Transcript
Episode 285
From Sword and Scale · Episode page · Watch on YouTube
· 1 h 3 min · 9,243 words · 179 timestamped sections
This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Episode 285", an episode of Sword and Scale published December 11, 2025 (1 h 3 min, about 9,243 words). It mentions 139 people, works and ideas, including Eric Christensen, Sherry's Nissan, Butcher knife, Ryan Guest, Washington.
What this episode is about
The content explores the dark realities behind true crime stories, emphasizing that real-life horrors often surpass fictional tales. It delves into a specific case involving a welfare check on Sher Harlon in Everett, Washington, highlighting her circumstances and a broader commentary on societal neglect and the complexities of human behavior.
Key takeaways
- Even picturesque towns hide secrets: Everett's misty beauty contrasts starkly with its grim New Year's Eve crime.
- Retail therapy can't cure it all: a JC Penny employee vanishes, proving monsters lurk beyond store aisles.
- A laugh caught on video becomes a haunting memento, emphasizing the uneasy boundary between humor and horror.
- Nitro gloves, bleach, and missing linoleum: when a welfare check turns into a macabre scavenger hunt.
- Neighborly gossip becomes critical: casual observations link a vanishing car to a murder suspect’s probable description.
What is discussed, and when
- – 10:00: J C Penney, Eric Christensen, Cedar Creek Apartments, Washington
- – 20:00: Dan Young, Dan Young, Dan Young, Dan Young
- – 30:00: Wiccan, incense, Eric Christensen, Ryan Guest
- – 40:00: Butcher knife, Sherry's Nissan, Nissan, Reader Road
- – 50:00: blood oath, Eric Christensen, Wiccan, bleach
- – 1:00:00: Dan Young, Washington, Dan Young, Dan Young
- – 1:03:03: Eric Christensen, Washington, Sherry Harland, child molestation
Notable quotes from "Episode 285"
What happened on New Year's Day in Everett Washington is a great example of that. The misty city of Everett was boasting its typical winter colors of gray and green.
about Washington · atMy name is Craig Mat. I was a deputy prosecuting attorney for Snomish County.
about Craig Mat · atKilts. He claimed some Scottish heritage. When you saw him, you knew who you were looking at. Detectives soon got a call that Eric Christensen had been spotted at a hospital in…
about Eric Christensen · atProperty or paying rent. But it was during this time that Sherry's new friend, Dan Young, agreed to help her move. Sherry had met Dan Young on a dating platform several months prior to her moving out of her habitation with Christensen.
about Dan Young · atLike it's I'm a not a Christian. I'm a Wiccan. And I'd be like asking me to become one. I'm 100% totally for Chevys. They'll be asking me to love Fords,.
about Wiccan · atSherry's car was located at approximately 2:00 p.m. later on the same day that the search warrant was served on Christensen's home. So, the afternoon of January 7, it was found.
about Sherry's Nissan · atThat was consistent with the type of block of knives that had been in Sherry's apartment. and they found a big butcher knife in the passenger compartment of the vehicle where…
about Butcher knife · atThen an unexpected phone call would blow the investigation wide open. A man named Ryan Guest called the Snow Himesh County Sheriff's Office and said he needed to talk to someone. Ryan was one of Eric's only friends and a member of the same.
about Ryan Guest · at
Who and what is mentioned in this episode?
People
- Eric Christensen — Person · Primary suspect / central figure · 7 mentions · first at
Central figure in the episode — Sherry Harland's boyfriend and the primary suspect convicted of her murder; much of the narrative and evidence focus on him. - Ryan Guest — Person · Accomplice / key witness · 2 mentions · first at
Fellow Wiccan and friend of Eric who assisted with disposal of Sherry's remains and later cooperated with police (received immunity for truthful testimony). - Dan Young — Person · Friend / 'sugar daddy' figure referenced · 6 mentions · first at
Man who financially helped Sherry, purchased items for her, and whose relationship with Sherry triggered Eric's jealousy and was part of the motive presented. - Craig Mat — Person · Referenced expert / prosecutor (narrator interviewee) · 2 mentions · first at
Former deputy prosecuting attorney who provides case background, legal perspective, and analysis in the episode. - Dan Young — Person · Key witness / supporting character (friend/benefactor; trial witness) · 7 mentions · first at
Presented as Sherry’s “sugar daddy” figure and financial helper; his relationship with Sherry is a major jealousy trigger and motive element in the prosecution’s theory; he testifies at trial.Particularly when we were talking about the text string from Sherry's phone, when Dan Young was testifying about his relationship with Sherry, where he was obviously angered by what he was hearing.
- Dan Young — Person · Referenced associate / supporting witness (referenced) · 7 mentions · first at
A friend/dating-platform contact who financially helped Sher Harlon move into her apartment; his relationship with Sher is a key jealousy motive discussed and he testifies at trial (per episode).Particularly when we were talking about the text string from Sherry's phone, when Dan Young was testifying about his relationship with Sherry, where he was obviously angered by what he was hearing.
- Dan Young — Person · Referenced witness / relationship figure (motive context) · 7 mentions · first at
Introduced as Sher's new friend and financial supporter ('sugar daddy' framing by Eric); his texts with Sher are presented as a motive trigger and he testifies at trial.Particularly when we were talking about the text string from Sherry's phone, when Dan Young was testifying about his relationship with Sherry, where he was obviously angered by what he was hearing.
- Sherry Harland — Person · Alternate mention (same as Sherry Harland) · 2 mentions · first at
Likely a transcript variant or misspelling of Sherry Harland; appears fewer times but context matches the victim.By the endless green shrubbery and towering Douglas fur trees. Beautiful, but super depressing. Outside the Cedar Creek Apartments, two officers arrived to do a welfare check…
- Dan Young — Person · 6 mentions · first at
Property or paying rent. But it was during this time that Sherry's new friend, Dan Young, agreed to help her move. Sherry had met Dan Young on a dating platform several months prior to her moving out of her habitation with Christensen.
- Sher Harlon — Person · 3 mentions · first at
Creek Apartments, two officers arrived to do a welfare check on 35-year-old Sher Harlon. She had grown up until she was a teenager in Oregon, had moved to Washington with her…
- Sherry Harland — Person · 2 mentions · first at
Snomish County detectives were trying to find out what happened to 35-year-old Sherry Harland. She hadn't been seen in days, and her apartment was a wreck.
- maintenance man — Person · 1 mention · first at
Showed up at the apartment complex, which was the Cedar Creek Apartments, and the maintenance man on duty at the apartment complex, got his keys and allowed law enforcement entry into Sherry's apartment.
- Detective Betts — Person · 1 mention · first at
Detective Betts headed to the scene and found Eric outside the hospital, his hand freshly stitched up wearing his signature midcfe martins and braided goatee. What a look.
- Sherry Anne Harland — Person · 1 mention · first at
- Joey's Lawyer — Person · 1 mention · first at
Craig, the detectives Ryan and his lawyer sat down as Ryan gave his proper statement, his account of what happened to Sherry. As the only witness to the aftermath, his story would be crucial at trial.
- Ryan Ges — Person · 1 mention · first at
Now, his friend and fellow Wiccan, Ryan Ges, had admitted that he helped Eric scatter Sherry's severed body parts around the county. GME didn't have any real criminal history. He wasn't.
- Ryan Creed — Person · 1 mention · first at
Petitioned the Snowamesh County Courts to change his last name to Creed so that no one will know that Ryan Creed from Washington is a child molester. Ryan Creed, by the way, is spelled R Y A N. C R E D, in case you're doing a search.
- Mike Boudet — Person · 1 mention
- Rosco — Person · 1 mention
Companies & orgs
- J C Penney — Company · Employer · 5 mentions · first at
Sherry Harlon's place of employment, where her absence was first noticed.Unlike Eric, Sherry actually wanted to work and was thrilled to get a full-time job at J C Penney. That's when things changed. We kind of like grew apart, but we were still together when.
- JC Penney — Company · Victim's employer (context) · 5 mentions
Sherry worked at J C Penney; her coworkers noticed her absence and initiated concern leading to welfare check. - Snohomish County Sheriff's Office — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
The law enforcement agency involved in the investigation of Sherry Harland's murder.That we got his testimony for trial, we ultimately offered him immunity for truthful testimony at trial. The police now had Eric in custody and at his home, their search…
- Tagged — Company · Dating platform (origin of relationship) · 2 mentions · first at
Website where Eric and Sherry met — part of background on how the relationship began.Since April of 2009. 41-year-old Eric had met Sherry on a site called Tagged, which is similar to just about every other dating website out there.
