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00:01:28
My favorite murder hair to prove it. Well, I like it. You went down the center. I did like it because I've been growing
00:02:03
it out. So like, what am I going to do? And then I'm like, well, I hate it. And so I just went.
00:02:07
You did curtain bangs. Yes. Yeah. Did it work? Yes, it did. I used the razor scissors from when
00:02:12
I was in beauty school. Oh. In 1999. Do you remember your razor scissor lesson? What was
00:02:18
the trick of razor scissors? Get them, like, make sure you have a new razor in there and not one
00:02:23
from 1998. Which is? What you had. A nice dull razor. Yeah. You can hear the hair. Close your eyes.
00:02:31
You can hear the hair cutting. You can hear each hair individually being sliced. Do you know how
00:02:36
much I can't have people use razors on my hair? It goes insane. Like the, because it, oh, your hair
00:02:43
goes crazy. The hair goes so crazy and it's not, you know, there's like, I follow a bunch of
00:02:47
hairdressers on TikTok. Stylists. Is there a word? And a lot of them use those razors. And I'm like, my hair wouldn't do that.
00:02:56
Do the weirdest shit. I know what you mean, because it can't be thinner. It'll just...
00:03:00
Vince very carefully said, don't you have someone who does that for you? And then ran
00:03:08
down the hall in his socks at top speed. I laughed so hard. It was just such a careful thing. And it's like, yeah, but
00:03:14
obviously you've never been a fucking teenage girl because right because it's not that hard and it doesn't it looks good thank you i don't know
00:03:21
how much better they would do it yeah and also you're get you're into you're getting into a real
00:03:28
curtain it's got like a curtain bangs center part are you gonna go into a farrah fawcett era
00:03:34
this summer i could and then i have like the 80s shirt to go with it yeah yeah span those decades
00:03:41
My goal in beauty is to look like Janet from Freeze Company at all times. I was going to say Janet from Freeze Company.
00:03:47
And then I thought you would think it was insulting. Why? She's gorgeous. She's gorgeous.
00:03:51
I don't know. Maybe I thought it was too old. I was just like, file it away. That's my fucking style.
00:03:57
All right. And then a little bit of Mrs. Roper thrown in. You know what I mean? Just like a smooch.
00:04:01
A chunky necklace. Right. A moo moo. We were just talking about the Ropers on Do You Need a Ride?
00:04:07
Oh, how funny. Not to cross promote. That's weird. but it's the truth man yeah we're like fucking psychically connected
00:04:14
it's true psychily connected psychily connected speaking of I have a birthday present for you
00:04:19
let's see it do you want it? fuck yeah I have to close your eyes oh okay okay close your eyes
00:04:25
hold on I gotta tell you when okay wait okay ready? mmhmm open your eye Oh, the Italian hand.
00:04:41
It's an Italian hand on the like swing thing. So it does the Italian hand gesture.
00:04:48
With the Italian flag. With the Italian flag. So it's a constant Italian hand gesture of mamma mia, abundanza pizza for one.
00:04:58
What is that? I bet there's a name for this Italian. Sorry. Liana Scalace, do you want to tell us what the name of this is?
00:05:06
No. On the spot. Sorry. You claim to be Italian. You can't expose me like this. I got you.
00:05:15
That was just a big got you for. Yeah, exactly. This is incredible. Hopefully we're clear on cameras because that is, I wish it was the kind of thing where you rocked it once and it does it for infinitely.
00:05:25
Yeah, like the clacky things. That's an incredible gift. Thank you so much. Yeah, happy birthday.
00:05:29
Do you also want to, I have another one that might be insulting, like Janet from Three's Company.
00:05:35
might be insulting, but I bought a self-help book and I accidentally got two of them. So I was going
00:05:40
to say that maybe we should read them together and we could have like a self-help book club.
00:05:43
I mean, I think the people have been waiting for that for 10 years. Let's do it.
00:05:47
I saw this one and I was like... But is it going to be confrontational? No, it was like, I got it because I don't cry and I need to, like, I want to feel feelings and
00:05:54
stuff And so it not it called Emotional Agility Get Unstuck Embrace Change and Thrive and Work in Life by Susan David PhD We all need to do all of those things That great
00:06:05
So there we go. All right. So let's not read it. No, let's read it. So we're going to do, we're going to not read it, and we're going to shut our emotions down, and we're not going to change.
00:06:13
I think we should read it, and I think we should do like a, that could be a fan cult video of like, we read a self-help book, and this is what Karen thinks you should take away from it.
00:06:23
This is what Georgia thinks you should take away from it. Just highlight important things in it for us and then we can see if we got anything the same.
00:06:29
And I just looked at it and realized that maybe I bought it because there's a cookie with sprinkles on the cover of it.
00:06:33
But I still need emotional agility. What if we picked cookies to eat with every book club?
00:06:42
Okay. That started strong. I was thinking about other stuff while I was pitching them.
00:06:48
I kind of got distracted by myself. Well, you'll pick the next one. So it can be whatever you want it to be.
00:06:53
I like this, though. We should really do a self-help book club. Yeah. I think it's great.
00:06:57
And like find one that you think will work for you. And like, because obviously we both have.
00:07:02
Different problems. Similar different problems. But. I like this. And if I get emotionally agile enough, I can land an Italian man.
00:07:11
Could you imagine? Mangia. Is that it? Pizza for one. Mangia. It's the thing where like in Inglourious Bastards, the guys that he gets to pretend are Italian.
00:07:22
but they don't speak. So the one guy, somebody asked him a question in Italian and he just goes.
00:07:28
Does she have a baby who does it too? No. There's a baby who does it on TikTok. It's fucking cute.
00:07:33
Like a brand new that it's just a weird thing that Santa's doing? No, like toddler.
00:07:37
So it is weird still, but it's like, who were you in your last life kind of a thing.
00:07:41
So the toddler means it? Yeah, and he's not Italian. It's very weird. I guess Italians from everywhere,
00:07:48
including our Italian couples friend that used to come and see us live. Remember the Italians?
00:07:52
maybe they could write in and tell us what what does the pinched finger hand gesture mean
00:07:57
kiboy kiboy kiboy which means what it means like what do you want what do you do
00:08:02
what do you want what are you doing oh it's bad oh it's like this piece of shit yeah it's like come on what do you want
00:08:11
okay but don't people do it like like delicious but they kiss it when it's delicious
00:08:16
oh that's a different thing chef's kiss chef's kiss the fingers are not like a beautiful
00:08:21
it's like a Oh, okay. You, yeah, okay. It's like a, how dare you? Okay. Well, that's perfect for you.
00:08:29
Just put it on your desk and just whenever someone comes into your office, you could just.
00:08:32
If only that would work. Did you watch the Vince Vaughn show where he like, never mind.
00:08:39
Say it. No, it's stupid. You don't want to talk about Italy anymore? I don't want to.
00:08:45
Did you watch that Vince Vaughn show where he became Italian? What do you got? Oh, personally?
00:08:50
I don't think anything except for to say that it is now pool season again. It's hot enough consistently in L.A. where the swimming has begun again.
00:09:01
And I have been waiting and waiting for this. And it was so weirdly mild to not warm for so long.
00:09:09
Yeah. And we're in now. It's very exciting. I've started gardening because it's like nice till like 8 o'clock.
00:09:15
Yes. You know, in the evening. Yeah, warm at night. Yeah. Nice glass of wine and get my hands all dirty. It's been fun.
00:09:21
Good. Yeah. That's a nice one. All right. Fine. Look. Oh, I have an Instagram comment to read that I really liked that I think you'll like.
