This letter is full of MOVE rhetoric.

persecution

confrontation

commitment to John Africa

rotten-ass system

nothing can stop the force behind MOVE

Kenneth Boyd is not a name you will hear from a MOVE member or promoter.

Like Carlos Perez, Samuel Sanders, and many others, Kenneth Boyd was recruited into MOVE while incarcerated with MOVE members.

Based on the timing, I suspect it was either Delbert Orr or William Phillips who introduced Boyd to the teachings of John Africa and then literally dictated this "activity" to him.

Boyd never disclosed his affiliation with MOVE in his "concerned inmate" letter to the editor. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, however, already knew.

I cannot state with certainty that Boyd went from close-cropped hair to dreadlocks because of the MOVE Guidelines, but I'd place that bet on Kalshi.

Like the incarcerated MOVE 9 members, Boyd was serving a lengthy sentence for murder.

A month after Boyd mailed his MOVE letter stating that “nothing can stop the force behind MOVE”, Leaphart's goal of overthrowing "the system" resulted in 11 deaths, including five children, and the destruction of 61 homes.

Kenneth Boyd is just one of dozens of people whose stories are absent from the history of MOVE told by current MOVE members and their supporters.

That alone should invite serious scrutiny from journalists and academics alike.

Leave a comment

Here are three events in MOVE history from July 2.

July 2, 1981

MOVE’s founder, Vincent Leaphart, who renamed himself “John Africa”, appears as a co-defendant with Alphonso Robbins (Mo Africa) for their first day of trial on federal charges of conspiracy to manufacture and possess explosives.

July 2, 1982

After stating or yelling “John Africa” more than 93 times in court, Wesley Cook aka Mumia Abu Jamal, stands to hear the jury’s verdict in his murder trial.

The verdict: GUILTY

July 2, 2021

Pixie “Africa” born into MOVE and mother of 5, flees Philadelphia to an unknown location and her recorded account of abuse inside of MOVE goes public.

Pixie Statement on Leaving MOVE Blog

Each one of these July 2 MOVE events involve “Pam Africa” aka Jeanette Knighton aka Jeanette Patton.

• At Vincent and Alphonso’s July 1981 trial, Jeanette sat in the courtroom gallery every day, served as their pro se legal runner, and during trial breaks solicited donations for MOVE outside the federal courthouse.

• At Wesley Cook/Mumia Abu Jamal’s murder trial, Jeanette again sat in the courtroom, served as his pro se legal runner, and during trials breaks solicited donations outside the courthouse. Most significantly, Jeanette delivered Leaphart’s daily messages of trial “strategy” to Mumia.

• MOVE defector and whistleblower, Pixie Africa, is the youngest daughter of Pam Africa, the most recognizable face of MOVE aside from Ramona Africa.

So I know where Pam Africa was on July 2 in 1981, 1982, and 2021.

And after more than seven years of investigative research, I could tell you where Jeanette/Pam was on almost any given day between 1976 and two days ago.

There is one day I cannot tell you where she was: May 13, 1985.

The public face of MOVE today, Mike Africa Jr., was six years old on May 13, 1985. Pam Africa was thirty-nine.

Mike has publicly recounted where he was that day many times over the years, although not consistently. Pam has never publicly explained where she was that day.

After five years of unanswered emails and text messages from me, I still want to know.

*Jeanette Knighton remains her legal name. She did not publicly use the name "Pam Africa" until 1991.

Leave a comment

Share

Suzanne LeVino aka Sue Africa aka Ria has spoken about her son Tomaso that died whenever she is interviewed.

Here are three interviews done in the last 10 years:

2016 Interview

“Tom was only 7 years old”

Subscribe now

2018 MOVE “press conference”

“Tomaso, 6-year-old baby that was in the house”

May 2021 by Philadelphia NBC10

“Tomaso Africa 8 years old”

3 interviews.

3 different ages for Tomaso.

The correct answer is: None of the above.

Tomaso was born on August 6, 1975 so on 05/13/85, he would have been 9 years, 9 months old.

Leave a comment

If you have ever interviewed or spoken to Sue, she has bragged about being the first MOVE mother to give birth according to John Africa’s “natural” teachings. No hospitals, no doctors and no “technology”. Sue gave birth on hay and had to chew through the umbilical cord and clean off the afterbirth with just her tongue. Leader Vincent Leaphart (John Africa)’s rationale - this is how animals do it and how humans did it before the system forced us to be “civilized”.

MOVE called up local reporters to come document the newsworthy evidence of “John Africa’s teachings”.

This is a newspaper photo taken of Sue and newborn Tomaso on “the hay where it happened”.

I don’t know about you, but for me this image gives off “Virgin Mary in the manger” vibes which I believe was Leaphart’s inspiration considering that his first name for MOVE was “The Christian Movement For Life”.

Neither Sue nor Tomaso were taken to get checked out by a doctor.

Pennsylvania law required that all births must be legally registered within 10 days. Tomaso was never registered and was never issued a birth certificate. That then become the standard for all MOVE births up until, and even after May 13, 1985.

Sue re-enact the 1975 manger photo 10 months later, in June 1976, for WPVI’s film crew that MOVE invited into their headquarters.

MOVE reprinted the 1975 birth on hay photo in their newspaper FIRST DAY.

They also used it in their MOVE history booklets (20 Years On A Move and the follow up, 25 Years On A Move).

Suzanne LeVino (alias Sue Leon, aka Sue Africa aka Ria) and everyone in MOVE knows exactly when her Tomaso was born, and exactly how old he was when he died.

Most importantly, MOVE only agrees to speak with reporters, activists, and academics who will not ask questions they do not want to answer and who won’t fact check them even when they are clearly contradicting themselves or lying.