- Wal-Mart — Company · Incidental Mention · 3 mentions · first at
Store where Eric Christensen bought items for the Wiccan ritual.Okay. so I went with her. We went to across the street to the Walmart.
- Sword and Scale — Company · 2 mentions · first at
Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
- Wiccan church — Company · 2 mentions · first at
Dressed. She says, Where are you going? I said, Home. Christensen claimed to be a member of the Wiccan church for want of a better term and they went by the name of the Aquarian Tabernacle Temple commonly referred to in the area as the Tab.
- prosecutor's office — Company · 2 mentions · first at
He returned home, seemingly unbothered by the conversation. Then detectives immediately called the prosecutor's office to expedite a search warrant for Eric's house. Then I…
- medical examiner — Company · 2 mentions · first at
The human skull that was located on the front seat was ultimately taken by this county medical examiner and he x-rayed that and when x-raying the skull discovered a knife tip…
- hospital in Monroe — Company · 1 mention · first at
You were looking at. Detectives soon got a call that Eric Christensen had been spotted at a hospital in Monroe. Monroe was about 20 mi from Sherry's apartment, but close to the guest house that Eric rented on a rural property in Goldbar.
- Chevys — Company · 1 mention · first at
Wiccan. And I'd be like asking me to become one. I'm 100% totally for Chevys. They'll be asking me to love Fords, right? Not happening, right? So I got up, I said, This is the last time we're having sex. Got.
- Aquarian Tabernacle Temple — Company · 1 mention · first at
Church for want of a better term and they went by the name of the Aquarian Tabernacle Temple commonly referred to in the area as the Tab.
- the Tab — Company · 1 mention · first at
They went by the name of the Aquarian Tabernacle Temple commonly referred to in the area as the Tab.
- Borders — Company · 1 mention · first at
And right now, I can't think of the name. down by stairs on the right hand side across the borders.
- Magical Gardens — Company · 1 mention · first at
Magical gardens. We went there. Then we went over to the dollar store to grab a few more items cuz it's cheaper. We had a male and female figure which represent the god.
- dollar store — Company · 1 mention · first at
Magical gardens. We went there. Then we went over to the dollar store to grab a few more items cuz it's cheaper. We had a male and female figure which represent the god and the goddess. Okay.
- subreddit — Company · 1 mention · first at
Oh man, what are the other guys on the subreddit going to think?
- county medical examiner — Company · 1 mention · first at
The human skull that was located on the front seat was ultimately taken by this county medical examiner and he x-rayed that and when x-raying the skull discovered a knife tip…
- Leatherman — Company · 1 mention · first at
On the way home, he called me on my cell phone, said he got it open with his Leatherman.
- Washington prison — Company · 1 mention · first at
Because my front sights are off. He ended up doing 12 years on two counts of assault, one. It was in the Washington prison that Eric discovered the Wiccan religion and the…
- Aquarian Tabernacle Church — Company · 1 mention · first at
Assault, one. It was in the Washington prison that Eric discovered the Wiccan religion and the Aquarian Tabernacle Church. Why is it Aquarian? I don't know. Go down that rabbit hole yourself if you want to. Leave me out of it.
- Snowamesh County Courts — Company · 1 mention · first at
Are you surprised? In 2024, he petitioned the Snowamesh County Courts to change his last name to Creed so that no one will know that Ryan Creed from Washington is a child molester. Ryan Creed, by the way, is spelled R Y A N. C.
- Dr. Martens — Company · 1 mention
- Fords — Company · 1 mention
- Mazda — Company · 1 mention
- Snohomish County Jail — Company · 1 mention
Products & tech
- Butcher knife — Product · Crime evidence / murder weapon · 3 mentions · first at
A large knife (butcher knife) consistent with wounds and a broken tip found — tied to the murder and physical evidence. - Lenolium / linoleum — Product · Forensic evidence (flooring) · 1 mention · first at
Cut pieces of linoleum found both at Sherry's apartment and in the burned car trunk — used as linking physical evidence.There was a heavy odor of bleach in the air inside the apartment. there had been some lenolum that had been cut off the floor of the kitchen in the apartment. There had been an amount of carpeting that had been cut off the.
- Nissan — Product · Vehicle brand (victim's car) · 3 mentions · first at
Make of the victim's car (used in crime) — relevant as crime-scene object and forensic evidence.Confirmed that they all heard Sherry fighting with someone, but it just sounded like a heated argument. Sherry's blue Nissan should have been parked in its regular spot outside…
- incense — Product · 3 mentions · first at
She didn't have no incense, no chalice, no incense burner, no sea salt, no bowl of any kind.
- t-shirt — Product · 2 mentions · first at
Group or that someone threw around in a water cooler discussion. Something that would be great for a t-shirt. No, it's something that developed a lot more organically than…
- bleach — Product · 2 mentions · first at
There was a heavy odor of bleach in the air inside the apartment. there had been some lenolum that had been cut off the floor of the kitchen in the apartment. There had been an amount of.
- block of knives — Product · 2 mentions · first at
Co-signer on the lease. He also, purchased her a flat screen TV, a block of knives and some cooking implements to kind of set Sherry up in the apartment.
- butcher knife — Product · 2 mentions · first at
Block of knives that had been in Sherry's apartment. and they found a big butcher knife in the passenger compartment of the vehicle where the tip had been broken off it. The brutality of Sherry's death was becoming apparent.
- garbage bags — Product · 2 mentions · first at
Inside the trunk was Sherry. Eric had cut her body up into pieces and stuffed her bloody limbs into garbage bags. He took the parts out of the trunk, took him into the woods with a shovel.
- futon mattress — Product · 1 mention · first at
T-shirt that had what appeared to be a bloody footprint on it. There was a futon mattress that appeared to have several cuts that you might expect from a knife being plunged…
- Sherry's blue Nissan — Product · 1 mention · first at
Confirmed that they all heard Sherry fighting with someone, but it just sounded like a heated argument. Sherry's blue Nissan should have been parked in its regular spot outside…
- Mazda 323 — Product · 1 mention · first at
Where that goes. Nowhere good, very fast. So, they found themselves back in Eric's car. we stayed in my Mazda 323 and we just parked from various places to places.
- flat screen TV — Product · 1 mention · first at
That she moved into and was the co-signer on the lease. He also, purchased her a flat screen TV, a block of knives and some cooking implements to kind of set Sherry up in the apartment.
- chalice — Product · 1 mention · first at
She didn't have no incense, no chalice, no incense burner, no sea salt, no bowl of any kind.
- incense burner — Product · 1 mention · first at
She didn't have no incense, no chalice, no incense burner, no sea salt, no bowl of any kind.
- sea salt — Product · 1 mention · first at
She didn't have no incense, no chalice, no incense burner, no sea salt, no bowl of any kind.
- cell phone — Product · 1 mention · first at
On the way home, he called me on my cell phone, said he got it open with his Leatherman.
- lighter fluid — Product · 1 mention · first at
He told me he doused the car in lighter fluid.
- blue jeans — Product · 1 mention · first at
Even more pieces of incriminating evidence. Inside of Christensen's home, they found a pair of blue jeans that had fairly extensive blood spatter on it.
- tennis shoes — Product · 1 mention · first at
They found a pair of tennis shoes that had apparent blood spatter on it. But what was mostly interesting to law enforcement about these shoes is that the tread on the bottom of the shoes.
- athame — Product · 1 mention
- bowl — Product · 1 mention
- coat hanger — Product · 1 mention
- Dr. Martens boots — Product · 1 mention
- Leatherman (multi-tool) — Product · 1 mention
- linoleum — Product · 1 mention
- mop — Product · 1 mention
- nitrile gloves — Product · 1 mention
- oil (ritual oil) — Product · 1 mention
- rifle — Product · 1 mention
- wand — Product · 1 mention
Concepts & topics
- Wiccan — Concept · Motivational / contextual belief system · 9 mentions · first at
Religion/belief system central to Eric's identity; used in the episode to explain rituals (blood oath) that formed part of motive/background. - Aquarian Tabernacle Temple — Concept · Religious Affiliation · 1 mention · first at
Wiccan church that Eric Christensen and Sherry Harlon were part of, influencing the crime's context.Last time we're having sex. Got dressed. She says, Where are you going? I said, Home. Christensen claimed to be a member of the Wiccan church for want of a better term and they went by the name of the Aquarian Tabernacle Temple commonly.
