Elyse Pahler
Elyse Pahler

Two of three killers involved in the satanic murder of Arroyo Grande teen Elyse Pahler are out of prison.

Royce Casey, 47, Jacob Delashmutt, 47, and Joseph Fiorella, 45, killed Pahler in July 1995 after a “fascination with death metal music” — particular songs about “sacrificing a virgin to the devil” — led to them targeting the 15-year-old, court documents said.

As teens themselves in 1995 — Casey and Delashmutt were both 17 and Fiorella was 15 — the three lured Pahler to sneak out of her house and smoke marijuana with them before they killed her by holding her down, strangling her and stabbing her. Casey delivered the final blow by “stomping” on her head, court documents said.

Eight months later in March 1996, Casey eventually confessed the crime to a priest, who told authorities, court documents said. Casey then led police to Pahler’s body. Now, 30 years later, both Casey and Delashmutt have been granted parole.

“The crime is heinous and an exemplar of what shocks the conscience,” Casey’s attorney wrote in a 2021 habeas corpus petition. “It is gruesome and barbaric.”

Jacob Delashmutt is seen in a 2015 inmate photo, right, and in court in January 1997. He, Royce Casey and Joseph Fiorella were convicted of murdering 15-year-old Nipomo resident Elyse Pahler in July 1995.
Jacob Delashmutt is seen in a 2015 inmate photo, right, and in court in January 1997. He, Royce Casey and Joseph Fiorella were convicted of murdering 15-year-old Nipomo resident Elyse Pahler in July 1995. Credit: San Luis Obispo Tribune and CDCR photos

Casey and Delashmutt were both sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison while Fiorella was sentenced to 26 years to life in state prison. Delashmutt was granted parole from the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad and released from prison last month, CDCR spokesperson Terry Hardy confirmed to The Tribune in an email.

He had been granted parole once before in 2023, but it was overturned by Gov. Gavin Newsom. He was granted parole again in May, and Newsom sent it to the full parole board for review in June. The board upheld the parole, and Delashmutt was freed from prison on July 1.

The parole board granted Casey’s parole two other times — once in 2021 and again in 2023 — with Newsom reversing the decision both times.

“Mr. Casey must better understand the internal processes that led him to commit the crime and hone the skills he will need to manage them beyond the controlled environment of prison,” Newsom said in a letter sent to the District Attorney’s Office after reversing Casey’s parole in 2024, adding that he found Casey posed an unreasonable danger to society if he were to be released.

Casey was again granted parole after a hearing in March, and as with Delashmutt, Newsom sent the decision to be reviewed by the full parole board rather than granting or denying the decision himself. The full board affirmed Casey’s parole on July 23. He was released from Valley State Prison in Chowchilla on Friday, Hardy said.

Then-17-year-old Royce Casey in seen in San Luis Obispo Superior Court in January 1997 and in a 2018 inmate photo from Valley State Prison in Chowchilla.
Then-17-year-old Royce Casey in seen in San Luis Obispo Superior Court in January 1997 and in a 2018 inmate photo from Valley State Prison in Chowchilla. Credit: San Luis Obispo Tribune and CDCR photos

Fiorella was denied parole in 2023 and will be eligible for another hearing in 2026. He is currently serving his sentence at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s inmate database.

San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow told The Tribune that his office strongly opposed the release of both Casey and Delashmutt because of the horrific nature of the crime and that “no amount of prison sentence would be enough to satisfy the debt that they owe to the family of Elyse Pahler and the community.”

Dow added that while disappointed, he was not surprised by the decision because California law has shifted its focus to an inmate’s behavior while in prison instead of the seriousness of the offense they committed.

Joseph Fiorella is seen in a 2018 inmate photo, right, and at his March 1997 sentencing for the murder of Elyse Pahler.
Joseph Fiorella is seen in a 2018 inmate photo, right, and at his March 1997 sentencing for the murder of Elyse Pahler. Credit: San Luis Obispo Tribune and CDCR photos

Royce Casey Says He’s ‘Not the Same Person’

In a 46-page statement attached to the habeas corpus petition, Casey admitted his crime was “unusually dark, barbaric and brutal.” He said death metal music and its dark lyrics and themes made him feel powerful, expressing his emotions of anger, rage and hate at a time when he felt sharing his feelings made him appear weak.

“Songs about an innocent victim being murdered on an altar of sacrifice to satan seamlessly melded a fantasy world with the horrible reality of such a crime,” he wrote. “The consequences of my choice to consume this music was that I was corrupting my mind and morals and I was normalizing such evil ideas.”

In the statement, Casey took responsibility for the selfishness and cruelty of the crime and his mindset and actions that led up to it. “I do not expect society to come running to welcome me home upon my release,” he wrote. “But I know that I am not the same person I was when I committed my crime because I have spent considerable time and energy to change and to become the man I am today.”

Through self-help, education and a faith in God, Casey said his time in prison has allowed him to learn how his thoughts, feelings and beliefs direct his actions, and he said that he no longer has the same view of the world as he did when he was a teenager.

“I respect and love others and myself because of our shared humanity, not any internal or external considerations,” he said. “All life has value and worth.”