In all three of those interviews, Sue makes Tomaso younger in order to garner more sympathy for her, not him. And by her, I mean MOVE because their is no individuality in an authoritarian high-control group aka cult. There is only the narrative which is to serve the MOVE agenda in that moment.

Iin the last interview with NBC10 in 2021 about Penn Museum and MOVE remains, Sue was not the only MOVE mother to lie. Consuewella falsely stated that her daughters, Katricia and Zanetta, were a year younger than they actually were.

The children inside 6221 Osage were not babies or even toddlers, but they were minor children that never should have been inside the row home that MOVE had fortified for a police confrontation.

In my podcast I have repeatedly mentioned the legal names, ages and biological parents for all six of the children known to be inside MOVE’s fortified 6221 Osage HQ on 5/13/85.

I am going to provide this findable and verifiable information again here so that anyone researching or talking about MOVE can do it accurately:

Katricia Dotson D.O.B. 09/15/70 , hospital birth. Mother: Consuewella Dotson; Father: Nathaniel Galloway (not MOVE).

Oyewolfe Ward D.O.B 12/22/71, hospital birth. Mother: Rhonda Harris Ward; Father: Andino Ward (not MOVE). Escaped 6221 Osage on 5/13/85. Accidental drowning (09/20/2013). Age 41 when he died.

Delisha Holloway D.O.B. 04/29/72, hospital birth. Mother: Janet Holloway, Father: Delbert Orr. Age 13 when she died.

Zanetta Dotson D.O.B 08/22/72, premature hospital birth. Mother: Consuewella Dotson; Alleged Father: (James) Conrad Hampton (Consuewella’s Uncle by marriage that recruited her into MOVE). Age 12 when she died.

Phil Demar Phillips D.O.B 12/9/73, hospital birth. Mother: Janine Smith; Father: William Phillips. Age 12 when he died.

Tomaso LeVino D.O.B 8/6/75 , born at MOVE HQ, no birth records, Mother: Suzanne LeVino; Father: Robert Moses (left MOVE in 1981). Age 9 when he died.

My final point is this: Reporting the documented facts about these six children on May 13, 1985 matters. What happened to them inside MOVE in the years, months, days, hours, and minutes leading up to May 13, 1985, matters just as much.

Quick P.S.: Tomaso had more than one name, which was a MOVE “strategy”.

This is what Sue said in 1978

Sue states that her son is two and named JOHN, and that JOHN’S father is age 1, according to the teachings of John Africa.

It has sometimes been explained to me that Sue’s son was first called JOHN in order to show reverence for MOVE's founder, "John Africa" (Vincent Leaphart). I have wondered if it might mean more than that.

While hiding out in Rochester with Vincent for three years, Sue started going by Maria ("Ria" for short), and she started JOHN by a new name: BOO BOO or BOO, for short.

A Philadelphia police officer in the Civil Affairs Division provided the visual identification of the remains found in the rubble of 6221 Osage. He knew the child as BOO.

A man going by the name Dubside has been a behind-the-scenes MOVE “supporter” member since meeting them in the courtroom during Mumia Abu Jamal‘s 1982 murder trial.

7 years after first interviewing Dubside for the podcast, I found this rare mid-to-late ‘90s video of him performing at the Revival Club in Philadelphia.

Dubside is known for being “under the radar” and very private, so it was exciting to find this evidence of his once famous waist-length locs, but for my research purposes it is what Dubside says on stage that deserves attention.

VOICE IN THE CROWD: The Revolution will not be televised. (and yet a video camera is clearly recording this)

DUBSIDE: We’ll get to that.

🎸 🎸 🎸 Removes hat to reveal his waist-length dread locs .(what a hair reveal!)

DUBSIDE:

Some of my friends have been taking in stray animals.

Some of my friends are trying to protect LIFE.

All LIFE.

Anything that moves.

Some of my friends are concerned about clean air, clean water and pure food.

You wouldn’t think that’s such a dangerous revolutionary activity, but in this country it got them beaten to ____ (sounds like he is saying “life” when this phrase used by anyone else would be “beaten them to death”).

Got some of them sent to prison. (that’s for sure! 350+ years if you add it all up)

Got some of them killed. (5/13/85)

Dubside is publicly speaking MOVE about MOVE without ever saying the word MOVE.

Dubside did not just attend the 1982 trial of Mumia Abu Jamal (a MOVE member on the down low), he was carrying out a MOVE activity.

A former MOVE supporter provided me with a PDF that are notes of the hearings and trial proceedings of Mumia taken by Dubside for Vincent Leaphart/John Africa who was “coordinating” Mumia’s defense strategy from afar - never attending the trial in person.

Taking notes for the leader of MOVE = a MOVE activity that would not be entrusted to someone who was considered a casual supporter.

Dubside worked with MOVE members who were acting as Mumia’s legal runners — Pam Africa when she was known as Jeanette Knighton, Ramona Johnson, and Theresa Brooks (died 5/13/85).

That may have been Dubside’s first activity for MOVE, but it certainly wasn’t his last.

In December 1983, Dubside was given the activity to help MOVE members affix megaphones to the exterior of 6221 Osage Avenue - the home owned by Leaphart’s sister Louise who was also a MOVE member.

On Christmas Eve 1983, MOVE members turned on the megaphones that would be used against the neighbors for the next 18 months.

Former neighbors of MOVE spoke about the megaphones in the 1987 PBS Frontline episode about MOVE’s May 13, 1985 confrontation with police.

So, did Dubside ever meet Vincent Leaphart/John Africa?

Did Dubside ever go inside 6221 Osage between 1982 and May 13, 1985?