00:09:30
Let's hear it. So last week you did the story of the shooting in Arizona and how a lot of unhoused people got shot.
00:09:39
And we discussed that. And, you know, like, let's have some fucking empathy, everyone.
00:09:43
So someone on my favorite writer Instagram, whose name is feral underscore forest underscore witch, feral forest witch, said this.
00:09:54
Thank you for what you said today about humanizing unhoused people. I was once an unhoused pregnant 19 year old living in my truck and working as a merchandiser at Macy's and a receptionist at a day spa.
00:10:06
I would sleep in my truck, do a quick Coors bath at a gas station, and change into my work clothes every morning.
00:10:14
Occasionally, I could couch surf for the trade of cleaning an apartment. No one at work knew I wasn't housed.
00:10:21
A miscarriage scare brought me to the hospital, and I called my mom. Thankfully, the baby was okay, and I decided to keep him and moved back in with my parents.
00:10:29
That baby is now 24 and an astrobiologist. Holy shit. At 24 or ever. an astrobiologist. You did something right. You did something. Like, what a contribution to the
00:10:42
world. It's like basically saying that baby is now a rocket scientist, essentially. Right. Exactly.
00:10:50
And a loving partner to my wonderful son-in-law. But I'll never forget that we began life together
00:10:56
in a Chevy S10. Like, that's how, like, yeah, you're co-workers. You just don't know anyone's
00:11:03
situation. And these days, these days, everyone has two and three jobs because the minimum wage
00:11:08
hasn't been raised in a hundred years. And the billionaires are keeping all of the money. It's
00:11:13
like, and the cost of living is just not matching up with what people are being paid. It's fucking,
00:11:19
it's, uh, it's abhorrent. We should be so humiliated and like horrified by ourselves
00:11:25
in the U.S. that we are treated. Rise up, rise up, rise up, rise up. It's over. Fuck billionaires.
00:11:33
I mean, and also just it cannot sustain this way. They're pushing it to the tipping point.
00:11:39
Absolutely. In that idea, that bill that just got passed, it's like cutting Medicaid, cutting, like, it's just stripping out anything that's left to give people.
00:11:50
And who's getting it, I wonder. Yeah. Where's that money going to? I mean, it's just.
00:11:54
It crazy Should we do a donation Sure Yeah Let give a donation Let do it So No Kid Hungry who we love giving to go to nokidhungry if you want to help out as well
00:12:08
I mean... We just do the basics. You could give $5. Yeah. We're going to give $10,000.
00:12:13
Try to move some money toward children who are waking up in a Ford F-10 with their mom trying to get by.
00:12:23
Their mom's working two jobs and raising kids. It's not right. Y'all, please do what you can.
00:12:29
And this is all for the Murderinos when we donate. So thank you guys so much. That's right.
00:12:32
We donate in your names. There's a lot of good in this world. And there's a lot of good we can do if you don't have money to do good with.
00:12:40
What else can you do? Just ask yourself that every day. You'll probably be pretty surprised with the answers you get all around you.
00:12:47
Because the need is there. And also people need to be good to each other. The need within you to give is just as important.
00:12:57
So. Absolutely. That's great. If you don't have that, then blood is fine too. Then give your blood and get a cookie and try not to faint.
00:13:04
I have that blood that's like, you know, oh, can you, that crazy blood that's just like.
00:13:09
Super rare. Super powerful blood. Does your blood cure cancers in others? It does.
00:13:15
I think I've heard of your blood. Just like that. Congratulations. They have like a, you know, in Antarctica, there's a place that has just my blood.
00:13:22
in case the apocalypse comes. You should sell it on Etsy. You made it. Sell it on Etsy.
00:13:29
Well, we have an exciting announcement for you guys. So I guess, yeah, let's just fucking get into it, right?
00:13:33
Let's get into it. If you're a fast forwarder, don't do it yet because we got a really fun announcement.
00:13:38
Fast forwarder? No, skipper. Right. We never called them fast forwarders before.
00:13:43
This is exciting news for the real ones. The Fan Cult, which is our fan club. We just named it The Fan Cult.
00:13:49
We just gave it a major upgrade. Yeah, we've been working on this. This is so exciting. You guys are going to love it. It's got so much stuff in it. And now we have added so much more. So to begin with, there's currently an archive of almost 200 mini mini episodes and five years of bonus video just waiting. So if you're not a member yet, that's like the first thing.
00:14:08
It's already sitting there. But now we have broken the fan cult into two tiers. So there's tier one, which is called You're in a Cult. That's $5 a month. And that you get weekly bonus audio and video, early access to live show tickets, access to our Discord, which is a new thing. I was told it's something like the internet version of a French salon.
00:14:28
It's very fun. And then tier two is call your dad. And you guys have been wanting this. This is the thing that everyone's been waiting for. It's just $10 a month. And you get everything from tier one plus a $20 merch credit. And here's the very exciting thing. You get ad free episodes of the podcast and videos.
00:14:46
People have been asking for ad-free podcasts since we left Stitcher back in 1974.
00:14:52
And you wanted it. Now we have it for you. It's been very hard. We've been trying to figure out a way.
00:14:56
And this is it. We're doing it for ourselves. So if you sign up for Tier 2 now, you will get ad-free episodes of this podcast.
00:15:03
And they upload to Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcast. So they just go there automatically.
00:15:09
There's a lot of little details that have been hard to track down. And we've done it.
00:15:12
And if you sign up before Friday, June 13th, Friday the 13th, you'll get the Fan Cult relaunch discount.
00:15:18
So that's tier one for $3.33 a month or tier two for $8 a month. We're not trying to fucking gouge anyone here.
00:15:27
We're just trying to put up some exclusive content and stuff. That's right. And to prove that we're not trying to gouge anybody,
00:15:33
you can either pay monthly at those prices or you go yearly, you'll save even more.
00:15:38
That's right. If you are a current member of the Fan Cult, you are automatically moved to the $5 tier
00:15:43
at your original $3.33 price. So don't worry. We're not, yeah. Nobody freak out here.
00:15:50
This is a good thing. I know people like to, you know, people don't like change and they get scared,
00:15:54
but this is actually really fucking cool and I'm excited about it. Yeah. So go to fancult.supercast.com to join the cult
00:16:01
or just go to myfavoritemurder.com. There's links there. And yay, welcome to the fan cult.
00:16:06
It's a fucking really fun place to be, I think. And on top of that, we want to tell you about all of the highlights
00:16:11
from our network. It's called the Exactly Right Podcast Network. So this week on Bananas, Kurt and Scotty cover hot topics like attractive psychopaths and a woman falling into a crevasse to get her phone.
00:16:23
Over on Ghosted, Roz welcomes the luminous actor and kindred spirit James Scully.
00:16:28
And then on I Said No Gifts, Bridger does his best to stay composed when Tim Kalpakis barges in with a frickin' gift.
00:16:34
And this week on this podcast will kill you, the errands tackle toxic shock syndrome.
00:16:39
Whoa. Okay. And then most importantly, obviously, Hot Dog Summer has arrived straight from the runways of Milan, pulled from the elite couture shops of Paris. We bring you the hot dog collection of our merch again.
00:16:54
That's right. We're re-releasing Hot Dog Ladies Muscle Tee, the hot dog unisex tee, and a hot dog sticker. So chic. It's so sexy. It's been banned on six continents.
00:17:04
I wear that hot dog ladies muscle tee to work out in and it boosts me. I mean, I don't want to make any promises, but it's like you can draw power from.
00:17:12
Yeah, exactly. So also this design is by Sammy Rich. So go to exactly right store dot com to grab yours today or tomorrow.
