Radford Horror 08). The episodes never state who did the nailing, or whether the sedation came from Dean Lawson's heroin and cash.