- Tagged — Concept · Incidental · 2 mentions · first at
The dating site where Eric Christensen and the victim met.Since April of 2009. 41-year-old Eric had met Sherry on a site called Tagged, which is similar to just about every other dating website out there.
- blood oath — Concept · 4 mentions · first at
Anyway, after the blood oath ritual was complete, Eric was satisfied.
- search warrant — Concept · 3 mentions · first at
By the conversation. Then detectives immediately called the prosecutor's office to expedite a search warrant for Eric's house. Then I became involved. At that point, we came to…
- immunity — Concept · 2 mentions · first at
Dispose of the body. So to make sure that we got his testimony for trial, we ultimately offered him immunity for truthful testimony at trial. The police now had Eric in custody…
- New Year's Day — Concept · 1 mention · first at
What happened on New Year's Day in Everett Washington is a great example of that. The misty city of Everett was boasting its typical winter colors of gray and green.
- unlawful possession of weapons — Concept · 1 mention · first at
He was sentenced to do 30 days in jail for an unlawful possession of weapons charge in Snowomish County.
- satanic verses — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Dull. So, they adopt things witchcraft and nonsense. Maybe they start reading satanic verses or something edgy, and then that becomes their whole personality cuz what else is there?
- cast a circle — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Okay. What it is, you cast a circle and in that circle is pure purity. Okay. To where you can do your ritual work to where it's no negative energies coming in. It's all positive energies,.
- ritual tools — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Started grabbing stuff cuz she didn't have none of the ritual tools. None. So what are the ritual tools?
- watchtowers — Concept · 1 mention · first at
All right. And I cast the one here. And then I conjure up the watchtowers to watch over it so it won't no negative forces come into it.
- lord and lady — Concept · 1 mention · first at
And I called upon the lord and lady.
- zodiac — Concept · 1 mention · first at
A Pacific oil made for this. And I grabbed what her zodiac element is, which is air.
- Mexican guys — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Hand, Eric said that on his way back to Goldbar, he was jumped by quote three Mexican guys unquote.
- probable cause — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Eric's house. Then I became involved. At that point, we came to the determination that we had probable cause both for a search warrant of Christensen's home and for an arrest…
- arrest warrant — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Determination that we had probable cause both for a search warrant of Christensen's home and for an arrest warrant for Christensen. While police searched Eric's guest house for…
- rendering criminal assistance — Concept · 1 mention · first at
But this is not a guy with history, but he certainly had criminal exposure for rendering criminal assistance, after the fact by helping dispose of the body. So to make sure…
- shopping list for cleaning items — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Also, they also located what appeared to be essentially a shopping list for cleaning items. garbage bags, bleach, mop, gloves, things of that nature. And then they also found a number of receipts from various stores. Eric left.
- receipts — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Mop, gloves, things of that nature. And then they also found a number of receipts from various stores. Eric left evidence everywhere, a shocking amount for someone so…
- speedy trial — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Like all criminals facing trial in Washington, Eric was granted the right to a speedy trial. In Washington, speedy means 60 days. Not sure why they've adopted that definition, but it is what it is. Craig and his team had a solid theory of.
- forgery — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Have to say more? Anyway, in 1990, he was convicted of statutory rape and forgery in Oregon. He served his prison time and he moved up to Seattle. He was supposed to be a registered sex offender in Washington, which he was not.
- registered sex offender — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Forgery in Oregon. He served his prison time and he moved up to Seattle. He was supposed to be a registered sex offender in Washington, which he was not.
- assault — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Because my front sights are off. He ended up doing 12 years on two counts of assault, one. It was in the Washington prison that Eric discovered the Wiccan religion and the…
- text message — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Christensen had been gone, Sherry and Dan Young had been texting back and forth. One of the last text messages from Sherry had been her complaining about her stomach ache. And…
- guilty verdict — Concept · 1 mention · first at
It was a tense 16 days in that courtroom, but in the end, the jury came back with a guilty verdict. Eric would spend almost 50 years behind bars, which is probably where he…
- child molestation — Concept · 1 mention · first at
Though he traded immunity for his testimony, he was later convicted of child molestation in 2019.
- altar — Concept · 1 mention
- Daga — Concept · 1 mention
- Danu — Concept · 1 mention
- Douglas fir trees — Concept · 1 mention
- five elements candles (earth, air, fire, water, spirit) — Concept · 1 mention
- god and goddess (male and female figures) — Concept · 1 mention
- jury — Concept · 1 mention
- season 12, episode 297 — Concept · 1 mention
- Wicca — Concept · 1 mention
- X-ray — Concept · 1 mention
Places & events
- Sherry's Nissan — Place · Crime evidence (vehicle) · 3 mentions · first at
Sherry's car (a Nissan) was torched and contained human remains (skull) and other evidence; pivotal crime-scene discovery. - Washington — Place · Setting · 6 mentions · first at
Primary location where the events of the episode take place, specifically in the context of the crime and investigation. - Everett — Place · Setting · 5 mentions · first at
City where Sherry Harlon lived and where the crime occurred.What happened on New Year's Day in Everett Washington is a great example of that. The misty city of Everett was boasting its typical winter colors of gray and green.
- Everett — Place · Setting / crime scene city · 5 mentions · first at
Primary setting where Sherry lived (Cedar Creek Apartments) and where the welfare check occurred; used to describe the locale and atmosphere.By the endless green shrubbery and towering Douglas fur trees. Beautiful, but super depressing. Outside the Cedar Creek Apartments, two officers arrived to do a welfare check…
- Cedar Creek Apartments — Place · Crime Scene · 3 mentions · first at
Sherry Harlon's apartment where the crime occurred.Seen since. Her co-workers called the police and asked for a welfare check on January 5th. Several uniform deputies showed up at the apartment complex, which was the Cedar…
- Reader Road — Place · Crime scene (location of burned car) · 2 mentions · first at
Rural road off Highway 2 where Sherry's burned car was found — part of the disposal/location chain of evidence.Sherry's car was located at approximately 2:00 p.m. later on the same day that the search warrant was served on Christensen's home. So, the afternoon of January 7, it was found.
- Snohomish County Jail — Place · Setting · 4 mentions
Location where Eric Christensen served time for unlawful possession of a firearm, leading to Sherry Harlon moving out.He was sentenced to do 30 days in jail for an unlawful possession of weapons charge in Snowomish County.
- Goldbar — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at
Location where Eric Christensen lived and where parts of the crime took place.You were looking at. Detectives soon got a call that Eric Christensen had been spotted at a hospital in Monroe. Monroe was about 20 mi from Sherry's apartment, but close to the guest house that Eric rented on a rural property in Goldbar.
- Monroe — Place · Incident location / hospital sighting · 2 mentions · first at
Town where Eric was spotted at a hospital; geographic marker in the investigation timeline (Monroe is near Goldbar).Kilts. He claimed some Scottish heritage. When you saw him, you knew who you were looking at. Detectives soon got a call that Eric Christensen had been spotted at a hospital in…
- Magical Gardens — Place · Store referenced for ritual supplies · 1 mention · first at
Local mall shop mentioned where Wiccan ritual supplies were purchased for the blood-oath ceremony.Magical gardens. We went there. Then we went over to the dollar store to grab a few more items cuz it's cheaper. We had a male and female figure which represent the god.
- Snohomish County — Place · 21 mentions
- Monroe — Place · 2 mentions · first at
You were looking at. Detectives soon got a call that Eric Christensen had been spotted at a hospital in Monroe. Monroe was about 20 mi from Sherry's apartment, but close to the guest house that Eric rented on a rural property in Goldbar.
- park and ride — Place · 2 mentions · first at
He picked me up and we went to the park and ride the Monroe.
- Everett, Washington — Place · 1 mention · first at
What happened on New Year's Day in Everett Washington is a great example of that. The misty city of Everett was boasting its typical winter colors of gray and green.
- King County — Place · 1 mention · first at
In a visiting request, right, form in which King County, you don't have to do that.
