Huntsville police detective, pastor increases churches’ awareness of satanic activities in communities

Huntsville police detective and pastor Jeff Bennett will never forget Eileen Janzic, the woman who shot and killed Pastor Jerry Simon in his own sanctuary or Jeffrey Franklin, the glassy-eyed teen who bludgeoned his parents to death and critically injured three of his four siblings.
   
Bennett, Huntsville Police Department’s unofficial expert on cults, the occult and satanism, was called in to investigate both cases.
   
There were strong indicators that both Franklin and Janzic were involved in satanism.
Janzic was carrying a satanic bible when authorities arrested her in Decatur.
   
Franklin was arrested shirtless, a faint pitchfork carved into his chest. Other evidence found in the Franklin home indicated satanic influences including a movie that depicted ritual murder.
   
Although cult investigation remains an unofficial department at the Huntsville Police Department, Bennett has monitored cult/occult/satanic activity since 1987.
   
“The department was aware that I was a student of the Bible and that occult and satanic matters required someone with an understanding of spiritual principles,” explained Bennett, a soft-spoken man who also serves as pastor of First Baptist Church of Taft, Tenn. “I believe it was God’s will that I was the one assigned to cult investigation.”
   
Bennett has seen a segment of society most would rather not think about. His undercover work introduced him to a world of wiccan rituals, black and white spells, desecrated churches and Satan worship.
   
“Seeing these kind of things actually happen has made Scripture come alive to me because I have seen verses like Ephesians 6:12 play out right in front of me,” Bennett said.
   
“I would leave some of these wiccan/occult locations and break down and cry because I knew God had delivered me and kept me safe. Here I was, this tough narcotics detective and I had to drive around for a while to let my tears dry up before I could go back to the station,” he added.
  
Researching the dark nature of the occult during eight years of intense investigation weighed heavily on Bennett. In addition, the “tough guy” image he had to keep up as a vice and narcotics detective took its toll.
   
Between 1987 and 1994, Bennett continued to preach two Sunday services at his 130-member church located on the Alabama-Tennessee border. This too placed a strain on the already stretched pastor and police detective.
   
“I had to be careful not to preach on spiritual warfare every Sunday,” Bennett said.
   
“Plus I had a sense of guilt — that I was holding back on them — because I could not share with my church what was going on in their community.”
   
At that point all of the names, places and details he discovered while researching the insidious subculture were considered confidential.
   
He has since been given the go-ahead by department superiors to share his experiences.
   
“I wanted people to know that people in power, that people sitting in church pews, that people behind the pulpit were involved in these kinds of activities.”
   
The brutal murders of Pastor Simon and Gerald and Cynthia Franklin were a turning point for Bennett, who is now serving in Internal Affairs.
   
“They disturbed me so much, and I thought perhaps there could have been measures instituted by society that might have kept the activities that I believe led to the murders in check,” Bennett said
   
Initially Bennett had hoped the police department would begin an occult/satanism awareness program but manpower prevented it. So he took up the matter on his own.
   
“That is when I decided to go to the churches,” he said.
   
“I realized that the carnal mind could not comprehend these things, but if I could get to the Christian people and show them here it is, this is what it looks like and to teach them to cry out to Jesus for deliverance when they encounter it.”
   
Bennett named his ministry “Last Days” because he believes the surge in occult/satanic activities he has observed during the last 20 years is a sign of the end times.
   
Since he began his ministry in January 1999, he has spoken to more than 40 groups, Several of these groups have included  churches.
   
“Most receive what I say and are alarmed, but others give me the impression that if you don’t tell me this I don’t have to worry about it,” Bennett said.
   
Lately, area colleges and police departments have invited Bennett to conduct seminars on the occult and satanism, which has opened an unexpected door into the world.
   
“The topic itself,” said Bennett, “leads right into Scripture.”
   
Bennett is trusting that God will continue to create avenues to share his experiences and bring the occult into the light. He is currently planning to write a book that would further expose the darker side of Alabama.