If yes, did Dubside see the children who were being hidden in the garage after being abducted by MOVE members from Richmond, VA because a judge had ordered them to be permanently removed because of neglect and abuse?

Did Dubside have any prior knowledge about what Vincent Leaphart may have wanted to happen that tragic day?

Where was Dubside on May 13, 1985, and was he given an “activity” connected to the confrontation?

I have so many questions.

After the death and destruction resulting from May 13, 1985, Dubside attended Ramona Africa’s criminal trial and for almost 20 years provided his audio engineer skills for MOVE programs and demonstrations.

In the late ‘90s under the 2nd MOVE leader Albert Africa, Dubside wrote the “20 Years On A MOVE” booklet that was sold to supporters alongside the black t-shirts with the orange silk screened image of the ‘85 police helicopter.

In 2020, Dubside and Mike Africa Jr. co-wrote and published “Fifty Years On A Move”.

Mike’s paroled MOVE 9 parents, Debbie and Mike Sr., who knew Dubside from letters and prison visits, promoted the booklet in a video for Mike’s social media.

Two months later, former MOVE members came forward publicly—on my podcast and in Philadelphia news interviews—with serious allegations that MOVE was a cult that controlled, abused, and threatened its own members, and that MOVE was likely responsible for the 2002 murder of John Gilbride.

When I asked Dubside about John Gilbride during our final phone interview in March 2020, he tried to claim he didn’t really know him.

When I pressed Dubside further, he hung up.

That was the last time Dubside and I spoke.

Today, Dubside still wears black and loves a microphone but his long locs are gone and his favorite topic has switched from MOVE to Greenland kayaking.

Dubside’s real name is Peter Gordon.

Sources have told me that Peter started going by DUBSIDE after meeting MOVE and apparently realizing that his Philadelphia land line phone number spelled DUBSIDE.

What’s your number?

Just dial my name.

Today, 215 + DUBSIDE is the cell phone number of some guy in Florida.

Hey Dubside, you have my number and I still have a long list of questions for you about MOVE.

Always here for comments and questions.

Leave a comment

Back to my book work.

Have a nice day,

Beth

There is ALWAYS so much more to share with you about MOVE as I write my book, so if it so behooves you, please subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share CULTstack

And when Mike posts publicly, it presents a fact-checking opportunity to share my ongoing research.

Yesterday, 06/15/26, Mike posted a tribute marking the anniversary of MOVE member Delbert Orr Africa's death.

1. Delbert Orr Africa was not accused of killing a police officer, he was convicted of the felony murder of police officer James Ramp and attempted murder of 7 other first responders (police and fire) on August 8, 1978. According to former members and internal MOVE correspondence, August 8th was an "activity" in which MOVE members understood they would either die or go to prison as part of “John Africa's strategy”.

2. Delbert had two daughters, not one and they both died while being cared for by being held by MOVE members while he and their mother, Janet Holloway Africa were in prison for killing James Ramp. Delisha Holloway, who was also called Melissa, was one of 14 MOVE children who had been removed by Child Protective Services in Richmond, VA, in 1980 but then abducted by MOVE members and held in the garage basement of 6221 Osage, which is where she died 5/13/85 at the age of 13. According to my sources, Delbert's youngest daughter, Shaeida Holloway, died at around age 5 and MOVE disposed of her body.

3. Mike’s tribute is focused on portraying Delbert as a strong MOVE member until the end with no other details. Delbert died a painful death at the age of 74 after battling metastatic prostate cancer that was first diagnosed while he was in prison. Delbert was very ill when he was paroled in Jan 2020. According to my sources from inside MOVE, Delbert’s final days were filled with physical pain, and at one point he told a lifelong MOVE member “it wasn’t worth it, meaning MOVE, and this was all a lie”.

   Today, Mike posted another anniversary tribute. This one is about his mother, Debbie (Sims) Davis “Africa”.

And so I wanted to share something else from MOVE history that also happened on this day, 42 years before Debbie (Sims) “Africa” was paroled.

June 16, 1976 - Philadelphia City Hall Courtroom #243

Dr. Gerald Goldin lived in Powelton Village, taught mathematics at UPENN, and personally knew MOVE’s two co-founders, Vinny (Vincent) Leaphart and Donald Glassey, because they were all part of a very small anti-gentrification housing co-op. Their cordial relationship changed when Vinny and Don stopped paying rent at 3207 Pearl Street and started The Christian Movement for Life (later MOVE) out of 307 N. 33rd Street.

The entire neighborhood soon found itself held hostage to MOVE’s increasingly bizarre and aggressive lifestyle: garbage, 60 dogs, rats, megaphones, threats, and eventually guns. Gerald Goldin was just one of many neighbors who vocalized concerns and became a target of MOVE harassment. When that harassment escalated to death threats, Goldin filed a police report, which is what this court appearance was about.

Leave a comment

• Theodore Africa is Theodore Williams aka in MOVE as “Beebop”. Ted died under unusual circumstances a year later, in the summer of 1977.

• The green lines connect Debbie (Sims, now Davis aka "Africa") to biological family members who were also MOVE members. Laverne was Debbie's mother and one of Vincent's sisters. Gail and Dennis were two of Debbie's four siblings, all of whom were lured into MOVE as minors.

Anthony Africa = Anthony Beaman who was recruited into MOVE by his college buddy, Big Jerry Africa.

Conrad Africa is Conrad Hampton - long time MOVE member who recruited his cousin Eddie Goodman and his niece by marriage, Consuewella Dotson into MOVE. Conrad died on May 13, 1985.

June 16.

One date.

Multiple truths. MOVE’s version of history is never the whole story.

