SALEM — A self-described Wiccan high priestess admitted yesterday that she had placed pieces of an eviscerated raccoon on the doorsteps of two local businesses last year.

But Sharon Graham said she still can't explain why.

Graham, 47, formerly of Salem , admitted during a hearing in Salem District Court that prosecutors had sufficient evidence for a conviction on charges of littering and wanton destruction of property.

Judge Dunbar Livingston called the case "certainly a somewhat bizarre and troubling incident" but agreed to go along with a plea agreement that called for the charges to be continued without a finding for a year on condition that Graham perform 20 hours of community service and remain in counseling.

If she complies with those conditions and stays out of further trouble, the charges will be dismissed in a year.

Prosecutors also agreed to drop the most serious charge against Graham, a count of witness intimidation.

Back in May 2007, business owners in downtown Salem were alarmed after police found the dismembered raccoon in front of two stores, Angelica of the Angels on Central Street and the Goddess Treasure Chest around the corner on Essex Street.

The creepy crime went unsolved for several months. Then a man named Richard "Ricky" Watson went to police with a tale of a "witch war" between Graham and another local business owner, Christian Day. Watson told police that Graham, his former roommate on Bridge Street, had tried to frame Day. Graham had once worked with Day as a telephone psychic, but the two had a falling-out.

Watson said he came home one night during the Memorial Day weekend to find Graham and a group of young men standing around a jar with what appeared to be one of the raccoon's eyes in it, according to a police report. He said Graham told him she had found a dead raccoon near Salem Willows.

He told police that Graham and the young men then left in a Jeep and drove around downtown, placing the parts at the businesses.

The entrails left a bloody mess that the Fire Department had to clean up, because of concerns about potential biohazards.

The case made national headlines last summer after Graham was charged.

A second person charged in the case, Frederick Purtz, 22, admitted to sufficient facts last fall. But Graham and her lawyer, David Gavegnano, insisted on a trial. That trial was scheduled to begin yesterday, but over the past two months, Gavegnano and prosecutor Jane Prince had been negotiating a possible plea deal in the case.

He told the judge that Graham denies the statements that were attributed to her by Watson in a police report.

"The main concern was the witness intimidation charge," Gavegnano said. "She never intimidated anyone." Once that was dropped, she was willing to admit to the other charges.

Gavegnano said yesterday that there were "a lot of emotions running high in the community" at the time. Graham has since moved out of Salem, he said. She is receiving counseling and is doing everything asked of her by a probation officer who has been supervising her since her arraignment.

Gavegnano was asked outside court why Graham put the raccoon parts at the two businesses.

"You'd have to ask her," the lawyer said.

When she was asked the same question, Graham said, "I really can't say either because there are people that are involved that I don't wish to get in trouble. There has been too much pain and suffering already."