Harry Potter, Fenrir, Haskell, and Norse Name Games

FedEx Again

In two recent postings, the FedEx came up as an organizing reality: "Rambo-Style Shooter Goes Postal at FedEx" and "Aurora Name Game & FedEx." In the latter case, several instances of FedEx events were detailed.

In the last week, the FedEx connection and mayhem combined in the news again.

Six people died in a Spring, Texas shooting Wednesday, July 9, 2014, when a gunman opened fire at 711 Leaflet Lane in suburban Houston. Four children were among the victims, who had been tied up and shot in the back of the head.

“It appears this stems from a domestic issue with a breakup in the family from what our witness has told us,” assistant chief deputy constable Mark Herman of the Harris County Precinct 4 constable’s office told reporters.

Haskell "came to this location yesterday afternoon … and came under the guise of a FedEx driver wearing a FedEx shirt,” Hickman said in a news conference. “[He] gathered up the children that were here and awaited the arrival of the parents. Sometime later the victims were shot in this residence, and we now learned that Mr. Haskell was married to a relative [the wife and mother of the children] of this home.”

Haskell, 33, was disguised as a FedEx delivery worker when he went to the suburban Houston home of his ex-wife’s sister, Katie Stay, on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Oldest child Cassidy was home alone and answered the door. She told Haskell her parents weren’t home. He later returned, forcing his way in and tying Cassidy up, police said.

Minutes later, her parents and her four siblings, ages 4 to 13, returned. Haskell allegedly tied them up as well, and demanded to know the whereabouts of his ex-wife, Melannie Lyon. They said they didn’t know, and they were each shot in the back of the head.

Stephen and Katie Stay and four of their young children were found dead from gunshots. The victims included 39-year-old Stephen Robert Stay; his wife, 33-year-old Katie Stay; and their four children: Bryan, 13; Emily, 9; Rebecca, 7; and Zachary, 4. One of the Stay children, 15-year-old Cassidy, survived the rampage with a bullet fracture to the skull by playing dead. She called 911, and told police that the shooter planned to target her grandparents next.

The suspect led law enforcement officers and SWAT team members a car chase late Wednesday. They later cornered the suspect before he surrendered several miles away from the scene of the initial shooting. Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, surrendered after a three-hour standoff.

One resident who lives close to the scene of the crime said he was shocked by the tragedy. “I’ve lived here 20 years. It’s a very quiet neighborhood,” Wesley Carr told the Houston Chronicle.

"It was a Mormon family," one neighbor told Houston Chronicle. "They were very sweet and their kids were very shy. This is a sad, sad day."

Ronald Haskell had previously had domestic violence situations occur between himself and his then wife in Logan, Utah (a Mormon community).

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Harry Potter links

While in the hospital, Cassidy Stay talked about angels she had learned in Sunday school are sent to "protect his children in times of great need," according to her grandfather Roger Lyon.

Cassidy Stay recovered and appeared at a public memorial service for her parents and siblings on Saturday, July 12, 2014. The ceremony occurred outside Lemm Elementary School in Spring, Texas. The 15-year-old lone survivor of the mass shooting quoted Dumbledore, the wise man from the Harry Potter series, in hopes of finding some good amid the horror. "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times," Cassidy said, citing J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, "if one only remembers to turn on the light."

At the end of the memorial service, Cassidy Stay flashed a hand signal for those who could translate it. The "Hook 'em Horns" is associated, in Texas, with a greeting saying "Good-bye." But in some European cultures, the identical corna gesture, the "Sign of the Horns," is used to suggest Satanic association. In 1985, five Americans were arrested, due to its satanic connotations, after dancing and displaying the gesture in front of the Vatican.

By coincidence, the same day that the media spotlighted Cassidy's quotes from Harry Potter, it was revealed a Harry Potter actor's body had been found earlier in the week, in Death Valley. David "Dave" Legeno (October 12, 1963 – July ?, 2014) was an English actor, boxer, poet, and mixed martial artist (of Muay-Thai). Legeno's first major film role was in Guy Richie's Snatch. Since then he has had roles in Batman Begins (he played a League of Shadows Warrior), Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and Centurion. 