00:17:20
No, no rush. Yeah, don't please don't. Unless they sell out. Yeah, those hot dogs will sell out.
00:17:26
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While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on
00:18:35
the next generation of talent. The future soccer stars who are already turning heads at age 14.
00:18:39
Making plays that end up on everyone's feed, scoring from angles that don't make sense,
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rewriting record books that barely had time to gather dust. Because Next doesn't wait for an
00:18:48
invitation and Hyundai doesn't either. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach.
00:18:52
Hyundai did it by making advanced safety standard on every vehicle. Hyundai did it by engineering EVs with ultra fast charging capability.
00:19:00
And Hyundai continues doing it every day. From robotics that change how people live to young athletes changing the game,
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the future isn't some far off concept. It's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA.
00:19:13
Goodbye. Peace of mind can be hard to come by. Especially at 2 a.m. when your house suddenly makes a weird noise.
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00:19:44
if it's a raccoon or if it's a person looking through my windows. like you have to get this level of safety if you want to feel as safe as possible.
00:19:53
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00:20:17
Now, this is the story of a cult that I had never heard of. Oh. Yeah. I know you love a cult.
00:20:22
I really do. So maybe you know this one, but I watched the documentary about it, and I was like, how have I never heard of this?
00:20:29
It should be just as big as all the others because it's horrible. And, you know, awful.
00:20:36
It feels like with cults. Yeah. It can only go in one direction. Right. Well, you don't hear about the good one.
00:20:41
Are there good cults where it's like, and everything was fine? The Catholic Church.
00:20:45
You heard about that a lot lately. I wonder if there are any like positive ones. What would a positive cult be?
00:20:50
I just don't think it can be because it's the any positivity then turns in on itself because of the creeps at the top.
00:20:57
Yeah. If it's a positive one, it doesn't get called a cult. So we don't hear about it. Probably.
00:21:02
Then it's just going to MLM. Right. Then it's just a religion. Religion. Okay. So today's story is about a nefarious couple who teamed up to start a Christian cult that managed to operate for 40 years and inflict horrific abuses on its members. This is the story of the Alamo Christian Foundation. Have you heard of them? It's spelled Alamo.
00:21:23
Yeah, I'm thinking of the rental car company. Yeah, they were horrible. It's not them.
00:21:27
But they abuse people. No, but they actually do have a really crazy connection to like a piece of merchandise or to like a public facing thing like the rental car thing.
00:21:38
OK. That's bananas. OK. The main source I use for this story is a docuseries that Vince and I watch called Ministry of Evil, The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo.
00:21:47
And the rest of the sources can be found in the show notes. This is a great documentary.
00:21:52
It has all the information. So consider this your friend telling you about the documentary and then you should go watch it.
00:21:59
Yes. Because I'm not going to be able to like relay all the information and it's really fucking interesting.
00:22:05
I am going to, I promise I'll listen. But I'm going to be thinking that I've already seen this documentary because, but I feel like this story is so dense and it goes on for so long.
00:22:18
Yeah, it does. But is that the one I'm thinking of? Or is it, I'm like, but then there's Children of God.
00:22:24
Like, I feel like I have documentary poisoning, essentially. Yes. Where I've seen so many where it's like, is the closed captioning yellow?
00:22:33
Well, let me tell you what they look like, because then maybe that'll help. It looks like Tammy Faye.
00:22:38
And then it looks like... Fat Elvis? Yes. But I was going to say it's more of a Roy Orbison kind of thing.
00:22:45
Okay, okay. Do you see that? Yes. Bright blonde hair. She's got the most amazing dresses.
00:22:49
like 70s style. But he has a very 70s like man, paunchy man vibe. Exactly. Okay.
00:22:56
Yes, that's them. Roy Orbison, old Elvis kind of a thing. Gotcha. Exactly. This is the one.
00:23:01
All right. So I'm not going to like really get into the beginnings. It's the same thing you hear for like Manson
00:23:07
and all of the other ones. It's like the 1960s. There's a lot of hippies going to Los Angeles
00:23:12
trying to figure out their way. And there's a lot of people preying on them, including this cult.
00:23:19
They pass out flyers about Jesus. They invite people to come to the church. And it turns out for these guys, they're doing the bidding for a couple, this couple, a man named Tony Alamo and a woman named Susan, who have started the Alamo Christian Foundation.
00:23:35
So it's the same thing you hear a million times, you know? It's the same thing you dream of doing one day with your money.
00:23:41
Starting a cult or running a Christian foundation? That's my dream. I have my mood board.
00:23:47
It's just so weird where it's like, all that work, and maybe it's just my perspective that I can't get, but it's like, you're going to do all that work and not do a show at the end.
00:23:58
You're going to do all that work and not do a show at the end. not. It's just purely to force people to go to church.
00:24:03
Yeah. Well, so she is actually an incredible orator, as they say. Okay. So the story is like almost in two parts, where she's in charge and then he's in charge. And when
00:24:12
she's in charge, it kind of makes sense because she can stand up on the pulpit and give these
00:24:16
incredible sermons. And she's really a show, a showman. And her daughter is in the documentary,
00:24:22
and she's fucking the most amazing person. And you want to hang out with her so bad.
00:24:26
and she talks about what a con woman her mother was and how good she was at it and i think she
00:24:32
actually was it's it's very similar to like jim jones oh okay like she's just really good at it
00:24:37
wow and like the same time period where people are lost they're looking for something new they
00:24:41
you know their parents are like old school and so they don't fit in there anymore but there's
00:24:45
nothing else for them you know what i mean it's like i could totally it's so easy it's yeah when
00:24:50
you run under the house like at the beginning of the pat benatar video love is a battlefield and
00:24:55
you're like, fuck you, I'll never come back. And then you go out and then the world is horrifying
00:25:00
and you think you can't go back. Exactly. So that's this time. It's like, it makes sense that
00:25:05
these people in the 60s and 70s fell for this. But the people in the 90s have no fucking excuse.
00:25:12
Listen, it was a very sarcastic time and there was a lot to run from. You think they were kidding? The 90s were like, we were just being sarcastic.
00:25:19
People needed to take shelter from how toxic the culture was, where they were just like, I don't know, Jesus, will you help me?
00:25:27
Because these assholes. I just can't anymore. Okay, so let me tell you about Susan, first of all.
00:25:32
She looks like, yeah, like Dolly Parton and Janice the Muppet from the Muppet Band became a person.
00:25:38
Her name was Edith Opal Horn. She's born in Arkansas in 1925. She wants to be an actress, moves to Los Angeles in the 1940s.
00:25:46
And she gets a job as a bar girl, which I really loved this. They pay pretty young women.
00:25:52
And bar people pay pretty on going to sit at the bar, have a drink, and then the man buys them a drink.
00:25:57
But it's not alcohol, but they're charged for alcohol. So they just keep drinking and like making the men keep buying drinks.
00:26:03
Wow. Yeah. Oh, that's great. So like, yeah, they're just to keep the patrons coming and buying more drinks.
00:26:09
Yeah. Makes sense. You know? So then Susan, who at this point is married, she has a daughter, as I said.
00:26:15
Her name, the daughter's name, I'm just going to call her Chris because it's some kind of Christian that I can't pronounce.
00:26:21
And she goes by Chris. um susan meets this man named mark hoffman he had been born bernie laser hoffman in 1934 in
00:26:29
missouri laser laser okay uh with a z that's kind of cool i mean and he changed his name like you
00:26:35
fucking change you change your name to laser your name's bernie laser you could do anything with
00:26:39
your life uh mark was raised at father flanagan's boys town which i'm sure was a very peaceful calm
00:26:47
Yeah, supportive. No problems there. Nope. No sarcasm there. Everything's fine. And after growing up and moving out to California, he becomes a low-level grifter and had several convictions for petty theft as well as for statutory rape.
