Washington — District of Columbia police believe that a human skull found inside a Washington house during a drug raid was being used to put a hex on a D.C. Superior Court judge, and they have alerted the U.S. Marshals Service, authorities said.
The name of the judge, which police would not release, was found on a note inside the skull during the raid Thursday night. Police have asked the Marshals Service, which provides protection for judges here, to inform the judge.
"We're treating it as a legitimate threat," Assistant Chief Ronald Monroe said. "We believe the judge may have rendered some kind of ruling that they didn't particularly like."
Police are not sure who participated in the suspected ritual, but they are trying to find them to learn of their intentions, Monroe said. "The primary concern is the protection of the judge," he said. Marshals Service officials could not be reached for comment on how security for the judge is being handled.
"There was a request for extra security for a judge, which I approved," Rufus King, chief judge of Superior Court, said Saturday. "But I don't have any information on any particular case, or any other issue, that this might be about."
King also declined to identify the judge.
Monroe said possession of a human skull, unless it is associated with foul play, is not illegal. He said that the note inside the skull, naming the judge, also is not necessarily illegal but that the investigation into where the skull came from is continuing.
"Obviously it sat on someone's shoulders at one time," Police Chief Charles Ramsey said. "The question is how it ended up in someone's house. We really don't know what we have, quite frankly."
D.C. Chief Medical Examiner Jonathan Arden said the skull appears to be old and was almost certainly used in some kind of religious ritual held in the home's basement. Police said the room was full of candles and that a dead cat was found near the skull.
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