Legeno's body was found by a pair of hikers on July 6, 2014, in Death Valley, California, United States. Due to the remote area, a helicopter was called in to retrieve his remains. It appears Legeno died of heat-related issues and may have been dead for three to four days before his body was discovered. The temperature in Death Valley on July 6, 2014, was 177 degrees. (As Red Dirt Report's AWG reminded me, Legeno's body was found near Zabriskie Point, Death Valley. Zabriskie Point is also the name of a 1970 movie by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni; its soundtrack features music by British band Pink Floyd and Jerry Garcia.)

Dave Legeno was mostly well-known for having played werewolf Fenrir Greyback in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

In Norse mythology, Fenrir (Old Norse: "fen-dweller"), Fenrisúlfr (Old Norse: "Fenris wolf"), Hróðvitnir (Old Norse: "fame-wolf"), or Vánagandr (Old Norse: "the monster of the river Ván") is a monstrous wolf. Fenrir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, Fenrir is the father of the wolves Sköll and Hati Hróðvitnisson, is a son of Loki, and is foretold to kill the god Odin during the events of Ragnarök, but will in turn be killed by Odin's son Víðarr. In the Prose Edda, additional information is given about Fenrir, including that, due to the gods' knowledge of prophecies foretelling great trouble from Fenrir and his rapid growth, the gods bound him, and as a result Fenrir bit off the right hand of the god Týr. Depictions of Fenrir have been identified on various objects, and scholarly theories have been proposed regarding Fenrir's relation to other canine beings in Norse mythology. Fenrir has been the subject of artistic depictions, and he appears in literature.

Haskell Name Game

Ronald Haskell has been accused of the killings, and was in court last week. He almost passed out, and authorities kept him from falling, eventually using a wheelchair.

Earlier in his life, Haskell appeared to have an ordinary upbringing. He went to high school in Alaska, played on the football team and was even voted prom king and class clown his senior year, according to The Alaska Dispatch.

He was quoted in his yearbook: “Why did they pick me to be class clown? I think it’s because I'm so darn good looking.”

The Anchorage Daily News reported Ronald Lee Haskell Jr. lived in Alaska until 2004. He attended Chugiak High School and was part of a tight-knit Mormon community in Eagle River, about 10 miles north of Anchorage.

Drew Nevitt attended the same Mormon church as Haskell and says Haskell was an older peer he looked up to. Nevitt says Haskell was just “a funny, red-headed, freckled guy with a good personality.”

Nevitt described Ron Haskell as “the Chris Farley of Eagle River.”

Haskell? Haskell? Why does the name sound vaguely familiar. Ah, yes, Edward Clark "Eddie" Haskell (also referred to as Edward W. Haskell) is a fictional character on the Leave It to Beaver television situation comedy, which ran on CBS from October 4, 1957, to 1958 and then on ABC from 1958 to 1963. Eddie Haskell was the smart-mouthed best-friend of Wally Cleaver. The character recognized as an archetype for insincere sycophants. Eddie exhibited a two-faced style, polite to parents and adults, but always up to no good behind their backs—either conniving with his friends or picking on Wally's younger brother, Beaver.

This unusual name Haskell is of Norse origin, dating from the time of the settlement of northern and eastern counties of England by Scandinavian people, mostly during the 8th Century. The modern surname Haskell, which can also be found as Ashkettle, Askel, Axtell, and Astell, among other forms, drives from the Olde Norse personal name Asketill, which is composed of the elements oss or ass, meaning god and ketill, meaning a kettle or sacrificial cauldron, the latter being a common element in Olde Norse names. Arkle or Arkell derive from Arnkell, arn being eagle, with ketill, as above.

In rarer cases, Haskell is a Jewish surname derived from the equivalent of English Ezekiel [Hebrew יְחֶזְקֵאל (God strengthens).]

Spring, Texas, School Stabbing

Spring, Texas, has been a focus of violence before. An event took place at Spring High School, in Spring, Texas, around 7 a.m. on Wednesday, September 4, 2013. Harris County (Texas) Sheriff's Office said one person died after a stabbing in cafeteria at a Spring ISD high school. The incident happened at the high school on Cypresswood at North Freeway. A 17-year-old student was killed, and three other teenage males were injured during a stabbing attack at the school. Luis Alonzo Alfaro, age 17, was charged with murder. Alfaro admitted pulling a knife during the fight and stabbing four people.

This is the Spring High School's patch of their mascot, the lion.

One last sync: Ron Haskell's intended prime target was the former Melannie Kaye Lyon.

H/T to Xenkenito, Robert S., and Steve L.