a local cemetery. Less than a month after his arrest for this crime, Ricky contracted pneumonia and was treated at Long Island Jewish Hospital. During his hospital stay, his parents tried to convince the doctors to commit him for involuntary psychiatric care. However, the conclusion of the psychiatrists was that Kasso exhibited antisocial behavior but was neither psychotic nor a violent danger, and Kasso was released upon recovering from his bout with pneumonia. Murder of Gary Lauwers The conflict between Kasso and Lauwers had started some time earlier when Lauwers stole 10 bags of PCP from Kasso's jacket, after he had passed out at a party. Kasso confronted him soon after the incident, prompting Lauwers to immediately return five of the ten bags of PCP. Lauwers also promised to repay Kasso $50 for the five bags of PCP that had been used. Kasso reportedly beat Lauwers on four occasions. On the night of the murder, Kasso visited the small gazebo in the new Cow Harbor park and borrowed a radio from a friend. He then invited Lauwers to get high with him, Troiano and Quinones. The group walked to Aztakea Woods, set up camp and ingested several doses, or "hits", of what they believed to be mescaline. The drugs they ingested were tablets called "purple microdots", and while they were erroneously referred to as mescaline on the street, they were likely LSD. The teens also smoked several bags of PCP before attempting to start a small fire, but all of the available firewood was too wet and would not ignite. Lauwers used his socks, as well as the sleeves from his denim jacket, as kindling to start the fire. At some point during the night, the situation escalated into violence. Kasso scuffled with Lauwers, bit him on the neck and stabbed him in the chest. Kasso continued his assault on Lauwers, and Quinones later claimed that Troiano helped Kasso and held Lauwers during the attack. During subsequent testimony he provided under immunity, Quinones later claimed that Troiano did not assist Kasso. Lauwers was stabbed somewhere between 17 and 36 times and his eyeballs were possibly sliced out during the stabbing. During the attack, Kasso allegedly commanded Lauwers to "Say you love Satan", and Lauwers is said to have instead replied "I love my mother," before finally giving in to Kasso's demands. After the attack, Kasso and Troiano covered Lauwers' body