An Intuitive’s Story Doesn’t Check Out

Kenny Biddle

March 18, 2021

Share
Tweet

Early in 2020, I attended an event at Selma Mansion, a historical landmark located in Norristown, Pennsylvania, which also has a reputation of being haunted. The event featured various vendors including crafters, vintage toys sellers, psychics mediums, and even a lone skeptic—me. That’s right, even though the staff swears the mansion is filled with ghosts, they embrace me and my skepticism (we get along great), and they frequently invite me to set up my “Skeptical Help Booth” at their events.  

As the day progressed I occasionally wandered from one room to another, browsing the various items and services being offered. At one point I met a gentleman who introduced himself as Constantine St. Michael. He claimed to know things beyond the normal five senses that other people didn’t know. He did not like or want to be called a “psychic” or “medium” and instead preferred the term “intuitive,” even though he claimed to possess similar abilities. 

As we spoke, St. Michael mentioned that he had worked on a well-publicized murder case that required special permission from the Pennsylvania Attorney General to “re-open.” This statement piqued my interest. In Pennsylvania, “there is no time limit to bring charges for serious crimes such as murder” (Garcia 2020). Unsolved murder cases go cold after a year or two (depending on state), but they never formally close until solved. 

Naturally, I asked St. Michael which case he worked on, but he flat-out refused to reveal the name of victim. I inquired as to why, because he already mentioned that it was a “well-publicized” case. He replied that he simply didn’t think it was important that I know (this was my first clue that he may not be telling the whole truth). St. Michael further claimed to have worked with a detective on this case—but once again refused to provide a name. As the conversation continued, there was a glaring lack of detail associated with St. Michael’s story, and he grew more annoyed at my questions. The conversation ended with St. Michael claiming that the detectives and others were very impressed with the information he provided. When I asked if the case was solved because of his involvement, he gave me an irritated look and grumbled “Well, no, they never found the guys that did it.” In other words, St. Michael was, by his own admission, basically no help.

His story definitely set off my “skeptic sense,” and I wanted to dig a little deeper into the details. I’ve investigated psychics before and even participated in a real-time investigation of a missing person case based on psychic predictions, as part of the podcast Squaring the Strange with Ben Radford and Celestia Ward (Ward and Radford 2020), and wrote about for Skeptical Inquirer (Biddle 2020). What really got me interested, though, was this person’s behavior: he eagerly promoted his special involvement with a murder case when it made him look as if he had special powers. However, he tightened his lips when it came to answering a few simple, clarifying questions posed by a skeptical investigator. I felt there was more to the story than he was letting on, so I decided to take a closer look.

A Google search revealed that St. Michael has talked about this very same case multiple times, appearing as a guest on paranormal-themed podcasts over the past few years. There wasn’t much else associated with St. Michael, so I spent a few hours listening to various ghost hunting shows. In an episode of Beyond the Strange (Cruz 2019), the host made the comment “I appreciate you talking to my audience and letting them get to know you … and, actually know who Constantine is … and of course, it’s a pseudonym, and that’s okay” (Cruz 2019). Wait, what? 

So, it seemed that not only was I looking for an unnamed murder victim, but I was also looking for a “intuitive” using a fictitious name. This did not discourage me; it was just an additional challenge. Turns out, it was not difficult to find his name. Between his various podcast appearances and his Facebook page, he provided enough details to learn that “Constantine St. Michael” was really Jeff Berube of Dalton, Pennsylvania. 

Knowing who I was dealing with and where he lived helped narrow down the number of murder cases he could have worked on. I continued listening to podcasts he appeared on, until he finally made a mistake: he named the victim. Berube appeared on an episode of Paranormal Brew, and the host is a friend of mine. Berube was relating his story of the murdered hunter, stating that he “met a different group of detectives, with those guys I got brought into a, um, pretty well-publicized case that was, ahh, in order to kind of reopen the case and allow me to work with, you know, on-the-clock detectives, it had to be approved at some level with an attorney general.” This was the same story he had told me months before. St. Michael continued, “And that was a murder of a young man in Pennsylvania game lands. He was a hunter and at first, they thought it was an argument over who’s hunting where, like he had a confrontation with another hunter. But there was always suspicions that wasn’t it. And the mother [of the victim] had put up a five-thousand-dollar reward, there were billboards on, like, [Route] 380, billboards in the area looking for information. The gentleman’s name was Lee Vanluvender, ah, that’s the victim’s name” (Paranormal Brew 2020).