00:27:03
And so this guy Mark meets Susan in the early 60s. She's 10 years older than him and kind of just a presence, right?
00:27:12
So he falls for her. They fall for each other. even though Mark has no interest or knowledge of Christianity, he's like, I see what this does to
00:27:20
people. I'm fucking all in, like wants to be part of the mind control thing. Yeah. Yeah. And he sees
00:27:27
it as a business opportunity, really, because Susan does have this magnetism that draws people
00:27:32
to her. She's very it's like motherly. I don't know. There's something about it that people love.
00:27:37
Susan and Mark divorce their spouses and they get married in Vegas in 1966. At this point,
00:27:42
Susan's 41 and Mark is 32. So those are kind of crucial ages to be making. Yeah.
00:27:51
Interesting. Oh, Susan really landed a young guy. That's exciting. And it's kind of like it does seem like her little fuck boy a little bit because like he's in the background of the photos of her like giving these amazing sermons with all the crazy nails.
00:28:03
And he does seem like a supportive little fuck boy. A supportive groupie. Yeah. And I'm sure she just like wanted it for her.
00:28:12
To a point. Good for her to a point. So, um... Good for her to a point is a good title.
00:28:22
So they change their name. So he changes his name to Tony, and they change their last name to Alamo.
00:28:29
So from here on out, it's Susan and Tony Alamo. The Alamos begin preaching on the streets to young people in L.A.
00:28:35
They gain a ton of followers, and you're like, how did that happen? They start operating out of a house in West Hollywood on Crescent and Sunset.
00:28:42
It's like. That's where I get my hair done. I mean, like, I wonder which corner had a house because there's Greenblatt's.
00:28:50
There's a Sunset Five. Mini shopping center. Yeah. So I think probably behind one of those places.
00:28:58
Up in the hills a little bit? Yeah. Kara Clank and Jared used to live right there.
00:29:02
Yeah. There's some apartments, buildings there. Yeah. So we're. Yeah. Oh, that's right.
00:29:08
They had that great mid-century apartment. God damn, that's nice. Yes. I bet it's like right around there.
00:29:13
This is not relevant at all. It's not, but like it's like relevant for five people and you're one of them.
00:29:21
Yeah. And this is our podcast. I'll text Kara after this and be like, guess what?
00:29:27
All right. So I just love shit like that. Well, that's the fun of like it's like hometown true crime because it's like this actually happened here.
00:29:35
We're not talking about some faraway place. Totally. In the place where you can't convince someone to give you $1 if you were short on gas.
00:29:43
Somehow these people came in and started changing hearts and minds on Sunset. And it's a happening time.
00:29:49
I'm at Sunset was crawling and they're just like come a couple blocks away. And we have this apartment where you can or a house or whatever you can hang out with us And because of that very quickly the city of West Hollywood takes issue with the over occupancy of the house Because guess by 1970 it a three
00:30:07
bedroom house. Guess how many people in 1970 at this point are living there? 10. But they're bad
00:30:14
because it's over occupancy. You're going with 10. Well, three to a bedroom? Five to a bedroom? 15.
00:30:21
200. No, I know. And it's probably like people going in and out. You know, it's like not everyone living at the same time, but 200.
00:30:28
How? That's so gross. It's so gross. There's like two old spinster sisters that live next door with like another one's coming in.
00:30:36
Oh my God. They don't have shoes on. They've got their pet lizard. I'm thinking of the Simpsons, the sisters from the Simpsons.
00:30:43
Another one's coming in. So like that alone would make me be like, no, thank you to this cult.
00:30:46
You know what I mean? You don't have a clean bathroom? No. Come on. Where's the spaghetti dinner?
00:30:50
I don't want to just hang out in a hot apartment. That's right. So they are like, shit, we need to move.
00:30:56
So by the early 70s, they wind up buying a compound out in the desert. Yes, very much like the Manson family.
00:31:02
In fact, it's not far from there. It's in a cult hotspot called Saugus, California.
00:31:08
You know Saugus? Saugus. Just down the road from the Manson family. So they could like high five on their way to being terrible.
00:31:14
I mean, what a weird time. We think we live in a weird time. But like truly like all of culture just ripped in half.
00:31:23
And then it was like take these drugs and walk over there and see what happens. No one had ever lived that way.
00:31:28
Like by the 90s it was like people had experimented and lived that way and been through shit.
00:31:34
But that like 1960s on, you couldn't go on an airplane without being in a suit. You know what I mean?
00:31:42
Yes. There's no alternative. Right. There's no counterculture. So it would be mind-blowing to see that.
00:31:47
So counter. And so like the way my mom used to be about like, you're not wearing those jeans to the dentist.
00:31:54
Even your mom. What are you talking about? And it's like, can you imagine what those poor people who like grew up in the Great Depression, they finally make money.
00:32:02
They give the money to their kids and their kids are like, hey man, bye. Totally.
00:32:07
Or like, you don't understand me, goodbye. Yeah. And I want to do drugs too. I want to do drugs and I want to join whatever religion anyone offers me on Sunset Boulevard.
00:32:17
Totally. And I believe it. I believe these people. Like the trust then was much more trusting.
00:32:25
And, you know, the thing we've learned about like the effervescence of being at a, say, music show with a bunch of people and you're like an experience.
00:32:32
They were having that like with religion where it's like a change. And the way you've talked about sociopaths being like commanding and you just want to follow them.
00:32:42
Yes. You've got to be a sociopath to be a fucking cult leader. We know that. Yeah.
00:32:46
I believe so. If not full psychopath. If you have to say that, like, I'm talking to God directly and then God wanted me to tell you what to say.
00:32:52
Like, come on, dude. I can't even answer emails. I'm talking to God on the daily to tell you what to do.
00:32:59
That's a lot of pressure. Come on. That's a lot of. OK, so but they're into it. And so it's all the normal cult stuff that I won't get into.
00:33:07
But you can watch in the documentary where they give them the hippies, give them the money.
00:33:10
But they're also like it's hippies. They don't have a lot of money. But like secretly, there are a lot of hippies probably who have like trust funds and shit.
00:33:15
So it works. There was some famous actress's, who was it's daughter that she pulled out of the Manson?
00:33:25
Yeah. Murder, she wrote? I think her daughter, Angela Lansbury's daughter, was like almost a Manson-eer.
00:33:33
And then she got yanked. Like a musketeer or a mouse. What's the mouse? Mouseketeer.
00:33:39
Mouseketeer, yeah. She got yoinked right out. And then her mom was like, it is. I saw you use that credit card.
00:33:45
You will not be buying things for Charles Manson. So they give them all their paychecks.
00:33:52
At this point, the religion has achieved tax-exempt status because they're a religious institution.
00:33:57
That's the dream. Yep. But conditions at this desert compound, guess how they are?
00:34:03
They're horrific. Disgusting. They're disgusting. There's many members that have babies and small children because they do this really smart thing where they're open to single mothers.
00:34:14
And they're like, we accept you. We won't judge you. Come and we'll like, this is a community that can take care of your children.
00:34:20
Because that was so taboo at the time. However, they have no access to disposable diapers, but they also have no access to water to wash the cloth diapers.
00:34:28
And people are sleeping about 125 in a room, you know, and I'm sure the rooms weren't very insulated or nice to begin with.
00:34:36
There's no access pretty much to shower facilities. But meanwhile, Susan and Tony, guess what?