- Reader Road — Place · 1 mention · first at
Served on Christensen's home. So, the afternoon of January 7, it was found off of a place called Reader Road.
- Reiter Road — Place · 1 mention · first at
And Reiter Road is a two-lane road that leads off of Highway 2 in the east part of Snowomish County. It relatively quickly gets out into the woods and you're out in the middle of nowhere.
- Highway 2 — Place · 1 mention · first at
And Reiter Road is a two-lane road that leads off of Highway 2 in the east part of Snowomish County. It relatively quickly gets out into the woods and you're out in the middle of nowhere before you know it. Down Reader Road,.
- gravel pit — Place · 1 mention · first at
And it's an old gravel pit that young kids will go to party at or people will do target shooting at, things of that nature. It was apparent from the, the smell and the active.
- Mineral Park and Ride — Place · 1 mention · first at
- courthouse — Place · 1 mention · first at
Typical normal citizen was feeling like when they came in, to the courthouse, got selected for this jury, and then sat for 16 days watching just this parade of horrible, that we spun out for them. And then, thanks for your service,.
- mall — Place · 1 mention
Media & podcasts
- Aquarian Tabernacle Temple — Character · Religious organization (Wiccan church referenced) · 1 mention · first at
Named Wiccan church/organization Eric belonged to and which shaped some of the ritual context and social connections.Claimed to be a member of the Wiccan church for want of a better term and they went by the name of the Aquarian Tabernacle Temple commonly referred to in the area as the Tab.
Sponsors
- Dan Young — Person · Referenced witness / friend of victim; financial supporter ('sugar daddy' framing) · 7 mentions · first at
His relationship with Sherry is presented as a motive trigger for Eric’s jealousy; he helped her move, co-signed her lease, and testified at trial about their relationship/texts.Particularly when we were talking about the text string from Sherry's phone, when Dan Young was testifying about his relationship with Sherry, where he was obviously angered by what he was hearing.
- store.sortscale.com — Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
Well, we got lots of goodies in the store.sortscale.com.
- swordscale.com — Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
Another one. If you want to check out our awardwinning, amazing TV show, you can do so at swordscale.com.
Full transcript with timestamps
Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. It's almost like he would rather live in his car and spend his money on stupid things like games and stuff like that instead of reality. This is season 12, episode 285 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real.
Well, we got lots of goodies in the store store.sortscale.com. Lots of them are on a deep discount cuz I need to get them out of my garage. Heat up here. We have this saying we throw around here a lot. The worst monsters are real. It's not something we came up with in a focus group or that someone threw around in a water cooler discussion. Something that would be great for a t-shirt. No, it's something that developed a lot more organically than that. When you get hit over the head with an idea over and over and over again, even for the dumbest of us, something eventually sticks.
What happened on New Year's Day in Everett Washington is a great example of that. The misty city of Everett was boasting its typical winter colors of gray and green. Nestled in Puget Sound, it's your typical Pacific Northwest port town where the drab, rainy skies are offset by the endless green shrubbery and towering Douglas fur trees. Beautiful, but super depressing. Outside the Cedar Creek Apartments, two officers arrived to do a welfare check on 35-year-old Sher Harlon. She had grown up until she was a teenager in Oregon, had moved to Washington with her mother. Uh she was working at at J C Penney and had just moved to a new apartment.
This is former deputy district attorney Craig Mat. My name is Craig Mat. I was a deputy prosecuting attorney for Snomish County. I did that for 35 years and retired in June of 2024. Shelley hadn't shown up for the last few shifts at J C Penney. One of my first jobs. Worked in the uh men's underwear department. Wore a suit and everything. It's crazy. You imagine young Mike Budet in a suit at J C Penney selling you underwear. Neither can I. Anyway, Sherry's co-workers grew more and more concerned every time they tried to call her because they weren't getting an answer. And as we've heard before, this just wasn't like Sherry. Again, I'm not sure who the type is that just disappears and doesn't answer people.
Oh, right. That's me. That's me. Don't call me. Anyway, she actually enjoyed working at J C Penney. She had a lot of fun with her co-workers who teased her about the awkward laugh she had. This awkward laugh happened so often they decided to catch it on video. Don't
make her laugh. Laugh, Sherry. Just follow the whale. She can't stop laughing. Now you have to do the second part of the laugh. The
No, we didn't get the trigger warnings on this episode incorrectly. That was not a wounded animal. That was Sherry's laugh. Anyway, Sherry had left her shift at J C Penney on January 1st and hadn't been seen since. Her co-workers called the police and asked for a welfare check on January 5th. Several uniform deputies showed up at the apartment complex, which was the Cedar Creek Apartments, and the maintenance man on duty at the apartment complex, um got his keys and allowed law enforcement entry into Sherry's apartment.
And once the uh deputies entered the apartment, it became pretty clear, pretty quickly that they were not going to be dealing with a missing person's case, but a but a homicide case.
Sherry's small one-bedroom apartment was a complete disaster. There was a heavy odor of uh bleach in the air inside the apartment. Um, there had been some lenolum that had been cut off the floor of the uh kitchen in the apartment. There had been an amount of carpeting that had been cut off the floor in the bedroom of the apartment. Inside the apartment bedroom where the carpeting had been cut off on all four walls there was uh blood spatter. Um, so essentially kind of in a three a 360°ree radius. Law enforcement also found a t-shirt that had what appeared to be a bloody footprint on it. There was a futon mattress that appeared to have several cuts that you might expect from a knife being plunged into it. And there was a pair of gloves, those nitro gloves. And one of them had what looked like tissue. And when I say tissue, I mean human tissue on the on the glove.
But there was no sign of Sherry or her beloved dog, Rosco. She was gone. The deputies could tell that something horrific had happened in her apartment. They slowly backed up, closed the door to the crime scene, and called in the higherups. Sherry's welfare check had quickly turned into something much more sinister. When detectives descended on the Cedar Creek apartments, they got to work trying to figure out what happened. Detectives started fanning out and doing a canvas of neighbors of of Sherry's, seeing whether they either saw something or heard anything. And several of Sherry's neighbors indicated that they either heard what sounded like a relatively loud violent argument on Saturday morning, which would have been January 2. Um, at approximately 8:00 a.m.
Neighbors who shared the walls with Sherry all heard the commotion during the early morning hours of January 2nd. They hadn't seen anything, but they confirmed that they all heard Sherry fighting with someone, but it just sounded like a heated argument. Sherry's blue Nissan should have been parked in its regular spot outside the complex, but it was gone. As officers examined the spot where she usually parked, another neighbor piped up. But there was also a neighbor that saw a man who met the description of Eric Christensen kind of loitering around Sherry's vehicle.
What was important about this neighbor having seen someone who met Christensen's description near Sherry's vehicle is by the time law enforcement got there on the 5th, that car is gone. Christensen immediately became a person that law enforcement wanted to talk to.
Eric Christensen was Sherry's boyfriend. They had to find him, but it wouldn't be hard. Let's just say that the guy didn't exactly blend in in Everett.
Eric Christensen was a a big guy. He had to go about 6'2, 6'3. He was probably about 220. He was balding and kept his hair cut very short um almost to the scalp. Uh he had a long uh chin beard that he would typically braid. Um would often wear um kilts. He claimed some Scottish heritage. When you saw him, you knew who you were looking at. Detectives soon got a call that Eric Christensen had been spotted at a hospital in Monroe. Monroe was about 20 mi from Sherry's apartment, but close to the guest house that Eric rented on a rural property in Goldbar.
Detective Betts headed to the scene and found Eric outside the hospital, his hand freshly stitched up wearing his signature midcfe martins and braided goatee. What a look.
You know, they were building their case. So they they weren't there to arrest Christensen, but what they wanted to do is get him, you know, tie him to some sort of statement. Maybe he would admit to the crime. Maybe he would give them information to lead them in a different direction. Betts had the the presence of mind to essentially do a man on the street type of interview. Got his uh recorder out, asked Christianson if he's willing to, you know, talk to law enforcement. you know that they're out looking for Sher Harlon and uh Christensen agreed.
Eric, I understand that you had a relationship with uh um a woman um within the last month. Can you give me her name, please?
Sherry Anne Harland. Okay. And how long have you known Sherry? Since uh April of uh 2009. 41-year-old Eric had met Sherry on a site called Tagged, which is similar to just about every other dating website out there.