From left to right: Janet Holloway (75), Suzanne LeVino (77), Edward Goodman (76), Ramona Johnson (71), and Carlos Perez (69).

The person of most interest to me in this propaganda transmission disguised as a birthday video for a guy who does not have access to Facebook in prison is Suzanne LeVino, aka Sue Africa, known inside MOVE as RIA — the white lady who is weirdly closing one eye during the video.

RIA has been MIA since late summer of 2021.

Adults born into MOVE who came forward publicly with allegations of abuse, coercive control, and death threats by MOVE leaders, specifically named RIA as one of the offenders.

Former members who joined MOVE as adults backed up these allegations and added their own, including claims that MOVE leaders, including RIA, had knowledge of or involvement in the 2002 murder of ex-MOVE member John Gilbride.

For nearly five years, I have been asking sources if anyone has seen RIA.

No one had actually seen her. Only second- and third-hand reports of alleged RIA sightings.

Word from my sources was that RIA had retreated from public view, hiding inside her MOVE headquarters home on Kingsessing Avenue in West Philadelphia, consumed by a fear that the criminal allegations might bring police to her door.

In early August 2021, Philadelphia police officers did, in fact, enter MOVE headquarters.

This is never-before-seen, grainy footage from MOVE's security camera showing two Philadelphia police officers — including a "white shirt" indicating supervisory rank — approaching the gate, being let into the yard, and walking up to the front door.

Leave a comment

Very shortly afterward, rumor had it that MOVE leader Alberta (Wicker then Gilbride and now Gilbridge-Wonderlin) and her second-in-command, RIA, packed up and relocated to Alberta’s suburban New Jersey home.

Then, in September 2023, RIA's home — MOVE headquarters — was engulfed in flames.

No one was inside the property.

The fire damage warrants a “red tag” and the twin Victorian home to MOVE since 1991 is demolished.

So, after all of that, RIA is still “LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA-ing” her way through life.

Which means that there is still a chance that she will respond to my repeated requests to interview her about the darkest secrets of The Move Organization and it’s elusive founder Vincent Leaphart.

Ria, if you’re reading this, you still have time to tell your story in your own words.

Share CULTstack

Happy Sunday! Quick post today showing you how much about MOVE can be revealed in a single-page document if you read closely and between the lines.

I can state with confidence that most people examining MOVE, or speaking with authority about MOVE, miss the clues hiding in plain sight. They miss the context, the connections, the importance. And in many cases, it isn’t mere oversight — it’s willful omission and complicity.

I LIVE for the details. One word, one name can peel back another layer — and suddenly you see: oh, that’s how Vincent did it, that’s what it really meant, that’s the truth behind that particular myth or lie.

Today, you get a glimpse into my process: how I sift through 50+ years of MOVE history — and its elusive, now-dead founder and leader, Vincent Leaphart (known inside MOVE as “John Africa,” “The Coordinator” and “Ball” along with a few aliases). I’ll be using his full legal name, just his first name, or my preferred (Cuncle) Vincent — short for Cult Uncle, Great Cult Uncle — to cut through the facade and expose what MOVE itself conceals: the biological family ties hidden by the communal “Africa” surname.

The first document is from February 27, 1976.

Let’s break it down using the outlined colored boxes I added.

THE CHARGES (RED BOX)

MOVE members hauled into court for:

• Disorderly conduct

• Failure to disperse

• Resisting arrest

• Possession of narcotics

(Confirms what sources inside MOVE have told me: the group sold and used drugs, despite claiming that MOVE was better than rehab - they even tried to become an accredited rehab - did not happen).

MOVE member, “Africas”, as they are listed, and then who they actually are:

• CONRAD – James Conrad Hampton, 29, married, father of 3; recruited his cousin Edward Goodman and his niece by marriage, Consuewella Dotson.

• STEVE – Stephen Grossi, 26, white recruit; fathered a child with Valerie Brown, later defected.

• RAYMOND – Raymond Foster, 41, knew Leaphart from growing up in the same Philadelphia neighborhood of Mantua.

• TONY – Anthony Beaman, 26, rap sheet: counterfeiting + narcotics with intent.

• JERRY – Jerald Ford, 29, 6’6”, former college football player, Leaphart’s muscle & security (see BIG JERRY post).

• DEBBIE – Debbie Sims, 19, Vincent’s niece.

• CONSEUWELLA – Conseuwella Dotson, 22, daughter of a retired cop, mother of 2 (see CARRIED AWAY post).

• SUE AFRICA– Suzanne LeVino, 26, white recruit, first to give birth “MOVE style” on straw for press photo-op. Total zealot with “pick me girl” vibes.

THE COURTROOM CIRCUS (BLUE BOX)

• Directive from Vincent, age 44: Represent yourselves. No lawyer. No defense. Guaranteed contempt. Guaranteed jail time.

• Four no-shows — on Vincent’s orders. Steve, Tony, Consuewella, Sue.

In the gallery, Vincent had his radical choir:

• LAVERNE SIMS – 40 years old, Vincent’s sister, mother of 5 MOVE members. At an age when most mothers protect their families, she was still doing her brother’s bidding, sacrificing herself and her children.

• BAEWOLF AFRICA – Charles Sutton Morris, 27, quiet but in Vincent’s inner circle.

• EDWARD AFRICA – Edward Goodman, 26, father of 3 with Cassandra Davis.

• DENNIS SIMS – 14. Yes, 14. Youngest child of Laverne. Nephew of leader Vincent - Cuncle Vincent.

One thing the document doesn’t note is the MOVE uniform: jeans, grey crewneck sweatshirts, sometimes a denim jacket with or without the sleeves cut off, and work boots. Here’s a black-and-white photo from a different court date that gives you an idea of MOVE fashion and courthouse “occupation” back then.