00:34:42
They live in a nice house. Yeah. And they're like going to Saks Fifth Avenue, buying expensive clothes.
00:34:47
Just they're living their good life. Yeah. She comes by and she's like, look, I bought a silk scarf if anybody wants to borrow it.
00:34:54
For your baby. In a pit. Oh, God. But it's not just financial abuse taking place.
00:35:00
And this is where it starts to get dark. Susan starts preaching to parents that their children will go to hell if they do not punish them for real or imagined offenses.
00:35:08
And the beatings begin. And this becomes a key component of the church that will endure for decades before they're finally stopped.
00:35:18
So at this point in the mid-1970s, Susan's daughter, Chris, who has children of her own, she is like, this is fucked up and leaves, like has to run and leave.
00:35:31
So that's how bad it is. Like if your daughter who's been with you for your entire life is just something like, oops, this is too much for me.
00:35:37
Yeah. She's been born into the cult and she leaves. And she does that amazing thing where you don't try to sugarcoat or make your parents' sins seem reasonable.
00:35:48
This woman is incredible. She's very much just like, these fucking nuts. Yeah. Very good.
00:35:54
So they also though like Susan and Tony are these larger than life you know Elvis and Dolly Parton looking characters And she again is really good
00:36:05
So they have a weekly syndicated religious TV show. They even perform or like they even do a sermon at the Grand Ole Opry like you and I did that one time.
00:36:16
Yeah. I bet our sermons were very similar. They were very similar. So they're like mainstream and it gives them credit.
00:36:21
and it kind of has like a musical variety show vibe and a lot of sequence, a lot of, you know, emphasis on the Bible,
00:36:31
just like that crazy 70s Tammy Faye. Yeah. And this attracts new members because people think it's respectable.
00:36:38
They have TV time. They have a real show. By 1975, the California authorities are like,
00:36:44
hey, something's not right here. I don't think the workers are being paid. So Susan and Tony do the smart thing
00:36:51
and get the fuck out of California and go to a place that's a little more chill about it, Arkansas.
00:36:57
That's another thing for me. When they're like, let's get out of California, I'd be like, I'm staying.
00:37:03
My cult, yeah, my cult status really depends on location for sure. Beach access.
00:37:10
Well, yeah, because I feel like it's the old 30 rock don't move to a second location idea.
00:37:16
Where it's like, once you're going to a second location, what are you going to do?
00:37:19
Bunker? Right. You're going to start talking about the end of the world. You're going to start talking about like doubling and tripling down on your dedication.
00:37:26
And you're isolated. So there's no like if you leave a compound, you can you're in Los Angeles.
00:37:30
You can go wherever. Yeah. There's there's like services. Suddenly you're in Arkansas and they don't give a shit and you don't know anyone there.
00:37:37
Yeah. So it's kind of perfect. They choose a location near the Texas, Oklahoma border and they buy a compound.
00:37:42
Of course, they love compound. And they also run several businesses in town, including a grocery store, a gas station, a restaurant.
00:37:50
they kind of take over this small town. They infiltrate them, as you would say. And the location is right off the highway,
00:37:57
so they actually get a lot of business. And they actually do really well, but it's more of a front
00:38:02
because this business gives this business the money to open the, you know, it's to hide the money.
00:38:09
And because of the TV show and Tony has some connections in the music industry, they also start getting big name performers
00:38:15
to play at the restaurant bar, including Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, and Roy Orbison.
00:38:21
So all of those people come and perform there. And Bill Clinton even stops by. He's the attorney general at the time.
00:38:29
And he and Hillary go on a date to this place. And Bill Clinton says something about how Tony Alamo is Roy Orbison on speed.
00:38:38
Oh, shit. So, you know, he's not hiding it well, I don't think. But, of course, all the businesses are staffed by members of the church
00:38:46
to sign their paycheck over to Susan and Tony. So at this point, Susan had been using cancer as a tactic
00:38:55
and the fact that she had been cured of cancer by God to get people to believe that she was blessed or something.
00:39:04
That wasn't true at all. She never had cancer. She never had cancer. And then she got cancer.
00:39:09
In 1975, she's diagnosed with breast cancer. And she dies at the age of 56. in 1982 dies from breast cancer.
00:39:19
So suddenly it's over. And it's also a thing of like, but people thought she was blessed.
00:39:24
And so her dying of cancer actually makes the whole religion look really bad. Oh, right.
00:39:28
You know what I mean? Because she had been claiming that like the Lord had saved her.
00:39:32
And then it didn't work. But then Tony just does this thing where he yells at the members
00:39:36
and is like, it's because you didn't pray hard enough. Right? Ooh. That's when I'd be out.
00:39:42
That's the one for you. Wait a second. I liked all this. I prayed hard. You started blaming me.
00:39:46
Right. So Tony, now this is the like second chapter of this cult and it gets really fucking dark.
00:39:53
Warning, the content going on here is child sexual abuse, child rape, child abuse.
00:40:00
So it gets culty and dark. Tony is now 48 and he everyone's like, it's going to fall apart now because the person who was good at getting people to join and keeping them is dead.
00:40:12
But he takes over as the sole leader of the Alamo Christian Foundation. Wow. So Tony kind of doesn't know what to do at first.
00:40:21
And so he stalls for time by not burying Susan's body. Instead, he has her embalmed and brought to the compound's main house.
00:40:30
And the members of the church are to pray over her open casket 24 hours a day, asking God to raise her from the dead.
00:40:39
Like, they think that's what's going to happen. Um, this goes on for six months.
00:40:45
Oh, no. Yeah. Her body sits there for six months. Yeah. It's just such a tall order.
00:40:52
Why would you not do something? Yes. Like, can I get a nap? It's your first move after the woman who was making it all happen dies.
00:41:01
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00:43:56
Goodbye. After six months, her body is breaking down and the members are like, hey, Tony, we hate to like, we hate to like question you, but.
00:44:08
But her nose just fell off. Right. I mean, God, it's a dead body. I know. I know.
00:44:15
That's horrible. And people are praying over it 24 hours a day, and it's their fault that it didn't happen.
00:44:19
Not that God doesn't exist or that she's not blessed or whatever. So he builds her a heart-shaped mausoleum on the compound property.
00:44:27
Okay. A little more responsible. Yeah. And then at the same time, things are dicey on the business.
00:44:32
And three weeks after Susan's death, a lawsuit against the foundation by the Department of Labor goes to trial.
00:44:39
Basically, you know, they're like, you're not paying your employees. and the district court determines that the foundation owes its worker $19 million in back
00:44:51
wages and overtime. In 1970s money? Yeah. Do we know how much it would be in today's money?
00:44:56
No. Allie didn't let me know. But wait, wait, I do. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Hi. Yes, I do. Allie,
00:45:02
let me know. What a turn. Allie Elkin, I just threw you under the bus even though there was no
00:45:08
bus 19 million in back wages and overtime and then in eight eighties money is okay you said
00:45:18
19 million 19 million and it's like it's like you know late 70s early 80s or mid 80s i think at this
00:45:24
point i never get these right no no early 80s early 80s 82 like that's gonna fucking i know
00:45:29
early 80s early 80s 19 million is it 50 million 63 that's not but you're in the ballpark at least
00:45:37
time in the book. You know what I mean? But remember the other day when you got it right?
00:45:40
I got it right. 8 million. Tony appeals the case, blah, blah, blah. The IRS comes around
00:45:46
and they're like, what? This isn't right. And so, so much money. If the IRS is like,
00:45:52
this looks excessive. Yeah. Then you're something you're not doing it right. Something terrible.
