An evil anniversary: NC's bizarre Pazuzu Algarad case broke 7 years ago

John Algarad Lawson legally changed his name to Pazuzu Illah Algarad, saying in an affidavit that the name change was for religious reasons. The affidavit did not offer any details about his religion, but Pazuzu is the name of an Assyrian demon mentioned in the movie “The Exorcist.”

Pazuzu Illah Algarad was accused of putting his mother, Cynthia Lawson, in a chokehold at the home they shared at 2749 Knob Hill Drive in Clemmons. In court documents, law enforcement officers alleged that Algarad regularly performed “satanic rituals” and animal sacrifices at the Clemmons home.

Pazuzu Algarad pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on a female and was placed on probation for 12 months.

Pazuzu Algarad’s girlfriend, Amber Burch, was accused of slapping and attempting to choke Algarad’s mother. Burch was later convicted and sentenced to 12 months of probation. Two months after the conviction, she was charged with assault and battery, with police alleging she hit Algarad in the face.

Pazuzu Allah Algarad, then 31, was charged with accessory after the fact of involuntary manslaughter. The charge was related to the shooting death of Joseph Emmrick Chandler, whose body was found in September 2010 on a boat ramp in Donnaha Park in Yadkin County. Algarad was accused of misleading investigators and allowing a suspect in the shooting to stay at his home.

Psychiatrists who interviewed Algarad said he had schizophrenia, agoraphobia and alcoholism, but found him mentally competent to stand trial. They also reported had intentionally filed down his teeth and had poor hygiene and body odor, the report said.

Authorities executed a search warrant at 2749 Knob Hill Drive in Clemmons. Crews uncovered the skeletal remains of two people buried in shallow graves in the backyard. Warrants would later reveal the two were killed in 2009.

Pazuzu Algarad and Amber Burch had their first court appearance, both asking for court-appointed attorneys. A third person, Krystal Nicole Matlock, then 28, was charged in connection with the death of one person whose body was found at the Clemmons home. Matlock was accused of helping bury the man.

(Video tour of the home at 2749 Knob Hill Drive)

County housing officials declare the home Pazuzu Algarad and Amber Burch shared with Cynthia Lawson was unfit for human habitation. The house was filled with trash, mold and animal feces, according to one official.

Two bodies found behind the homes at 2749 Knob Hill Drive in Clemmons were identified as Joshua Fredrick Wetzler and Tommy Dean Welch. Both men disappeared in 2009. Arrest warrants alleged that Pazuzu Algarad killed Wetzler in July 2009 and that Amber Burch helped him bury the body. Warrants also alleged that Burch killed Welch in October 2009 before Algarad helped her with the burial. Autopsies would later say each man was shot in the head.

The Forsyth County housing department said the owner of the home at 2749 Knob Hill Drive in Clemmons had until mid-February to submit proof she would make it habitable. Her original deadline had been December 2014.

Wells Fargo Bank said it planned to move forward with foreclosure and demolish the home at 2749 Knob Hill Drive.

Pazuzu Algarad was transferred from the Forsyth County Jail to Central Prison in Raleigh for safekeeping. It was the second time he had been transferred for safekeeping since his arrest on Oct. 5, 2014. A transfer for safekeeping can be for three reasons — security, mental-health disorders or medical conditions, officials said.

Pazuzu Algarad was found dead at 4:20 a.m. in his cell at Central Prison in Raleigh. An autopsy would later say he died from severe blood loss caused by a deep wound to a major blood vessel in his left arm, at the pit of his elbow. His death was ruled a suicide, and authorities said he used something to cut himself.

Amber Burch, then 27, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed robbery and accessory after the fact to murder. She was ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years and eight months in prison with a maximum sentence of 39 years and two months.

Krystal Nicole Matlock, then 30, pleaded guilty in Forsyth Superior Court to accessory after the fact of first-degree murder. She was accused of helping bury Joshua Frank Wetzler.