Formed a relationship first, then we started living together. About when was that?
Uh that was in March of the same year. Uh both of us were actually living in our vehicles.
Eric and Sherry stayed with some friends in Everett for a while, but it didn't work out. They had two couples under one roof in a small apartment, and we know where that goes. Nowhere good, very fast. So, they found themselves back in Eric's car. Uh, we stayed in my Mazda 323 and we just parked from various places to places.
And did the two of you ever get another place together? We finally did. And that was I think in August.
Okay. Hey, and where was that? I was in Goldb Bar. Sherry and Eric started renting a small guest house in Goldb Bar on their friend's property. It was cramped, but they made the best of it. Plus, anything was better than living in a car.
Tell me about your relationship with uh Sherry uh during this period of time. Well, we've been dating. We're boyfriend, girlfriend. Pretty serious. Things did go astray. What what what is pretty serious to you?
Well, we're pretty we were together roughly I'd say 22 hours of the day. Really?
Okay. Until she got her job working at J Pennington. For a few months, Eric and Sherry spent every waking moment together getting by on his disability checks. But that was no longer sustainable. Unlike Eric, Sherry actually wanted to work and was thrilled to get a full-time job at J C Penney. That's when things changed. We kind of like grew apart, but we were still together when uh around October I think it was of uh 09.
Okay. Um, and tell me, you said there was no event and you guys just grew apart.
Yeah. Okay. But did you just continue to live together? Well, well, we continue just uh to be a couple and until I went to jail for my warrants that I had.
When was that? In November, I think it was November 14th of 2009. He was uh sentenced to do 30 days in jail for an unlawful possession of weapons charge uh in Snowomish County. So from November 14th till December 11th of 2009 uh he had been in jail on that weapons charge.
And did the two of you communicate during the time that you were in jail? Nope.
She didn't come visit you or anything like that? She claimed she tried to. Okay. But I didn't put a the way the Snomish County Jail is, you have to put in a visiting request,
right, form in which King County, you don't have to do that. Of course, I was strange of that. I didn't had no idea.
Did you ever try to call her? Couldn't. Didn't know her number. Ah, okay. So, you got out of jail the first or second week of December. And then what happened? I went back to Goldbar and found out that she uh she had her own apartment in Everett cuz I called her.
Eric admitted that Sherry moved out after he went to jail to serve time for unlawful possession of a firearm. He told the detective that Sherry had been kicked out for not helping out at the property or paying rent. But it was during this time that Sherry's new friend, Dan Young, agreed to help her move. Sherry had met Dan Young on a dating platform several months prior to her moving out of her habitation with with Christensen. Sherry had been transparent with Dan about her relationship with Eric. And when he went to jail, they saw it as a way for her to get away and get her own place. Dan Young was an older guy. He was employed. He had money. He helped when Sherry had told him that she wanted to move out of the home that she was sharing with Christensen. He agreed to pay the both the first and the last month's rent at the apartment complex that she moved into and was the co-signer on the lease. He also, you
know, purchased her a flat screen TV, a block of knives and some some cooking implements to kind of set Sherry up in the apartment.
There was actually like a brief week a brief what week where we'd actually broken up and but I tried to salvage it and she said fine. Now, is this before or after Christmas?
Before. Before Christmas. All right. So, for a week you tried to salvage the relationship.
Yeah, I was mad. I was really mad at her. And why were you mad? Because of her sugar daddy.
Okay. Now, tell me about that. We haven't talked about that yet. Yeah. Her sugar daddy. Now, the way I believe if you're with somebody, you're with somebody. If you have a sugar daddy, even though it's not sexual, that's still cheating on a person.
All right. That's the way I've been for all my life that I can remember. Now, what made you think that she had a sugar daddy?
Uh because at we were in the apartment in Everett for that brief time, he had sent her 450 bucks. And
how do you know that? cuz she told me. Okay. And she spent most of the money on my car.
Dan was a friend of Sher's. He helped her out by moving and setting her up in a new apartment, but he also lent her money. As much as Eric disapproved of this man in Sherry's life, he had no problem using the funds Dan gifted Sherry for himself or his car. Then Dan bought Sherry a laptop. And one day, after an afternoon of love making, Eric just couldn't let the laptop go. Maybe it was the fact that Dan could buy her something nice like a computer that Eric simply couldn't afford. Anyway, it made him angry
cuz she was messing with it. And this was after we had intercourse. After you had intercourse.
Yeah. And I was sitting there stewing about it. cuz it's not me, right? Like it's I I'm a not a Christian. I'm a Wiccan. And I'd be like asking me to become one. I'm 100% totally for uh Chevys. They'll be asking me to love Fords,
right? Not happening, right? So I got up, I said, "This is the last time we're having sex." Got dressed. She says, "Where are you going?" I said, "Home." Christensen claimed to be a member of the the Wiccan church for want of a better term and they they went by the name of the Aquarian Tabernacle Temple commonly referred to in the area as as the Tab. Eric had been uh quote unquote serious Wiccan for many years. In fact, it was his whole identity. Usually people that are really, really stupid assume new identities from new things they discover and find kind of weird and cool and different. You know, they want to be different cuz they're boring and dull. So, they adopt things like, you know, witchcraft and nonsense. Maybe they start reading satanic verses or something something edgy, you know, and then that becomes their whole personality cuz what else is there?
Anyway, Eric was one of these and uh Sherry had also joined the church a few months prior mostly because of Eric's influence. He was pretty serious about it. But in talking to friends of his that were also part of the Wikah church, it was also pretty apparent that in addition to the belief system of Wikah that Christensen was also going down a a darker a darker side.
I did ask her what's going to happen. I walked out that door. She says, "Yeah." She knew I'd be I wouldn't come back at all and she did not want to lose me. So made a little deal. Eric was a talker and uh when his pagan beliefs came up, something something shifted. A fire blazed in his eyes, sending a chill down the detective spines. They needed to know more about this deal that he made with Sherry. But nothing could have prepared them for what came out of this Wiccan's mouth.
Snomish County detectives were trying to find out what happened to 35-year-old Sherry Harland. She hadn't been seen in days, and her apartment was a wreck. Police found ripped up carpet, bleached floors, blood spatter, pieces of human tissue on a glove. It was clear she'd been killed, but there was no trace of her remains whatsoever. The last person to see her alive was her boyfriend, Eric Christensen. A kiltwearing Wiccan with a bald head and a 10-in braided goatee. Couldn't have been him, right? Anyway, when the detectives found Eric outside the hospital with a hand injury, they started asking him about Sherry. He was more than happy to talk about how their relationship had gone downhill after she started taking financial gifts from a friend called Dan Young. This this bastard this bastard that had, you know, all this money for stuff like laptops, you know, Eric just wasn't happy about
it. And he told police that he had Sherry make a deal with him using some of his coveted Wiccan rituals. Tell me about the ceremony. I mean, I'm not a wic so I don't understand. So, enlighten me.
Okay. What it is, you cast a circle and in that circle is pure purity. Okay. To where you can do uh your ritual work to where it's no uh negative energies coming in. It's all positive energies,
right? So, we put up a barrier. Okay. And so, that's where we do all our good stuff.
Where you get all your good stuff. Yes. Okay. Um, so I went with her. We went to across the street to the uh Walmart. Started grabbing stuff cuz she didn't have none of the ritual tools. None. So what are the ritual tools? Uh ritual tool tools are anami which is a ceremonial dagger which is only used for ceremony.
Aami. Aami. Okay, I'll bite. Well, this is new to me. So, I'm I know you're educating me.
Um, she didn't have a wand, which we used. We used wands to cast the circle. Okay.
She didn't have no incense, no um no chalice, no incense burner, no sea salt, uh no uh no bowl of any kind.
Where do you get this stuff? There's actually a store in every mall that sells all of it.
Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. And right now, I can't think of the name. down by stairs on the right hand side across the borders.
Magical gardens. That's it. It's hard to take a ritual seriously when it involves buying wands at a store next to Sears.
Magical gardens. We went there. Then we went over to the dollar store to grab a few more items
cuz it's cheaper. We had a a male and female figure which represent the god and the goddess. Okay. And we have five candles of different colors. You have green which is represents earth, the element of earth. Yellow is air. Red is fire. And then blue is water. And then we have one more which is white which is spirit.
