6 ms·

Seattle Holy Rollers Killings: The End to an Oregon Love Cult (2003)

45 points by smacktoward 7y ago

rdtsc 7y ago
Fascinating read. The recent equivalent is probably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NXIVM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NXIVM. They had all kinds of strange rituals branding, slavery, sex trafficking. Given the caliber of people involved I think it received relatively little media attention. I wonder if they still conduct regular meetings even though the company is technically dissolved. Will they pick a new leader? If all the blackmail material was exposed at trial is it still useful to them, or they have to generate new versions of it...
- baud147258 7y ago
  > Products: Seminars, female sex slaves including children
  - rdtsc 7y ago
    It must be a joke. But maybe only a half-joke given the stuff they pleaded guilty to.
- Zimahl 7y ago
  NVIXM wasn't as salacious of an organization as it has been portrayed in the media. It was a self-help organization. The leader was a loon, a non-monogamist, and built himself up as a pseudo-spiritual leader/guru. Not that it makes it right but the branding and the 'slavery' only occurred to a handful of women at the top of the organization. I don't think there was any 'sex trafficking'. Very few people saw the sexual stuff because only specific individuals were groomed to make it to that level. The CBC produced a podcast[1] which talks with one of the women who was branded. What is intriguing is no one wants to talk bad about the teachings of the organization because they felt they got something positive out of it. But the crazy shit at the top is what crashed the organization. [1] https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/current-affairs-information/uncover/ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/current-affairs-informatio...
  - liability 7y ago
    From self-describing as self-help to the 'guru' leader having a veritable harem, the whole thing was very typical of modern cults, which NVIXM has been widely considered as for years before the arrests.
  - cat199 7y ago
    > NVIXM wasn't as salacious of an organization as it has been portrayed in the media. It was a self-help organization. The leader was a loon, a non-monogamist, and built himself up as a pseudo-spiritual leader/guru. Not that it makes it right but the branding and the 'slavery' only occurred to a handful of women at the top of the organization. And how exactly do you think a loon can pull off a sex slavery operation without having all of this tiered and staged brainwashing? Just go up to random people on the street and ask 'hey, I'd like to brand you and make you my sex slave, interested?'
    - Zimahl 7y ago
      You completely missed the point. Almost all of the NVIXM followers had no clue this stuff was going on at the very top of the organization. Yes, specific individuals were groomed to move up in the organization, but the leader wasn't grooming them for 'sex slavery'. The high-ups knew that the leader was non-monogamous and slept with women from the organization, but even the woman from the podcast who talks about being branded hadn't ever been approached by the leader. The media just loved to jump on the 'sex cult' idea and then portrayed it as that's what it was. The branding had nothing to do with anything sexual - it was done as a 'sorority'-type initiation for the higher-up women. The slavery was also part of the 'sorority' and didn't really have anything to do with the leader. Listen to the podcast and you'll understand.
      - liability 7y ago
        And almost all scientologists don't/didn't know the volcano nukes story. Rather they were getting fed bullshit about self-improvement and hero-worship of their fraud 'guru'. That's how cults typically work, NVIXM was no different. NVIXM was in fact a rum of the mill sex-cult and plenty of people were pointing it out 15+ years ago.
tomcam 7y ago
This is a well-written piece, and it seems almost a bit whimsical. And then you read the last paragraph. One of the most remarkable essays I’ve ever read.
tictoc 7y ago
Is there a site or place where I can find more stories like this? Cults like this fascinate me, especially from like the 60s and 70s. I know about the rainbow family a little bit, but I'd like to learn more about the underbelly of the flower power movement.
- dmix 7y ago
  Last Podcast on the Left is a great series on cults and serial killers, they cover some of the best stories in history: https://www.lastpodcastontheleft.com/ https://www.lastpodcastontheleft.com/ Here's one on the Order of Solar Temple (3 parts) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-341-order-solar-temple-part-i-beginning/id437299706?i=1000424019221 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-341-order-sola... (skip their alien and conspiracy stuff which they mostly do jokingly or any of their "side story" stuff which is always filler)
- Analemma_ 7y ago
  [1] is a 20-part article about the rise and fall of Rajneeshpuram, a city built in Oregon (why is it always Oregon?) in the 80’s to house the followers of an Indian guru-slash-cult-leader. If you’ve never heard of Rajneespuram, definitely check this out (there are other resources if you don’t have time for the long article, I think 99PI did an episode on it): the story meanders into gold Rolls-Royces, international drug and arms smuggling, and bioweapon terrorist attacks. [1]: https://longform.org/archive/tags/rajneesh https://longform.org/archive/tags/rajneesh
  - tictoc 7y ago
    Oh this is perfect! I was worried that it was a podcast or a documentary.
    - defen 7y ago
      There is a documentary on Netflix about it called Wild Wild Country that's almost entirely primary-source video (they recorded everything) and modern-day interviews with former members and government officials. It's fascinating.
JoeAltmaier 7y ago
This guy is a perfect example of someone who 'needed killin'. Which is a valid defense in some states (but not California).
- CalChris 7y ago
  Which states and what’s the legalese?
  - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
    Here's a discussion: https://www.texascrimelaw.com/character-evidence-in-murder-cases.html https://www.texascrimelaw.com/character-evidence-in-murder-c...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- bb611 7y ago
  Seems more like perfect examples of jury nullification and professional misconduct in the justice system.
- zupzupper 7y ago
  Kinda reminds me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy
- vkou 7y ago
  I can't stress this any more seriously: This is not a can of worms you want to open.
  - HarryHirsch 7y ago
    Yes. The Mexican Autodefensas are required reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupos_de_Autodefensa_Comunitaria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupos_de_Autodefensa_Comunita... It starts with drug cartels in conjunction with local lawmen terrorizing avocado farmers (because avocados are big business), and the avocado farmers in the village arm up, oust the corrupt police and drug dealers, and end up getting involved in the drug business.
cmonfeat 7y ago
The legacy of this one guy and his cult of personality is pretty amazing. I think this would make a fascinating Paul Thomas Anderson movie.