THE OUTCOME (GREEN BOX)

At 1:30 PM, Judge Sieberstein had had enough.

Eight MOVE members were sentenced for contempt: Jerry, Conrad, Delbert, Baewolf, Debbie, Edward, Laverne, and Dennis. Sentences ranged from 60 to 120 days. The document doesn’t spell out who did what, but public reporting from hundreds of other MOVE court appearances makes it clear: outbursts of “LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA!” escalated to profanity, insults at judges and lawyers, aggressive actions, and possibly threats — implied or explicit.

MOVE documents I have obtained and shared on my podcast prove that members were instructed, verbally and in writing, on exactly what to say in public and in court. It came directly from Vincent.

Dennis Sims, 14, was given the harshest sentence: 120 days.

He was also instructed by (Cuncle) Vincent to lie about his age so the court would process him as an adult and send him to jail — instead of alerting child protective services, who might have pulled him from Laverne and (Cuncle) Vincent’s control. Vincent couldn’t risk losing his most malleable disciple.

Dennis’ mother, Laverne Sims, in addition to contempt, was also convicted of perjury and false statements for pretending to be Sue Africa (LeVino).

They were all taken to the House of Corrections, built in 1927.

Here’s a story about that jail so you can imagine what it might have been like for the grown men and women — let alone a 14-year-old boy.

(Cuncle)Vincent never served any time at the House of Corrections.

Here’s the second document: May 3, 1976:

Another Civil Affairs report about court appearances by MOVE members.

Same courtroom. Different Judge.

Let’s break it down:

Laverne impersonates Sue LeVino again. When the Judge calls it out, her youngest daughter, Gail Sims — just turned 18 — stands and declares, “I am Sue Leon.” A very Off-Off-Broadway cult version of Spartacus.

Bonus absurdity: no one is Sue Leon — least of all Sue. “Leon” wasn’t her last name. A reporter got it wrong once, and Vincent saw the error as an alias opportunity. She was incarcerated at Muncy State Prison for 12 years under the name “Sue Leon.”

Dennis, still 14, is back with the same “MOVE activity” — disrupt the court.
This time, his adult “wingman” is MOVE member Michael Davis, 21 — dating Dennis’ sister, Debbie.

Here is the “takeaway” on these two documents:

MOVE says they were about Black liberation. The reality: from day one, Vincent was chaining his followers — not freeing them — making them captives to him and to the very system he claimed to be fighting against. Even his 14-year-old nephew, DENNIS SIMS, was sacrificed to that lie.

At that age Dennis should been starting high school; instead, he was coerced and conditioned to accept handcuffs, fingerprinting, mugshots, and jail cells as “normal.”

One year later, May 20, 1977 (49 years ago today)

15-year-old Dennis holding a gun for the “Guns on the porch activity” that would set off the chain of events for the deadly August 8, 1978 confrontation.

This MOVE activity resulted in criminal charges and (Cuncle) Vincent taking Dennis with him as he fled Philadelphia.

The leader is always the chicken shit hiding behind his followers. In this case, behind children and barely-legal adult MOVE members.

3 1/2 years later, in May 1981, Dennis, (Cuncle)Vincent, Alphonso Robbins, Big Jerald “Big Jerry” Ford, Alberta Wicker, Sue (Leon) LeVino, Charles Raymond Stokes, and James Conrad Hampton are arrested in Rochester, NY.

Dennis serves a short sentence and is released in Philadelphia.

Then he is arrested in March 1985 for robbery. The court docket notes multiple aliases and a falsified date of birth — almost certainly first entered into the system during his contempt-of-court arrests in 1976, when (Cuncle) Vincent instructed 14-year-old Dennis to lie so he would be treated as if he were 23.

The witness/victim of the robbery was scheduled to testify in court after May 13, 1985 - the deadliest MOVE confrontation with police

The witness then backed out forcing the prosecutor to drop the case but Dennis does not “turn over a new leaf”.

This post started with two police documents from 1976, when Dennis was only 14. He had already been under Vincent’s influence — in MOVE since the age of 12.

More than five decades later, he is 65 and currently serving out a 50-year prison sentence for attempted armed robbery in Rochester, New York — the very same city where he was a fugitive with (Cuncle) Vincent until their ATF arrests in 1981.

Dennis Sims will not be eligible for parole until 2046 — at the age of 85.

Prison wasn’t just Dennis’s fate. It was a MOVE activity. In my own accounting — which includes Mumia Abu-Jamal — MOVE members have collectively spent more than 450 years behind bars. Meanwhile, Vincent served just two months while on trial for manufacturing and possessing explosives, before walking free with an acquittal in 1981 which freed him up to “coordinate” the activities of Mumia and the MOVE members inside of 6221 Osage on May 13, 1985.

While Dennis ages in a New York prison, his nephew - the great nephew of Vincent — continues to chant “LONG LIVE MOVE. LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA.”

Mike (Sims now Davis, but goes by Mike Africa Jr.) was born/raised in MOVE and is now the self-designated 3rd leader, soliciting support💰 for MOVE “Reimagined” ⬇️

Mike’s other big effort involves other people’s children — teaching his MOVE curriculum in classrooms full of students the same age or younger than his when his Uncle Dennis was pulled into MOVE by Vincent more than 50 years ago.

The architects of this free MOVE history curriculum have repeatedly stated in grant materials and outreach to educators that the 20-unit curriculum was developed through “memory work” — an approach that, in this case, omits significant factual information.

For instance, there is no mention of Dennis or any acknowledgment that generations of MOVE children were taught only “The Guidelines” — MOVE’s bible — while being denied even the most basic legal right to an education. Mike himself, like Dennis, was pulled out of school by MOVE in the sixth grade.

