Goths defend their culture; More charges eyed in Alberta killings

A local goth vampiress worries alleged goth links to a triple murder in Medicine Hat could reinforce myths about a subculture that’s really about “exploring your uniqueness,” reports the Edmonton Sun.

“I hope people will understand that not all goths are disturbed,” said Christina Tourangeau, 22.

“It’s amazing how looks can deceive people.”

A 23-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl facing three counts of first-degree murder in the weekend slayings of the girl’s parents and little brother were reportedly in to goth culture and its themes of darkness and death.

Some friends of the 12-year-old girl said she had recently turned into a goth after meeting the 23-year-old online at a site dedicated to goth and so-called vampire lifestyles.

An acquaintance of Steinke had a slightly different version, saying the pair met at a punk dance three months ago and that the girl’s goth transformation began after that.

Tourangeau, an aspiring goth model who dresses the part when not at work, said teen angst seems to draw preteens and young teens to the goth subculture.

“They want to belong to something because they are so confused. They think (the goth culture) is awesome and they look up to these people,” she said.

“Like this little girl (the suspect), she probably looked up to this 23-year-old guy. But there’s obviously something wrong with this guy if he’s dating a 12-year-old.”

Tourangeau says while there might be the odd person in the goth subculture with murderous tendencies, they’re in the extreme minority. “It’s like in any group of people. You always have these kinds of people popping up.”

Meanwhile, a thread titled “Wanna-Be Vampires giving us a bad name” has popped up on a message board on the goth website where the two co-accused were members.

A member named MaterialChrist quoted a newspaper interview with a friend of the 12-year-old accused, who said the girl’s “well-scrubbed” look had recently turned to goth, with dark eyeliner and black nail polish.

“Ok, so now as soon as a kid starts wearing darker eyeliner and black nail polish this mean he/she is going (to) go out and commit a mass murder,” wrote MaterialChrist. “Absolutly ridiculous…”

On another thread, a member named DeadMonkeys writes, “Now, the goth community gets blamed because the girl who was involved was 12 years old and was pulled into a ‘culture of depression’ and the goth scene was to blame for her actions.”

“Just because some messed up twenty year old and lame twelve year old messed themselves up doesn’t mean they get to mess us up too,” wrote xXBlackGoodbyeXx.

Other users were irked that reporters had visited the website looking for clues about the co-accused.

The Sun has chosen not to publish the name of the goth website.

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