45 points by smacktoward 7y ago

Fascinating read. The recent equivalent is probably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NXIVM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NXIVM. They had all kinds of strange rituals branding, slavery, sex trafficking. Given the caliber of people involved I think it received relatively little media attention. I wonder if they still conduct regular meetings even though the company is technically dissolved. Will they pick a new leader? If all the blackmail material was exposed at trial is it still useful to them, or they have to generate new versions of it...

baud147258 7y ago
> Products: Seminars, female sex slaves including children
- rdtsc 7y ago
  It must be a joke. But maybe only a half-joke given the stuff they pleaded guilty to.
Zimahl 7y ago
NVIXM wasn't as salacious of an organization as it has been portrayed in the media. It was a self-help organization. The leader was a loon, a non-monogamist, and built himself up as a pseudo-spiritual leader/guru. Not that it makes it right but the branding and the 'slavery' only occurred to a handful of women at the top of the organization. I don't think there was any 'sex trafficking'. Very few people saw the sexual stuff because only specific individuals were groomed to make it to that level. The CBC produced a podcast[1] which talks with one of the women who was branded. What is intriguing is no one wants to talk bad about the teachings of the organization because they felt they got something positive out of it. But the crazy shit at the top is what crashed the organization. [1] https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/current-affairs-information/uncover/ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/current-affairs-informatio...
- liability 7y ago
  From self-describing as self-help to the 'guru' leader having a veritable harem, the whole thing was very typical of modern cults, which NVIXM has been widely considered as for years before the arrests.
- cat199 7y ago
  > NVIXM wasn't as salacious of an organization as it has been portrayed in the media. It was a self-help organization. The leader was a loon, a non-monogamist, and built himself up as a pseudo-spiritual leader/guru. Not that it makes it right but the branding and the 'slavery' only occurred to a handful of women at the top of the organization. And how exactly do you think a loon can pull off a sex slavery operation without having all of this tiered and staged brainwashing? Just go up to random people on the street and ask 'hey, I'd like to brand you and make you my sex slave, interested?'
  - Zimahl 7y ago
    You completely missed the point. Almost all of the NVIXM followers had no clue this stuff was going on at the very top of the organization. Yes, specific individuals were groomed to move up in the organization, but the leader wasn't grooming them for 'sex slavery'. The high-ups knew that the leader was non-monogamous and slept with women from the organization, but even the woman from the podcast who talks about being branded hadn't ever been approached by the leader. The media just loved to jump on the 'sex cult' idea and then portrayed it as that's what it was. The branding had nothing to do with anything sexual - it was done as a 'sorority'-type initiation for the higher-up women. The slavery was also part of the 'sorority' and didn't really have anything to do with the leader. Listen to the podcast and you'll understand.
    - liability 7y ago
      And almost all scientologists don't/didn't know the volcano nukes story. Rather they were getting fed bullshit about self-improvement and hero-worship of their fraud 'guru'. That's how cults typically work, NVIXM was no different. NVIXM was in fact a rum of the mill sex-cult and plenty of people were pointing it out 15+ years ago.