00:45:56
This looks excessive. Yeah. So after burying Susan, Tony is in and out of town. He goes back
00:46:01
to LA a lot. He basically marries a woman named Brigitte who owns a like clothing shop in Los
00:46:09
Angeles. He kind of does a number on her. It seems she's like from Sweden and she falls in love with,
00:46:16
you know, the rich Christian televangelist type of guy, whatever, whatever. But she is brought back
00:46:22
to the compound. Everyone's like, she looks exactly like Susan. They think that he maybe
00:46:27
was using her to like pretend that Susan came back. But she has a fucking Swedish accent.
00:46:31
It's not her. Oh, so there's, I mean, that makes a lot of sense because it's like in the middle of all this,
00:46:36
the psychopath falls in love. And it's like, oh no, it's just one more tool in his tool belt.
00:46:42
She looks like her. And she does, she is an atheist, but that doesn't stop her from moving to the compound with him.
00:46:49
And yeah, she's not good at being a preacher like Susan was, but she is a good businesswoman and she's into clothing. And so she, so she winds
00:47:02
up setting Tony on the course for the foundation's most famous business venture, uh, in 1984. Okay.
00:47:09
Do you remember like picture Mike Tyson in the jean jacket with like rhinestones and like a spray
00:47:18
painted like Tasmanian devil that had been fucking bedazzled. Yeah. And those were like
00:47:25
The big jean jackets, those were a hit back then, right? Yes, they were. They were a big part of it.
00:47:29
Or they have the Hollywood, like spray painted Hollywood, you know. Sign? Sign or the Las Vegas.
00:47:38
And then they were all bedazzled and shit. Yeah. That's this fucking cult. They fucking made these and they got fucking famous.
00:47:44
What was the name of that brand? It was called Tony Alamo of Nashville is the name of the business venture.
00:47:52
Classic psychopath move. Put your whole name in there. Totally. Like, Alamo sounds better, but no, you won't do it.
00:48:00
Tony Alamo. It's like a Giorgio Armani of Beverly Hills or whatever. And like 1990?
00:48:05
This is the 80s. No, in 84. In 84, they start selling these denim jackets. Airbrush, that's what it is.
00:48:12
Hand bedazzled with rhinestones. And they become wildly popular. They're sold in high-end department stores and boutiques.
00:48:19
And the brand is Alamo, clothing brand. They have a flagship store in Nashville.
00:48:26
Wow. They make customized jackets for like Dolly Parton, Mr. T, Brooke Shields, of course.
00:48:32
Michael Jackson gets a leather version and wears it on the cover of Bad. That's next time you see the cover of Bad, that's a cult jacket.
00:48:40
Oh, my God. Yeah. So it gets. This is the last thing this cult needed. Yeah. Going viral.
00:48:45
Yes, exactly. Just a huge influx of cash. Right. Right. And legitimacy again. Yeah.
00:48:52
So here's the thing about the jackets, though. like every other alum of Entra, they're being made with unpaid labor of the members. And in this
00:49:00
case, it's almost all being done by the children of the foundation because they've got those little
00:49:06
fingers that can pick up those little fucking rhinestones and glue them on. Yes. The kids
00:49:12
living on the Arkansas compound, they're bused to a facility each night where they hand bedazzle
00:49:17
and hand airbrush every jacket. Each night. Yeah. In secret. Yeah. And hand, it's like they can say,
00:49:26
they're handmade, 100% handmade, but they don't tell you how little those hands are.
00:49:29
So there's little fingers going around. The jackets sell for around $600 each, which in today's money...
00:49:36
$2,500? $1,500. More than $1,500 in today's money. So $1,500 for a fucking jean jacket.
00:49:42
Insane. Yeah. Of course, those child workers are never paid and the Department of Labor is very suspicious,
00:49:49
but they can't prove anything. The IRS ultimately revokes the foundation's tax-exempt status,
00:49:53
and Tony, who had been spending lavishly this whole time, doesn't have the resources to pay those back taxes
00:49:59
because you have to pay them. And so Tony, it almost seems like at this point, people are after him, but he's got this,
00:50:05
like things are feeding his ego still. He becomes this, like, megalomaniac, and he spirals deeper and deeper,
00:50:13
and with that comes more violence against his followers. And then also he divorces the lookalike.
00:50:20
Brigitte. Brigitte goes hopefully home to L.A. and lives a great life. Who knows?
00:50:25
But she's the reason those jackets worked. Hopefully she got a cut. She's in the documentary and she looks like she's in a lavish spot.
00:50:32
So hopefully she got a cut in the divorce. All green screen. Yeah. She's actually where?
00:50:37
She's wearing just a green cloth from here down. Yeah. Yeah. So beatings and abuse are actually kind of normal already in the foundation. It's happened since the beginning. But in this period, the late 80s, after Susan's death, things get way worse. And it's just awful. Children are subjected to intense beating at Tony's direction.
00:50:58
Tony threatens that if parents or other adults in the cult don't beat their children as punishment for real or imagined misbehavior, he'll beat the parents instead.
00:51:07
But, you know, over and over, these ex-members say we really believe that he was the Messiah.
00:51:14
Like we 100% believed that he was basically God. Because, you know, the Messiah, when he comes back to the earth, is immediately going to start making jean jackets with bedazzled decorations on the back.
00:51:27
And definitely when Jesus comes back, he's going to make a paddle that has holes in it for you and your followers to beat children with.
00:51:35
There's a thing. There's a trend on TikTok right now. And it's people with their little kids, like four and five years old.
00:51:41
And they go, finish this phrase. We're going to play again. I know. I brought you into this world because I love you.
00:51:48
And you're just like, oh, girls should be fun, loved. It's like we just had it hard.
00:51:55
It's bad. When I read that, my mom used to spank us. And when it was bad, it was the wooden spoon.
00:52:02
Yeah. Which I just like traumatized from that. I can't use a wooden spoon. Yeah.
00:52:07
And when you were really bad, so my brother got it a lot, but I got it a few times too.
00:52:11
The wooden spoon with the cutouts in it, holes in it. Oh, yeah. because the wind there was something about the like force of it that was different and it hurt
00:52:22
worse yeah the wooden spoon with the holes was you did something really fucking bad the regular
00:52:27
wooden spoon yeah it was not it's not good that's awful i'm sorry the the only reason i didn't ever
00:52:34
get that and i was prime candidate yeah is because both my parents had such bad and i mean my dad had
00:52:40
great parents but i think they got smacked around my mom definitely did so they their that was their
00:52:46
rule to each other stops with me we don't hit little kids don't hit chill you don't use violence
00:52:53
to try to fucking parent children it's so obvious it's so obvious yeah but it really wasn't back then
00:52:59
until and then there was one day when i was 17 and i was so awful and monoccious my mom tried to
00:53:06
spank me because she had just bought me all these clothes and i like tried them on and left them on
00:53:09
the floor. She was like, pick those clothes up. And I was like, I'm leaving. And then she grabbed
00:53:14
my arm and was walking around to smack my butt. And I just was going, what are you doing? Stop it.
00:53:20
And just like, oh, my God, what are you doing? And I was like, later on, only later on did I
00:53:25
realize, like, you just didn't realize how good you had it. You didn't realize what those people
00:53:31
were fucking doing for you every day. You can't start at 17, though. So you can't start
00:53:35
No smacking your child at 17. I was already smoking cloves. I was headed for juvie.
00:53:42
It's too late. They are who they are at that point, and it's kind of your fault.