According to former members and publicly available records, Mike Africa Jr.’s wife and her five siblings never attended a single day of school. They reportedly had no formal education records and only learned to read and write years later, after becoming parents themselves while still very young — conditions former members describe as dictated by MOVE leadership and internal MOVE “law.”

Those realities are absent from the curriculum as well. (See my podcast for further reporting and source material.)

Whether you knew about MOVE before today or are only learning about it now, I hope I leave you with the documented reality of one 15-year-old boy whose life was tragically shaped by MOVE and the teachings of “John Africa”.

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my ongoing work.

Subscribe now

I owe you an apology for falling off my every-Friday schedule. I underestimated how much time my newly released podcast — which is not about a cult — would take up.

If you are into non-culty true crime and candy then I hope you will check it out here on Substack AND on all podcast platforms.

The Missing Candy Heiress

I remain committed to reporting on the cultiverse and all things MOVE (much to the chagrin of certain people using the fake cult surname “Africa”). For a bit, it may be less frequent, but my goal is the same as always: to provide factual, contextual reporting in pursuit of really understanding these stories at a deeper level.

Thanks for sticking with me.

📰 Headlines

Two “Zizian” Updates - One Committed, One Released

There are currently four separate criminal cases — including one federal — tied to individuals associated with the small ideological network the media has dubbed the “Zizians.”

This week brought two developments that could not be more different.

First: In California, 24-year-old Tessa Berns (who gave the alias “Suri Dao” upon arrest) has been deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered hospitalized at a state facility for treatment. Their trial — scheduled to begin next month alongside Alexander Leatham after nearly three years of delays — is now suspended.

It now appears increasingly possible that Berns may never testify about what happened that violent and deadly November day in 2022 — or about the path that led from middle school spelling bee contestant in braces and National Merit Scholar to running away from Arizona State University to join Jack “Ziz” LaSota’s radical group in Vallejo that is now tied to multiple prosecutions and six deaths.

Second: Nearly 3,000 miles away in Maryland, Daniel Blank has been released on $15,000 bail. He must wear an ankle monitor and live alone while facing pending state charges. This development surprised me after previously reading that the judge had ruled to allow Blank, LaSota and Zajko to regularly meet about their legal defense strategy.

If Blank is finally acting in his own self-interest instead of in coordination with Jack “Ziz” LaSota, that could end up shedding light on what was happening inside this insular and alleged high control group of people connected to so much destruction and death.

All of the “Zizian” cases are ongoing and worthy of a very close watch.

⁉️ CULTIVERSE QUIZ

Which of the following political figures have been publicly associated with a spiritual movement that originated in India and has faced allegations of cult-like control and abuse from former devotees?

A. Nicolás Maduro (and his wife)
B. Delcy Rodríguez
C. Tulsi Gabbard

And the ANSWER is….

A & B.

A. Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife Cilia, have been publicly associated with the Indian spiritual teacher Sathya Sai Baba (in orange), whose movement originated in India and attracted millions of followers worldwide. Maduro and his wife visited Sai Baba’s ashram in Puttaparthi in the early 2000s, years before he became president, while serving as the former foreign minister. Maduro has previously hung a large portrait of the guru alongside revolutionary icons, led Venezuela’s National Assembly to officially honor Sai Baba after his death in 2011, and he publicly praised him as a significant spiritual influence even as his presidency unfolded.

According to a 01/04/26 The Sunday Guardian story by Neerja Mishra,

Just two months ago, on November 23, 2025, Maduro again broke from political messaging to honor Sai Baba’s centenary. He released an official statement describing the guru as a “being of light.”

“I always remember him when we met… May the wisdom of this great teacher continue to enlighten us.”

It became one of his last public statements unrelated to politics before the collapse of his regime.

Sai Baba Organisations Thrive Under Maduro

Under Maduro’s rule, Sathya Sai organisations operated freely in Venezuela, even as many foreign NGOs faced expulsion. Sai Baba centers ran schools and the Institute of Human Values, expanding their reach across the country.

Venezuela now hosts one of the largest Sai Baba devotee communities in Latin America, with roots dating back to 1974.Two month’s before Maduro was arrested in Venezuela by the U.S. Government and brought to New York to stand trial, he released an official statement describing the guru Sai Baba as a “being of light.”

B. Delcy Rodríguez, now the interim President, has also visited Sai Baba’s ashram and shown a very personal reverence for the spiritual teachings.

This is a 2023 post from what appears to be the official X account for Sai Baba’s ashram

TULSI GABBARD has a different alleged culty connection. Gabbard was raised in The Science of Identity Foundation, a Hawaii-based spiritual organization that former members and critics have described as having authoritarian dynamics and meeting the basic criteria of a being a high control group aka a “cult”.

The above photo obtained by The Daily Beast is of Gabbard, at 15, while attending a Science of Identity boarding school in the Philippines.

The Science of Identity Foundation is an offshoot of the Hare Krishna movement that was an offshoot of Hinduism. The leader or “guru”, Chris Butler is referred to by his followers as a “living god”.

In the 1990s while Gabbard was running for state office in Hawaii on an anti-gay marriage, her professed “guru”, Chris Butler was openly spewing anti-gay rhetoric, including comparing homosexuality to beastiality.

Which means that Tulis Gabbard and Chris Butler haven’t been watching HEATED RIVALRY

Right?

📌 To Kick Off This Last Week Of February

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — James Baldwin

Be kind.

Be informed.

Dance in your kitchen.

VOTE.

