Ricky Kasso

Jimmy Troiano signed two confessions that he later recanted. Quinones gave witness account that Troiano helped Kasso during the murder, but later denied this during his testimony at Troiano's trial. Due to Quinones' drugged state at the time of the killing, his testimony was brought into question and Troiano was acquitted of second-degree murder in a trial by jury in April 1985.

Kasso dabbled in the occult and Satanism and was acquainted with the members of a loosely organized group of friends who sold marijuana and referred to themselves as the "Knights of the Black Circle". After Kasso's murder of Lauwers, several newspapers and television journalists incorrectly reported the Knights as being a "Satanic cult." Kasso allegedly participated in occult ceremonies, mostly in Northport, and celebrated Walpurgis Night at the infamous Amityville Horror house in 1984. Kasso also expressed to friends his interest in Anton LaVey's book The Satanic Bible. On at least one occasion, Ricky's parents admitted him to the South Oaks Psychiatric Hospital (formerly known as the Amityville Asylum) in Amityville, New York for drug rehabilitation and psychiatric care.

The date of the murder was initially misreported by the police and press as June 16, 1984. In 2018, it was revealed that the murder had actually taken place three days later on June 19.

In the aftermath, Kasso bragged about the murder to friends. Kasso claimed Satan manifested in the form of a black crow after killing Lauwers, and that the crow had cawed; something he interpreted as Satan's approval of the murder. Kasso even brought several disbelieving teens to view Lauwers' body before he and Troiano returned to the woods to bury the decomposing remains in a shallow grave. However, it wasn't until two weeks went by, on July 1, that the murder was reported to the police via an anonymous tip. On July 4, 1984, police used dogs to search Aztakea Woods and recovered the decomposing and mutilated body of Gary Lauwers. Kasso and Troiano were arrested the next day. On July 7, Kasso committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell.

Richard Allan "Ricky" Kasso Jr. (March 29, 1967 – July 7, 1984), also known as The Acid King, was an American killer who murdered his 17-year-old friend Gary Lauwers in Northport, New York on June 19, 1984. Two other teens, Jimmy Troiano and Albert Quinones, were present at the murder, which took place in the Aztakea Woods of Northport while all four were high on what they believed to be mescaline, but was most likely LSD.