00:53:46
It's fully your fault, parent. And the parents also say that they believe that beatings were going to save their children
00:53:52
from going to hell, because remember, hell was a big part of this. Hell a big part of Christianity it turns out Yeah on earth Yeah So they actually think you know who knows how much but they convince themselves that they helping their children to not go to hell
00:54:06
Yeah. And that paddle that he uses with the holes drilled into it, Tony nicknames the Board of Education.
00:54:12
Boo, not funny. Real clever. Go to hell. Beatings are so severe that children lose consciousness.
00:54:18
so in the late 80s a man named carrie miller leaves the cult with his brother and but the
00:54:24
wives are like we're not leaving and keep the children and this guy's in um the documentary
00:54:30
prominently um they wind up going basically the they get a court order to um get the kids out and
00:54:38
so the kids are freed but the whole story gets a fair amount of media attention because carrie
00:54:43
Miller's son gets beaten severely and that gets out in the media. And so it becomes a big public story.
00:54:50
And I think at the time, too, there's like the satanic panic. There's some, you know, like there's some backlash from Manson and Jonestown.
00:54:56
And so people are like scrutinizing cults a little more, maybe. Yeah. And probably I think child abuse as a concept was really coming to the fore.
00:55:04
There was that episode of different strokes. A hundred percent. It was like this thing of like, we all have to really reckon with this problem.
00:55:13
It's up to us. It's not a secret if you don't let it be. That's how it survives.
00:55:18
Yeah. So at this point, Tony in 1988, he's just like, fuck it and goes on the run.
00:55:24
But he's able to control the cult still remotely over the phone. He sends orders back to the compound in Arkansas.
00:55:30
He doesn't show up for a civil case in Arkansas and the court decides against him.
00:55:35
And at this point, the FBI raids the Arkansas property. Thank God. To see his assets.
00:55:40
No, no, no, not thank God. Not yet. Oh. Yeah. And so basically everyone abandons the compound before they can get there.
00:55:50
And also, so no one's there and no one gets caught. But it turns out that he also has someone break into the mausoleum where Susan is buried and steal the casket.
00:55:58
Because they think like they're going to, I don't know. I don't know. They take the casket with them because they're like, we need to keep her body safe.
00:56:05
Is this gross of me to say that's kind of romantic? At least he meant it, that he really was into her.
00:56:12
It almost is like they, from the way they talk about it, it sounds like he did believe that she was, you know, holy.
00:56:20
Yeah. And so if they left her holy body there, you know, the government would get it.
00:56:27
Okay. And this is a time, too, and I don't think people understand this, when, like, the government and religion weren't best friends and in line.
00:56:34
They were actually against each other. They were very far apart. Right? Remember that?
00:56:37
Yeah, I do. So extremist religions didn't have the ear of the president and the government at the time.
00:56:43
They were actually against each other. So I know it sounds like nowadays we know that they're, right?
00:56:50
Yes. So they were scared of them. Right. They were scared of taking this holy woman's body in their mind.
00:56:56
Yeah. There had to be some white powder going on for Tony. You can't make all that money off of Tony Alamo of Beverly Hills or whatever bullshit Jack in the 80s and not be like.
00:57:07
I'm sure he was living large in every way possible. Line them up. Yeah. Literally.
00:57:12
Yeah. So the paranoia of we need to get her body out of there actually makes total sense.
00:57:17
And also that's always part of the decline of a cult is like this psychopath that's in charge is like and you said megalomania.
00:57:23
Yeah. It's just like ingest all of it. Keep on. Keep the believe in going. Yeah.
00:57:28
Right. So now everyone's scattered. They're still members, though. They still fucking believe in him.
00:57:35
And they're still. It's hard to change. Yeah. It's hard to give up on a thing that you've devoted so much of your life to and believed in.
00:57:42
You went all in on it. You went all in. And to say no now is, yeah, to admit you're a fucking idiot.
00:57:50
Tony gives orders to the church over the phone. No one knows where he is. The IRS winds up seizing all of Tony's assets, including the store in Nashville where the jackets are made.
00:58:02
And then while he's on the run, he's quoted in a newspaper because, of course, he always calls the press to tell him tell them how misaligned and how fucked up everyone's against him.
00:58:10
Sure. And during one of those calls, he basically threatens an Arkansas judge, which you can't fucking do.
00:58:17
No, that's not allowed. You cannot do that. Don't do it. This prompts the U.S. marshal to issue a major manhunt to track him down.
00:58:25
So you fucked with the wrong, I don't know, department. Yeah. So in 1991, federal agents examine the phone records.
00:58:33
Basically, they track him down with phone calls from cell phone towers all the way back in 91, right?
00:58:39
Which is like surprising. They find him in Tampa, Florida. And long story short, they eventually hit on a particular address, stake out the house, see Tony come out to pick up his morning newspaper.
00:58:48
And they raid the house. They find Tony sitting at the table in sunglasses and a tie-dye shirt.
00:58:54
And there's a photo of him like being or the video of him being let out in his like tie-dye.
00:58:57
It looks very like, yeah, it's old Elvis for sure. Yeah. But in tie-dye, so it's confusing.
00:59:05
That's a good cover. Yeah. Stacks of cash all over the table, but no Susan's body.
00:59:11
Oh. It's not there. They don't know where it is. Okay. Tony's charged with child abuse in California for the beatings.
00:59:17
Also charged with federal tax evasion. Essentially, the tax evasion, this is like so horrible and wrong, but like that is easier
00:59:26
to try and actually get a conviction for than child abuse. So they're like, let's get him locked up now on that, and we can worry about the child
00:59:36
abuse stuff later. Right. That's the, well, it's not comparatively directly, but that's the old, I think, right, Al Capone,
00:59:43
how they got. It's exactly that. Yeah. Things you can actually prove. Right. Right.
00:59:48
So he goes to prison. He gets six years, I think, in prison, and the cult doesn disband They take orders from him from prison He somehow wanted to use the phone and they record sermons and they play them for all the members and people come to see him and they move into the town
01:00:06
They move into the town near the prison so they can be ready when he gets out. Whoa.
01:00:11
Yeah. Off the compound and to the prison. Yes. And so through the early 90s, new members continue to join.
01:00:18
New members continue to join. And during this time when he's in prison in the early 90s,
01:00:24
he starts to drop little hints that it's okay for a man to have multiple wives. There we go.
01:00:31
Where did he get that idea from? The Bible. Oh, okay. Don't you know? It's there.
01:00:36
And little by little, his members start to accept this. He decrees that he's entitled to have multiple wives.
01:00:43
If you say child brides, I'm going to get up and walk out of this podcast studio.
01:00:47
Kid brides. So I don't want you to walk up and get up and leave. I have to stay.
01:00:52
But you have to stay. Child brides. Does he really say that? Yes. Right before. I did see this documentary.
01:00:58
Yeah. He starts to introduce teenage girls from the cult as his wives and then goes on to say, like, you know, once they hit puberty, the Bible says they can be wives, that kind of thing.
01:01:10
So, yeah. So puberty. Don't go younger than that, please. So, yeah. So he recruits teenage girls to work at his house while he's in prison, which basically means marrying Tony.
01:01:22
You know, they do the, like, fake ceremony. you're married it's sexual assault and then um but the parents can like those kids have been
01:01:31
raised in the cult and their parents consider it an honor and they're excited about them marrying
01:01:36
their daughters their young daughters marrying tony the victims at this point most of them who
01:01:41
were born in the 90s were born into this cult so that's all they know and so they think it's okay
01:01:44
or they they think they have to they're going to hell if they don't um they visit him in prison
01:01:49
and bring photos of the children that are still in the church so he can select other victims like
01:01:54
He just becomes this monster and a groomer and a fucking child abuser. In 1998, now in his 60s, Tony is released from prison.