Lee Vanluvender was the twenty-two-year-old son of Thomas Vanluvender, Jr. and Charlene Sebring. On the morning of December 4, 2007, he said goodbye to his mother, hopped into his Jeep, and headed to the state game lands of Tunkhannock Township for a day of hunting. A few hours later, another hunter discovered Vanluvender’s body “lying outside his Jeep in a wooded area off Hypsie Gap Road, near the bridge over Tunkhannock Creek, west of the state game lands” (Scott 2008); he had been shot several times. Based on evidence recovered at the scene, investigators believed Vanluvender was involved in a shootout, possibly with another hunter. Sadly, more than thirteen years later, the case has yet to be solved. 

Now that I knew the victim of the case, I could focus on the investigation details. I checked the database of the Monroe County Cold Case Investigations. Vanluvender’s case had been assigned to Detective Rich Luthcke. Det. Luthcke is a specially appointed part-time detective with the Office of the District Attorney, joining the agency after retiring as a detective from the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department. I spoke to Det. Luthcke on the phone and asked point-blank, “Has anyone by the name of Constantine St. Michael or Jeff Berube worked on the Vanluvender case?” His response was clear and definitive: “Never heard of him.” 

I followed up asking whether any psychic worked on the Vanluvender case, and he answered “No.” I asked if there was any validity to the claims made by Berube, and again Det. Luthcke stated “No, never heard of him.” We spoke for a few more minutes about the use of psychics on murder cases, and it was clear Det. Luthcke did not approve of such tactics and had no use for psychics. Toward the end of our conversation he added, “psychics contact the family, which leads to monetary gain, and that’s a sin.” I agree. 

I also reached out to Jim Fazzi, leader of Deadline Paranormal, the ghost-hunting team Berube had been working with during the time he claims to have worked on the Vanluvender case. I asked Fazzi if he had any information that could confirm Berube’s involvement concerning working with the detectives on the case. The response I received was curt: “This is an active investigation, and we can’t comment any further on this matter. Unless you have info to give to the case” (Fazzi 2021). 

Lastly, I attempted to contact Berube by first sending a message to his “Constantine” Facebook page on January 23, 2021. I learned that soon after I had reached out to his former ghost-hunting team Berube deactivated this account. After locating his personal page, I again attempted to contact him to ask further questions (March 10, 2021). As of this writing, I have received no response.

As I mentioned, Berube claimed that detectives were impressed with the information he provided about the case. I find this hard to believe, because the detective assigned to the cold case has no knowledge of the involvement of any psychic, which “required special permission from the PA Attorney General to re-open” as Berube stated in our first (and only) conversation. 

In his various retellings, Berube mentions he was able to locate the area where Vanluvender’s body was found, which is apparently supposed to impress his audience. In researching local newspapers, I found that the exact location was provided in an article just two days after the murder (Koomar 2007), and a photograph shows police Sgt. Will Laverty pointing to an area of blood-soaked snow where the body was found. 

In the end, my research into this case leads to conclude that “Constantine St. Michael” outright exploited the tragedy of a young man’s murder. By keeping specific details out of his story, Berube relied on people’s blind trust to believe his story based on nothing more than his word. Sadly, this is a scenario that plays out all too often in the paranormal community. What you’re told by someone about themselves is usually what people accept as truth. People like Berube rely on this, confident that no one will bother to look into his claims. Usually they’re right. But when someone does (like me), it’s found that Berube offered nothing that would verify he has some psychic or intuitive ability. The detective in charge had never heard of him, and the case, sadly, remains unsolved. Berube did nothing to help the family or police but instead exploited the homicide for his own benefit.

I’ll leave you with this thought: if Berube really wants to demonstrate his “intuitive” ability, then he should solve Lee Vanluvender’s murder, bring the killer(s) to justice, and bring closure to his family. 

If anyone has information regarding this case, please contact Detective Rich Luthcke at (570) 517-3052 or by email at rluthcke@monroecountypa.gov.

 

References

Kenny Biddle

Kenny Biddle is a science enthusiast who investigates claims of paranormal experiences, equipment, photos, and video. He promotes science, critical thinking, and skepticism through his blog I Am Kenny Biddle. He frequently hosts workshops on how to deconstruct and explain paranormal photography. Email – parainvestigator@comcast.net