Best,

Beth

Share CULTstack

Leave a comment

The reason for this not coming much earlier today is ⬇️

Nope, I was not in the sewer. I had a colonoscopy yesterday morning and was pretty much dead to the world until today. Is that TMI? Sure. But it feels worth sharing if it nudges even one person—especially anyone over 40 or with a family history of colon cancer—to be sure to schedule your back-door screening.

Colon cancer and cults don’t discriminate, so stay vigilant.

I am happy to report that I got the “all clear” and will not have to do it again for 10 years. Hooray!

Okay—now to news from the cultiverse.

📰 Headlines

The Zizian Playbook: DELAY

The Maryland criminal case

Jack “Ziz” LaSota, Daniel Blank, and Michelle Zajko, have been held without bond since their arrest nearly a year ago on weapons, trespass, and felony drug-related charges.

According to reporting by the Cumberland Times-News, jury selection for their joint trial—already delayed multiple times and had begun the summoning of more than 1,000 potential jurors—has now been postponed again at defendant Zajko’s request so that she can hire new private counsel.

Zajko told the judge that she had recently “inherited money” that could be used to retain an attorney (could this be from the estate of her murdered parents?), after firing her public defender of more than 30 years’ experience. Circuit Court Judge Michael Twigg previously rejected her claim that the public defender was inadequate, stating, “I find no credibility in that assertion.” Nonetheless, the court granted additional time, with all three defendants indicating they were willing to remain incarcerated longer to accommodate the delay.

This is from the Cumberland Times story by Teresa McMinn

Blank and Lasota under questioning from their respective attorneys, Rebecca Lechliter and David Schram, agreed to a trial postponement for Zajko to bring a new attorney to the case.

“I am fine with a continuance,” Blank said.

Twigg set a status hearing for Monday, by which time the new attorney must enter with the court their intent to represent Zajko. If that happens, the trial will likely be rescheduled.

Allegany County State’s Attorney James Elliott said due to the substantial amount of information related to the case, the new attorney might need three months to prepare for the trial.

This development is notable in light of an earlier ruling that I have written about previously - the allowance of the three defendants to meet jointly to coordinate their defense.

Across the four “Zizian” cases involving incarceration, felony charges, and deaths, family and friends have consistently described the same concern: the continued psychological domination exerted by Jack LaSota, known as “Ziz” and believed to the “the leader” pulling the strings.

Subscribe now

Across the country, in Northern California, another of the four ongoing “Zizian” cases has also taken a significant turn.

Tessa Berns*, also known as Suri Dao because it was alias they gave when arrested, has had their Solano County criminal proceedings suspended after being found mentally incompetent to stand trial at this time. The determination followed reports from their public defender and jail staff citing alarming physical and mental deterioration, including dramatic weight loss from refusing to eat and periods of being verbally unresponsive.

Under California law, when a defendant is found unable to understand or assist in their defense, criminal proceedings are paused while competency restoration is evaluated, including the possibility of placement in a state hospital. Bern’s case will only be reinstated if and when they is deemed competent—a determination that is not guaranteed and, in some cases, is never reached.

*Berns has stated they are bigender and use they/them pronouns. I am using their legal name for consistency with court records and to allow for accurate fact-checking.

According to reporting from Robin Miller at the Vacaville Reporter, Berns’ co-defendant Alexander Jeffrey Leatham also appeared briefly in court this week yelling loudly and repeatedly,

“Jonathan Ross murdered Renee Good!”

“Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere!”

Judge Ellis removed Leatham from the courtroom and stated for the record

“Ms.* Leatham continues to chant about something that has nothing to do with this case.”

*Leatham identifies as transgender and uses she/her pronouns.

For the past three years, Leatham has repeatedly disrupted court proceedings and unsuccessfully attempted to dismiss appointed public defenders, arguing incompetency. Just last month, however, Leatham was granted a request for new counsel—and another delay of a trial scheduled for March 6—after informing the court that funds from a GoFundMe would allow them to retain private defense counsel. I have searched for that GoFundMe but have not been able to locate it or verify who set it up or how much was raised. The trial has now been pushed to August.

I see a pattern across both Zizian cases: repeated efforts to replace appointed counsel only succeeded once defendants asserted access to funds to hire private attorneys—triggering immediate delays just as jury selection or trial dates approached.

Under due process, all of the “Zizian” defendants have the right to a speedy trial. Yet their legal maneuvers have consistently resulted in extended confinement and delay rather than movement toward resolution or acquittal, raising questions not just about mental competency to stand trial, but about possible coercive control.

And then there is this: “Ziz” (Jack LaSota) was either physically present at the scene of the alleged crimes, nearby shortly beforehand or right afterwards, or in contact with the people who went on to carry them out (Curtis Lind murder in 2024 and shootout with border patrol in 2025).

“Ziz” LaSota has repeatedly evaded authorities—fleeing the scene of the initial 2022 attack on Curtis Lind, using aliases, faking their own death, and skipping bail. By avoiding arrest and incarceration until 2025, LaSota remained free to exert influence both outside custody and from within it. Recorded jail calls show LaSota urging Tessa Berns to escape custody; they attempted to do so twice, resulting in additional charges. Alexander Jeffrey Leatham is also charged with three attempted escapes.

Coercive control is not recognized as a standalone crime under U.S. criminal law. In both California and Maryland, the concept appears primarily within domestic violence cases, where courts may consider patterns of intimidation, isolation, and psychological domination between intimate partners or family members. There is currently no comparable legal mechanism for addressing coercive control exercised within groups or belief-based organizations.