tomcam 7y ago

This is a well-written piece, and it seems almost a bit whimsical. And then you read the last paragraph. One of the most remarkable essays I’ve ever read.

tictoc 7y ago

Is there a site or place where I can find more stories like this? Cults like this fascinate me, especially from like the 60s and 70s. I know about the rainbow family a little bit, but I'd like to learn more about the underbelly of the flower power movement.

dmix 7y ago
Last Podcast on the Left is a great series on cults and serial killers, they cover some of the best stories in history: https://www.lastpodcastontheleft.com/ https://www.lastpodcastontheleft.com/ Here's one on the Order of Solar Temple (3 parts) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-341-order-solar-temple-part-i-beginning/id437299706?i=1000424019221 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-341-order-sola... (skip their alien and conspiracy stuff which they mostly do jokingly or any of their "side story" stuff which is always filler)
Analemma_ 7y ago
[1] is a 20-part article about the rise and fall of Rajneeshpuram, a city built in Oregon (why is it always Oregon?) in the 80’s to house the followers of an Indian guru-slash-cult-leader. If you’ve never heard of Rajneespuram, definitely check this out (there are other resources if you don’t have time for the long article, I think 99PI did an episode on it): the story meanders into gold Rolls-Royces, international drug and arms smuggling, and bioweapon terrorist attacks. [1]: https://longform.org/archive/tags/rajneesh https://longform.org/archive/tags/rajneesh
- tictoc 7y ago
  Oh this is perfect! I was worried that it was a podcast or a documentary.
  - defen 7y ago
    There is a documentary on Netflix about it called Wild Wild Country that's almost entirely primary-source video (they recorded everything) and modern-day interviews with former members and government officials. It's fascinating.

JoeAltmaier 7y ago

This guy is a perfect example of someone who 'needed killin'. Which is a valid defense in some states (but not California).

CalChris 7y ago
Which states and what’s the legalese?
- JoeAltmaier 7y ago
  Here's a discussion: https://www.texascrimelaw.com/character-evidence-in-murder-cases.html https://www.texascrimelaw.com/character-evidence-in-murder-c...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
bb611 7y ago
Seems more like perfect examples of jury nullification and professional misconduct in the justice system.
zupzupper 7y ago
Kinda reminds me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy
vkou 7y ago
I can't stress this any more seriously: This is not a can of worms you want to open.
- HarryHirsch 7y ago
  Yes. The Mexican Autodefensas are required reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupos_de_Autodefensa_Comunitaria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupos_de_Autodefensa_Comunita... It starts with drug cartels in conjunction with local lawmen terrorizing avocado farmers (because avocados are big business), and the avocado farmers in the village arm up, oust the corrupt police and drug dealers, and end up getting involved in the drug business.

cmonfeat 7y ago

The legacy of this one guy and his cult of personality is pretty amazing. I think this would make a fascinating Paul Thomas Anderson movie.