Okay. So I set up the home, the altar and all. Where did all this take place? In our apartment.
Okay. And do you remember what day this was? Yeah. For some reason, I think it's the 18th that I
Okay. So, is this the same day that you found the computer and all that stuff? So, basically, you find a computer
and we talked and talked and we're good. Was it a conversation where she was trying to convince you to not leave and that's why you guys made this pack?
Mhm. They returned to the apartment and Eric set up his ritual space. But there was one problem. They needed a church witness to bind the ceremony and make it real. That damn fine print.
I called up my friend Ryan and now in a ritual, you do not have any electronic devices whatsoever,
right? None. So because of it was just being him, her and I called him up to be a witness for it.
And then who is this you called again? His name is Ryan. Ryan. What's Ryan's last name?
I don't know. It starts with a G. Starts with a G. Yes. Okay. And so I asked him to participate and he said "Sure."
Okay. So Ryan participated via the telephone in the other telephone. And what he did was he cast in his own circle.
Okay. At where he was. All right. And I cast the one here. And then I conjure up the watchtowers to watch over it so it won't no negative forces come into it.
Basically the watch dogs. Okay. And the elements were the ones to witness it. All right.
And I called upon uh the lord and lady. I called uh the names I actually used was the danu and the daga. Holding his wand in one hand and a dagger in the other, Eric stood outside the invisible circle he had just cast in their living room. Or at least he pretended to cuz it was not a real circle. He just invented it. Anyway, Sherry waited quietly beside him and closed her eyes. Eric's friend was on speakerphone as Eric looked up to the ceiling and began summoning his gods. Ooh, we're going to have uh some company today. Put out the good china, I guess. As this was happening, the incense burned, clouding the apartment with a musky, thick smoke, potentially masking some of the body odor. I would imagine Eric was in a trance as he worked his magic ritual. Then he turned to Sherry and pointed the wand at her. And then what happened? I asked her, "Why are you here?" She told me that she was there
because of um she wanted to be there. She wanted to say no to sugar daddy. Okay. I also asked her who does she want. She says she wanted me. And then I took I had a Pacific
a Pacific uh oil made for this. And I grabbed what her zodiac uh element is, which is air.
All right. Incense, which is powder. I put it in there and mixed it with the oil. And what she had to do was she had to confess what she was doing three times. Okay. And she had to prick her own blood, her finger, which she couldn't actually do it, so I had to do it.
She couldn't do it. So do it for her. Yeah. And so she put three drops of her own blood in this
in this mixture. Yes. And mix it all up. Oh, and it's got burnt. Okay. Now, so what does that signify when you do that?
That signifies that you're totally willing to do this. You're giving your own life essence.
Oh, okay. To do this. I love the cop's very benol, very ordinary. Oh, okay. The way it offsets the absurdity of what this guy's saying. Anyway, after the blood oath ritual was complete, Eric was satisfied. Sherry had admitted her transgression and committed her own life essence to him.
So, what was the thing that she confessed that there would be no more sugar daddy whatsoever?
Eric explained that things went well for a while, even though he found it strange that they were no longer living together. Christmas came and went and then Eric found a message from Dan and Sherry's phone
talking about my religion and my beliefs. I get into like an I guess an oracle mode. Uh and so I told her, "What does it mean by no sugar?" She explained, "Okay, no singing and no uh no money." I said, "That also means no communication."
Eric said they talked it out. He let that one slide. Maybe she didn't get it. They reconciled but spent New Year's Eve apart because Sherry had to work. The next day, Eric picked her up from J. Penney. They had a nice evening together. Then the next morning, when Sherry went to have a shower, Eric took her phone and started snooping. That's when he saw that Sherry had still been talking to Dan. Oh man, what are the other guys on the subreddit going to think?
I said, you broke your oath. She's What do you mean? What do you mean? Grab the phone. You broke your oath.
So, you're holding your hand up like you're holding the phone in front of her face.
I had the phone into my hand. Okay. You broke your oath. Showing it to her right in her face. You broke the oath. Smash.
So, you threw the phone? I threw the phone. I was pissed. Where Where did the phone land?
Uh on the floor afterwards. Okay. Did it hit a wall or anything? It did. And it broke.
Eric threw a tantrum. He threw Sher's phone across the room and started berating her. And [ __ ] you broke your blood off cuz that's what it was cuz she used her own blood. Pretty much called her every name in the book. You broke your oath. You felt it. We are done.
Okay. So, you're basically you're furious. Oh, I'm mad. I'm could have been like nails mad.
So, you're beyond mad. But I can I know how to control my anger. If it goes a little too far,
I know exactly what my potentials are. And now she's broken her oath. So what does that mean?
That means that she is no good. Her blood is garbage. All right. Her blood might as well be uh sewage water.
Okay. And in the ancient text ways, she become a warlock. She had become a warlock. Her blood was garbage. But Eric said that he'd not seen her since he left that day. They had a loud fight. She slammed the door and he left. As for the cuts on his hand, Eric said that on his way back to Goldbar, he was jumped by quote three Mexican guys unquote.
How did you fight the three of them off? With my fists. After Eric's interview, the police thanked him for his time, and he returned home, seemingly unbothered by the conversation. Then detectives immediately called the prosecutor's office to expedite a search warrant for Eric's house. Then I became involved. At that point, we came to to the determination that we had probable cause both for a search warrant of Christensen's home and and for an arrest warrant for uh Christensen. While police searched Eric's guest house for evidence, the interview, as bizarre as it was, remained purely circumstantial.
They needed more. Then came a breakthrough that set everything in motion. They found Sherry's car. Sherry's car was located at approximately 2:00 p.m. later on the same day that the search warrant was served on uh Christensen's home. So, the afternoon of of January 7, it was found um off of uh a place called Reader Road. And Reiter Road is a two-lane road that leads off of Highway 2 in the east part of Snowomish County. It relatively quickly gets out into the woods and you're out in the middle of nowhere before you know it. Down Reader Road, the detectives descended upon Sherry's Nissan in a desolate pit.
And it's an old gravel pit that young kids will go to party at or people will do target shooting at, you know, things of that nature. It was apparent from the, you know, the smell and the active smoke that was still coming out of it that it hadn't been there long.
Sherry's Nissan was a husk of a car. It had been burned to a crisp. Just the bare metal bones of the car remained as smoke swirled all around. Then they saw something unforgettable.
There appeared to be a human skull on the front seat. There it was. The first piece of Sherry, her skull just sitting there like a message from whoever had done this. What was interesting when law enforcement ultimately went into the vehicle in the trunk of that vehicle, they found a stack of cutup lenolium that uh appeared to be of the same type of lenolium that was cut out of the kitchen floor in Sherry's apartment. Uh they also found a block of knives um that was consistent with the type of block of knives that had been in Sherry's apartment. and they found a a big butcher knife uh in the passenger compartment of the vehicle where the tip had been broken off it. The brutality of Sherry's death was becoming apparent.
This had been a violent, savage murder. the human skull that was located on the front seat was ultimately taken by this um county medical examiner and he x-rayed that and when x-raying the skull discovered a knife tip in the skull. So it it all kind of matched up with uh the weapon that had been used at least to stab her in the head was a knife from the knife block that had been on her kitchen counter. It was clear that Sherry had been killed with the knives Dan had gifted her. All signs pointed to Eric, but there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. No confession, no proof. Detectives were left questioning. Was Eric the killer or was someone else involved?
Then an unexpected phone call would blow the investigation wide open. A man named Ryan Guest called the Snow Himesh County Sheriff's Office and said he needed to talk to someone. Ryan was one of Eric's only friends and a member of the same Wiccan church that Sherry and Eric belonged to. He was the one Eric had called on the phone to witness the blood oath. Ryan said that a few days after the oath, Eric called him asking for help.
He told me that he locked his keys in the cart. I said, "Okay." And um he asked me, "Do you have anything to get the lock open with?"
Did he say what car? No. Okay. Just said, "Did you say where it was?" At the mineral park and ride.
Okay. So, did you were you able to help him with something? I was actually able to go home and um get a pill hanger.
So, GMI showed up to help him get into the vehicle. Uh, and when he arrived, Christensen was standing outside of Sherry's car and he, you know, he he'd locked the keys inside.
On the way home, he called me on my cell phone, said he got it open with his Leatherman.