01:02:05
As a requirement of his release, he has to return Susan's body. It has to happen.
01:02:11
Wow. Yeah. And so he denies ever having it. But right when he is released, the casket is anonymously delivered to an Arkansas funeral home.
01:02:20
Where was it? We don't know where it was. Also, doesn't it only mean something to him?
01:02:25
Are they saying, like, you just can't have this dead body? Yes. Okay. Like, desecration of a corpse.
01:02:30
And then, meanwhile, her daughter and her family are like, we want to be able to bury, you know, it's like, you can't fucking do that.
01:02:36
That makes sense. Yeah. So once Tony's out of prison, he continues to, quote, marry girls from the church and, of course, rape and sexually abuse them.
01:02:43
Also physically and verbally abuses them. He does this with 24 girls that become his wife.
01:02:49
This is just like, and it's part of the documentary and she's in it. And she's so strong and so admirable.
01:02:54
The youngest one is eight years old. Oh, man. And I mean, these women who are in the documentary and end up testifying against him are so freaking strong and incredible.
01:03:07
They were raised with this mindset. They didn't join the cult themselves. Yes. When they were lost teenagers.
01:03:13
It was the only world they knew. And their parents were telling them that they would go to hell if, you know.
01:03:19
Or that it was this honor. Yeah. We've been picked and it's so special. Totally. Exactly.
01:03:24
So nine of the 24 girls are under 18 years old. He continues to use the Bible to justify this.
01:03:30
And they're all kept isolated in Tony's home. It's the thing you always hear about.
01:03:35
But concerned ex-members start to make complaints to the FBI about the abuse. But in order to prove the case, the FBI needs at least one of the current victims to come forward, which is, of course, terrifying to them.
01:03:45
A lot of their families are still in the cult. Yeah. In 2006, a woman named Amy Eddy, who's in the documentary, who's 22 and was first married to Tony at 14.
01:03:59
She escapes and flees to Oklahoma. The whole time she believes that God is going to strike her down for leaving him and send her to hell.
01:04:09
And then a 15-year-old named Desiree Colbeck escapes as well. She gets help from her aunt to leave because her mom also is still in the cult.
01:04:17
So being 15 years old and being like, I need to escape this abuse. Like what pushes you to that level?
01:04:24
What horrors have you seen? Exactly. And like, it's better for me, for God to like smite me than for me to keep saying, I don't care anymore.
01:04:33
Right. And Desiree had been the eight year old victim who is now 15. Both women are approached by the FBI.
01:04:40
Initially, Amy is too scared. But Desiree, she is terrified too, but she agrees to testify against Tony because her sister, her little sister, is still in the cult.
01:04:51
And she's like, I need to save her. She testifies that Tony took photos of his victims, of course, many whom were underage, and also took the girls across state lines.
01:05:01
So, like, that's enough because those are federal crimes. So they're able to create a strong federal case against Tony, finally.
01:05:08
Yeah. Okay, so finally in 2008, federal agents raid Tony's house in, it's called Falk, Arkansas.
01:05:15
Falk. Yeah, exactly. It's pronounced Falk. Falk. Tony's not there. He knew the raid was going to happen, blah, blah, blah.
01:05:23
They don't find the photos Desiree had been talking about, but they find other incriminating things like a lot of wedding rings and like boxes of ovulation tests.
01:05:32
Just like creepy as shit. Gross. And also just a sign that like it's we're now at the end of the line with this cult leader.
01:05:39
It's like this is the usual wind out where it always goes to child brides. It always goes to.
01:05:47
He did it. He did what? He did the whole thing. He did the whole. You know. Dead body.
01:05:52
Yeah, exactly. So he's 74 at this point. And fucking gross Obviously Lifelong Yeah And so he has a secret cell phone now again FBI Basically they find him at a hotel in Flagstaff Arizona He indicted on 10 counts of interstate transportation of a minor for sex
01:06:08
And in addition to Desiree, Amy does get over her fear and ultimately testifies against him, as do three other so-called wives.
01:06:17
By the time the case goes to trial, at least 30 people are willing to testify against him.
01:06:21
Amazing. Finally, like, let's end this. And many of the witnesses still have family in the cult, but they're just they now know what's actually going on or, you know.
01:06:33
Yeah. So Tony is found guilty on all counts in 2009 and sentenced to the rest of his life in federal prison.
01:06:39
He also loses a civil case against his victims and is ordered to pay more than one point one billion dollars to them.
01:06:46
Wow. Tony dies in prison in 2017. But the church isn't completely defunct. Despite all of that, it still has some locations.
01:06:55
And they continue to recruit new members. As recently as 2018, there was a chapter in New York City. Like, wow. Yeah. What do you need? Crazy. Therapy. And unfortunately, as recently as 2018, when everything had come out about the foundation, those now vintage Alamo jean jackets. Oh, have a resurgence among celebrities.
01:07:22
So I'm not going to say who they are because maybe they don't know about the abuse.
01:07:27
Right. It might not be because. Right. Yeah. It's just like an 80s thing and they don't know the background.
01:07:32
So I won't say it, but one recently sold for $950 on Etsy. I mean, to me, that makes me think of like the John Wayne Gacy painting selling.
01:07:42
There are those people that are like, can you believe I'm doing this? It's so taboo.
01:07:46
Totally. Totally. And that is the story of the Alamo Christian Foundation. Oh, my God.
01:07:53
The documentary, again, is called Ministry of Evil, The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo.
01:07:58
We binged it. I mean, Jesus fucking Christ. Unbelievable. It just wouldn't end. No.
01:08:04
Like, pick a, pick a, pick a, like, this is as far as I go and write it in your diary.
01:08:11
Me playing a psychopath. No, I will not. I will. Not only that, I'll succeed. I mean the members, though.
01:08:18
I don't mean the head. Right. But once you're in, I mean, like, that's that thing where it's like people have to be deprogrammed to get out of cults.
01:08:25
Yeah. And the deprogramming, like there's actually a guy who becomes a deprogrammer in that time period.
01:08:31
And the tactics they use are like fucking horrible. Oh, they kidnap people. Yeah, it's bad.
01:08:37
It's not any better. Everything is so bad. It's so bad. Everything's been so bad for so long.
01:08:44
Yeah. Everyone's like, this is the worst time in history. And it's like, no, history is the worst time.
01:08:51
It's been pretty bad. It's been bad for a lot of people for a long time. Speaking of which, should I just save my story for the next episode?
01:08:57
Yeah. Because that was a lot and that was plenty and great. I know. I'm sorry that was so long.
01:09:01
But yeah, it's okay. Yeah. Do you want to do a solo next week? I liked it. Absolutely.
01:09:05
Fuck yeah. Hell yeah. Our homework's done. We love that. Thank you for joining our cult.
01:09:11
It's funny that we did it. Oh my God. I didn't realize we did a pitch to join our cult.
01:09:15
Yes. The fan cult. And then I did a cult story and we just talked shit on cults the whole time.
01:09:20
But I mean, come on. This is a fun cult. Did the Alamo cult have ad-free podcast episodes?
01:09:25
I don't think so, ladies and gentlemen. No, they didn't. Did you get a discount on merch?
01:09:29
Did you get first access to live show tickets from the Alamos? No. No. Italian hand gesture.
01:09:38
No. Good or bad, Italian hand gesture. Well, we'll meet you next time. Yeah. Thank you guys for listening to that long ass story of horrible things.
01:09:48
We appreciate you so much. We love you dearly. Stay sexy. And don't get murdered.
01:09:53
Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? This has been an Exactly Right production.
01:10:06
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