Oh, okay. I don't know why he didn't do that in the first place. Yeah. I don't know. That's okay.
What happened after that? Um then as soon as we were he told me he already opened and he said I need your help.
Okay. And what did you said with what? And he's like body. I'm like what body? At that point, I was like in shock.
Right. Cuz I didn't it didn't register. Right. Did you ask him what what body what what what was his repot to that?
Hers. Did he say hers or did he say a name? He said hers. Hers. I killed him. When when he asked me for my help, I wasn't I was so distraught. I wasn't thinking clearly. So I said yes. And as they started talking with him initially though, it became pretty apparent that um Ryan had some criminal liability u based upon his actions after the murder and in helping Christensen. We needed to get Ryan legal counsel to make sure that that we were doing this correctly. Craig, the detectives Ryan and his lawyer sat down as Ryan gave his proper statement, his account of what happened to Sherry. As the only witness to the aftermath, his story would be crucial at trial.
He picked me up and we went to the park and ride the Monroe. Okay. And what was there?
Her car. Her car. Um and then then from there, where'd you go from there? We took off and went up to red.
In what car? Hers. And who drove? Me. And where was Eric seated? In the passenger seat in the front.
Ryan drove while Eric directed him. Inside the trunk was Sherry. Eric had cut her body up into pieces and stuffed her bloody limbs into garbage bags. He took the parts out of the trunk, took him into the woods with a shovel.
Okay. And buried the parts and brought the bags back to the car. Did you go with him into
Do you know where you stopped roughly? Ryan acted as a chauffeur around wooded parts of the county. Eric would make him stop, then get out with another body part and his shovel.
Does he get back in the car at that point? And what does he say to you? Next spot.
Okay. When did he tell you about the torso? Um, after he took it out of the trunk,
what did he say? He said, "Here's part of the torso." Okay. What were you How did you respond to that?
I didn't know what to think. Okay. Honestly. Okay. So, did you see what he did with the plastic bag?
He just put it in the trunk. Put it back in the trunk. Okay. What was the next spot? Then
Ryan detailed every spot they went to that afternoon, repeating the same awful process of hiding Sherry's remains as Eric showed them off like trophies.
He um took out another bag. Okay. And this time I was standing on the at driver's door.
Okay. And he pulled that pulled it out of pulled body part out of the bag. Okay. Could you recognize it?
It was a thigh. Thigh. Okay. He chucked it over the guardrail. It was the upper leg without the knee.
Without the knee. As the process went on, Eric became less secretive and started showing Ryan the parts in the bags. After Eric threw Sherry's thigh over the guard rail, a car drove by.
Now, you you mentioned yesterday that somebody drove by while you guys were there.
Yeah, my mom. Okay. Did you talk your mom? Yes. Wow. Was that planned? No. How spooky is that?
I don't know. So, so I had a cover up. I don't know why I did it. All I said was he was going to the bathroom and I was just enjoying the view. What made you not say, "Hey, mom, take me home." Or, "Hey, mom, get me out of here."
I don't know. Did you have any concerns at all or any reasons why you felt that you shouldn't do that? Not really. I was just again not thinking clearly.
So your mom did, how long did your mom stay? About 5 minutes. Small town problems, huh? Ryan's own mother drove by as the two scattered around Sherry's body. And Ryan's mom stayed for five whole minutes. Ryan stood there swallowing his terror as he made up excuses for his mom and prayed she would leave before Eric came back with another bloody trash bag. When she was gone, they continued driving around for the next few hours digging small graves for Sherry's bloody parts.
What was his demeanor like? Did he act like he was sad about this or did he act like he was bothered by it or anything? He when he was acting like it was I really don't know what to think. I don't know how to explain it.
Was he acting angry? Was he acting happy? Was he acting you know different people
in between happy and angry really? Okay. So he wasn't acting sad about it or despondent?
No. According to Ryan, Eric did not seem upset. He toggled between elated and frustrated. probably from having to dig the wet, hard dirt. He clearly wasn't saddened to have lost Sherry. After Eric had had enough for that day, he took Ryan back home and said he'd pick him up again tomorrow. The next day, they got back in the car with the remainder of the body and continued their sick task. By this time, Eric started talking more and more about what happened to Sherry. and how she died.
Is there anything else that he told you, Ryan, about what happened in that apartment or what he did that you can help us with?
I really don't know much about it about the apartment. Okay. But I mean, did he share any other information with you? He told you that why he did it, the blood oath?
Yeah. He didn't tell me really the um how he killed her. All he just said was part of it was part of her was in the car.
We talked a little bit yesterday and you mentioned to me that he used that he was using a knife that he had used a knife.
Yeah, but I'm not sure what kind of knife. Okay. How did you know this then about the knife?
Sorry, I'm jumbled. Um, it's okay. He actually did tell me he used a knife, but he didn't specify. He didn't tell me what kind of knife.
After every single piece of Sherry had been dispersed, except for her head, Ryan told Eric he was done. He'd had enough.
You didn't go to where he put the car. So you told him, "You're on your own." I told him, "You're on your own. I'm done."
Okay. What was his reaction to that? Like, okay. All right. And do you know what happened with the car?
Um, he goes, I'll have to go find a spot to torch it. Okay. Do you know what body parts were left, if any?
Probably an arm and a head. Okay. And why do you How do you know that? Cuz we only got rid of one arm.
Okay. That one arm on Kellogg. Okay. And those were the only two left. Okay. So there was two two left.
Two body parts left. The head and an arm. Did you see them? No. Do you know how he got the car there?
He drove it. And do you know how he got it out of there? He walked home. And how do you know this?
Because he called me afterwards after it was torched. Okay. And said he's on his way home. He's walking.
Okay. Did he tell you what he did? He told me he doused the car in lighter fluid.
Okay. and set it on fire. Did he did he indicate why he put the head in the front seat?
No. Can you think of why he would do that? Is there any significance to that particular action by him?
I don't know. Cuz we have all these other body parts that are buried or thrown off or whatever. Not easily found maybe by animals, but certainly not people.
Yeah. And then we find a torched car. Mhm. With a head. Can if you had to speculate, why did Eric do that?
I don't know why. There's no religious reason, nothing like that. No. Ryan then took the police to every place where he had watched Eric dig a grave for Sherry. They collected every piece of her until they finally had a whole woman again. But Ryan's edgy demeanor cast a shadow of doubt. Had he really just been an observer in all of this? The police still had to tie the physical evidence back to Eric. The last place to investigate was his own property, and they hoped he'd leave something bloody behind.
What had started as a welfare check on Sher Harland had quickly become a murder investigation. Detectives were suspicious of her boyfriend, Eric Christensen, who had admitted to getting into a fight with Sherry after she broke a blood oath during a Wiccan ritual. Now, his friend and fellow Wiccan, Ryan Ges, had admitted that he helped Eric scatter Sherry's severed body parts around the county. GME didn't have any real criminal history. He wasn't somebody that, you know, we dealt with, you know, either law enforcement or the prosecutor's office. We knew he was telling the truth because he was actually able ultimately to lead law enforcement to the various body parts.
But this is not a guy with history, but he certainly had uh criminal exposure for uh rendering criminal assistance, you know, after the fact by by helping dispose of of the body. So to make sure that we got his testimony for trial, we ultimately offered him immunity for truthful testimony at at trial. The police now had Eric in custody and at his home, their search warrant turned up even more pieces of incriminating evidence. Inside of Christensen's home, they found a pair of blue jeans that had fairly extensive blood spatter on it.
They found a pair of tennis shoes that had apparent blood spatter on it. But what was mostly interesting to law enforcement about these shoes is that the tread on the bottom of the shoes matched the bloody footprint that was found at Sherry's apartment. On top of all the blood soaked items in Eric's dingy guest house, they also searched his car. And what they found inside the vehicle was a number of blood transfer stains on on various parts of the car. Then a couple of rings that had had that had been put in like the ashtray. And on the interior of the rings, there appeared to be blood inside of those.
Also, they also located what appeared to be essentially a a shopping list for cleaning items. garbage bags, bleach, mop, gloves, things of that nature. And then they also found a number of receipts from various stores. Eric left evidence everywhere, a shocking amount for someone so calculating. He cut lenolium out of the floor, yet left his cleanup list in his car. Maybe Eric thought he had more time. Maybe he was just a a little clumsy. I don't think he ever anticipated that Ryan would turn on him the way that he did. But I found late in life that all those sayings we learn as a kid have a lot of truth and a lot of learnings to be derived from. You know, sayings like there is no honor amongst thieves or murderers. It's difficult to get inside of Eric Christensen's brain, but my I I have to believe that a lot of it was that even for a guy like that doing what he ultimately did to the body had
to be pretty shocking that what had occurred was so disturbing to even him that it kept him from being meticulous in his cleanup or he just didn't care or he thought he had talked his way out of it the previous day. I I don't know. But I I was just glad that it was there when when the police showed up.
Like all criminals facing trial in Washington, Eric was granted the right to a speedy trial. In Washington, speedy means 60 days. Not sure why they've adopted that definition, but it is what it is. Craig and his team had a solid theory of exactly what had happened to Sherry and enough physical evidence to nail Eric. So, our theory of the case that was, you know, borne out, I think, pretty pretty well by the, you know, the hard evidence that we were able to demonstrate at trial was that Christensen was already very sensitive about the subject of Dan Young, the sugar daddy. This was a guy that that worked, that had money, and wasn't shy about spending it on Sher Harlon. Christensen claimed a shoulder injury and had been on disability for for months. He didn't work. Eric was clearly a [ __ ] loser, in case you haven't figured that out yet. He had no income and barely a home. He was also a convicted felon. He was a Wiccan. Do I
have to say more? Anyway, in 1990, he was convicted of statutory rape and forgery in Oregon. He served his prison time and he moved up to Seattle. He was supposed to be a registered sex offender in Washington, which he was not. Probably cuz a lot of those states over on the West Coast, they just they just don't give a [ __ ] about crime and especially crimes involving sex offenders for some reason. Not sure why that is. Anyway, 1994, he tried to kill his exgirlfriend by shooting her and her boyfriend with a rifle. This is a guy that should have never been out on the streets after that. But hey, you don't want me to talk about politics, so I guess I won't. He missed, but the police, who just happened to be around the corner when when he was opening fire on the two, caught him relatively shortly after he he uh took the shots.
And he said, you know, something to the effect of where I come from, when a woman cheats on you, you shoot them, and the only reason they're they're alive is because my front sights are off. He ended up doing 12 years on two counts of assault, one. It was in the Washington prison that Eric discovered the Wiccan religion and the Aquarian Tabernacle Church. Why is it Aquarian? I don't know. Go down that rabbit hole yourself if you want to. Leave me out of it. Anyway, behind bars, he immersed himself in pagan beliefs, becoming obsessed, as easily obsessed people do. After his release, he met Sherry on that app called Tagged, which nobody's ever heard about. And just 11 months later, he would kill her. The morning of two or of January 1st, 2010, Sherry had been complaining about a stomach ache and Christensen left and went to the Walmart, which is, you know, just up the road from the apartment, to buy her, you know, some
some stuff for her stomach. While Christensen had been gone, Sherry and Dan Young had been texting back and forth. One of the last text messages from Sherry had been her complaining about her her stomach ache. And the very last text that Dan Young had sent back to Sherry. And the last text that she'd ever received was a text that said substantially words to the effect that that's what being with two guys will do to you. It'll give you a bad tummy. Lol. So Christensen gets back from Walmart. Sherry's in the shower and being a jealous, possessive guy like he is, he goes through her phone and he sees that text string, particularly this last one where it appears that, you know, Sherry and Dan are kind of laughing at him being a cuckled and he decided to kill her. Craig believed that Eric attacked Sherry as soon as she got out of the bathroom. He grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen and went into a white
hot rage. Cause of death was difficult for the medical examiner to determine because of the state of the body. However, he was able to find on the torso three stab wounds in her back. Uh, two of which would have been fatal in and of themselves if they had occurred while she was alive. And there was also the stab wound to her head that left the um knife tip embedded in in her skull. When Eric showed up at trial, he had finally shaved his signature 10-in goatee and put on a nice suit, you know. Put on a nice suit every now and then.
It's It's nice. It's good for you. It's good for your health. Eric was unrecognizable. He was still evil, of course, all that evil bubbling below the surface. But at least he had the proper attire.
For the most part, Christensen was pretty stoic. But there were a couple of times, particularly when we were talking about the text string from Sherry's phone, when Dan Young was testifying about his relationship with Sherry, where he was obviously angered by what he was hearing.
Sherry's friends and family were all there. She had a lot of mourners. Vigils had been held in her honor, and the whole community mourned for this kind-hearted girl with a funny laugh and curly hair. Because of that, Craig was very careful when selecting pictures of the crime scene. There were over 1,000 graphic images of Sherry's body parts, her skull, and the murder scene. Craig managed to narrow it down to an essential 100 images to spare her family and the jurors.
I felt bad for the jurors that law enforcement and myself deal with, you know, ugly, gnarly stuff all the time and and and this was, you know, bad for us. I can't imagine what your your typical normal citizen was feeling like when when they came in, you know, to to the courthouse, got selected for this jury, and then sat for 16 days watching just just this parade of horrible, you know, that we spun out for them. And then, you know, thanks for your service, you know, we'll see you later, you know, as they head out the door. That, like I said, they're images from this thing that I I'll never get out of my head. I can only imagine, you know, some of the jurors are might have a similar similar issues.
It was a tense 16 days in that courtroom, but in the end, the jury came back with a guilty verdict. Eric would spend almost 50 years behind bars, which is probably where he should have been for his entire useless life. One day we'll have an AI that will tell us if you're predisposed to become an Eric and we can just throw you in there from birth. Won't that be great?
The verdict had been announced when the jail staff were leading him back to the holding cell. He he kind of cackled in a in a very loud fashion. It was it was kind of kind of spooky. I'm not sure whether it was something that he really felt or it was just trying to be macho or and you know kind of play the part, but yeah, he was laughing as he was walked out of the courtroom. Anyway, Eric, this hatable character that we've spent an hour telling you about. He was a deadbeat if you haven't figured that out by now. A deadbeat cloaking himself in wicked beliefs to project a false sense of power. a sense of power that he probably felt he didn't have really because he's just a powerless dork, you know, kind of like most of us. Some people can't handle the reality that we're mostly just powerless dorks. So, they come up with these stupid ideas.
Eric's pagan identity and spirituality weren't expressions of faith whatsoever. They were just ways for him to peacock, to pretend to be something he isn't. As Sherry started to pull away, he used their shared religion, twisting its teachings to tighten his grip on her. Beneath his facade, there was nothing real to begin with. Just a sad, pathetic, useless bag of blood and guts that's just continuously performing to build up their own ego cuz they know they know deep down inside how useless they actually are. When Sherry finally found her independence, Eric snapped.
His ego couldn't handle it. He butchered her and then he attempted to get rid of her in the most vile way possible. As for Ryan, the one who ratted out Eric. Well, Ryan wasn't so innocent after all, though he traded immunity for his testimony, he was later convicted of child molestation in 2019. Are you surprised? In 2024, he petitioned the Snowamesh County Courts to change his last name to Creed so that no one will know that Ryan Creed from Washington is a child molester. Ryan Creed, by the way, is spelled R Y A N. C R E D, in case you're doing a search.
Sherry Harland led a simple life. She had her own troubles, but kept to herself and tried her best to make ends meet. She was a lost woman who got mixed up with a very, very deranged man. Sherry was Eric's final victim. But her death is a stark and very real reminder. In this world, there is such a thing as monsters, and they look exactly like Eric Christensen.
All right, that's going to do it for another one. If you want to check out our awardwinning, amazing TV show, you can do so at swordscale.com. Highly recommend it if you're a true crime fan.
Questions about this episode
What is "Episode 285" about?
The content explores the dark realities behind true crime stories, emphasizing that real-life horrors often surpass fictional tales. It delves into a specific case involving a welfare check on Sher Harlon in Everett, Washington, highlighting her circumstances and a broader commentary on societal neglect and the complexities of human behavior.
What is mentioned in this Sword and Scale episode?
139 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Eric Christensen, Sherry's Nissan, Butcher knife, Ryan Guest, Washington, Dan Young. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.
How long is "Episode 285"?
The episode runs 1 h 3 min; the transcript is about 9,243 words in 179 timestamped sections.
More from Sword and Scale
About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated February 9, 2026.