I am by no means a lawyer, but it seems to me that the only prosecutorial path that could address possible evidence of coercive control across these cases would be RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. RICO was designed to dismantle top-down criminal structures in which leaders direct or benefit from crimes carried out by followers while insulating themselves from accountability. It was first used against Mafia organizations—most notably John Gotti—and later applied in federal prosecutions involving R. Kelly, Keith Raniere, and Sean Combs. But RICO is used rarely, and only in exceptional circumstances.

The only “Zizian” federal thread is United States v. Teresa Youngblut, which involves the January 20, 2025 murder of a federal agent and carries the possibility of a death-penalty prosecution.

With four separate cases repeatedly delayed across multiple courts, this will continue to generate news, which will be reflected here in this newsletter.

The (literal) Remains of Asahara’s Power

In Japan this week, the Tokyo High Court ordered the state to hand over the remains of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara to his second daughter.

Shoko Asahara, the founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, was executed in 2018 for crimes linked to at least 27 deaths, including the 13 people the cult killed in their 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.

The Japanese government has resisted releasing his ashes, arguing they could become objects of veneration for the successor cult Aleph and be used to sustain recruitment and indoctrination.

The court acknowledged those risks—but ultimately ruled that the daughter’s stated intent to privately mourn her father, and her promise not to transfer the remains to any group, beat out the government’s objections.

Which brings me to my next piece of cult news—about veneration as a recruitment tool—and the group that launched my now seven-year journey into studying cults: The MOVE Organization.

‼️ “John Africa” Goes To School After Denouncing School

This week, Michael Davis (aka Mike Africa Jr.) the grandnephew of the now-deceased founder of The MOVE Organization—Vincent Leaphart, who his followers and federal prosecutors also referred to as “John Africa”, among multiple names and aliases—announced on social media that he has created a MOVE curriculum. The social media announcements along with his comments on WURD radio claim that the Philadelphia School board approved this curriculum to be taught in their public schools.

And it is allegedly going to be taught to even younger students.

The most notable—and frankly least concerning—fact about this MOVE curriculum is that, according to the teachings of “John Africa” (what MOVE calls The Guidelines), education itself was viewed as systematic, unnatural, and something to be dismantled in order to return humanity to a pre-civilized state. That same belief was used to justify denying medical care and forcing children to go naked and barefoot, even in winter. So there’s that.

Vincent Leaphart’s totally made-up ideology is what drove his MOVE followers to protest public education, disrupt Philadelphia School Board meetings, and deny their own children access to schooling altogether.

And that’s not even the most disturbing facts about MOVE vs. what MOVE claims to be about.

For now, I’m reporting what Michael Davis has posted, who he is, and what he’s claiming. I’ve tracked this effort for three years, obtained records through public requests, and am seeking clarification from the Philadelphia School District and others involved.

More reporting to come.

For any of you who are not familiar with my now 7 years of investigative reporting on MOVE, you can read about MOVE here and listen to my 45 EPISODE!! investigative podcast MURDER AT RYAN’S RUN which is available here on Substack or anyplace you get your podcasts.

This sample of audio from my podcast sources from within MOVE should 🚨🚨🚨 about MOVE’s version of MOVE being taught to ANY children.

Additionally, you can get more accounts directly from former MOVE members, including biological family of Michael Davis, sharing what they say MOVE really is and what happened to them inside of MOVE. I have attached a PDF of this front page story in The Philadelphia Inquirer Aug 2021 in case you cannot get through the paywall. You can also check out these links:

leavingmove2021 - a 2021 blog created by a 20-year former member that was a key source in my reporting that also has statements from more than a 1/2 dozen others

Billypenn.com (part of WHYY radio)

A 2004 blog created by a former MOVE member who was a key source for my reporting.

To put a fine point on this, the MOVE “curriculum”—and the claims made by Michael Davis, aka Mike Africa Jr.—warrant far closer scrutiny, and not just from me.

👍🏼 Beth Recommends

I interviewed Jane Borden here on Substack last year about her fantastic book, CULTS LIKE US and so I wanted to share her latest piece for Rolling Stone

click to read

And 🤞🏼that this case moves forward and can possibly provide legal precedent for victims and survivors of other abusive and criminal cults.

📌 To End The Week

"Truth fears no questions." - unknown

Be well,

❤️ Beth

Philadelphia Inquirer Aug 27, 2021

1.62MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Leave a comment

ICE is a Fascist CULT.

Take to the streets.

Help others.

Power in Numbers.

Between MLK Day, nonstop news (ICE, Trump threatening to invade Greenland—or Iceland, depending on the hour), and two active public records appeals related to a certain City Councilmember’s communications with the MOVE cult… I fully lost track of my days.

So this week’s CULTstack newsletter did not come together.

I am sorry.

I’ll promise to be back next week with a chock-full edition, including anticipated reporting from today’s hearings in the “Zizians” murder case in Northern California. Three defendants, two trials, and one victim who survived an earlier Zizian attack—only to later be allegedly murdered to prevent their testimony. And that is only two out of SIX deaths connected to this cult!!!

If you’re currently living in the blizzard zone of the United States, please stay safe and from sunny California I will be sending warm thoughts.
And if you need a distraction that feels uncomfortably relevant to the moment, I recommend two vintage series now on Netflix: Homeland and Scandal. Political intrigue + culty dynamics = accidentally perfect viewing for 2026. So perfect, in fact, that I wouldn’t be shocked if someone in the White House recently rewatched Season 2 of Scandal and took notes from the “manufactured First Lady pregnancy as political distraction” storyline.

And I am not the only one who is wondering if this is a case of “life imitating art”

📌 To End The Week - two things

I want to recommend another Substack account that is a fellow “Beth”, has nothing to do with cults, but is very cool and got an insanely clever promotional “atta girl” from the powers that be at

Check it out

And then because at this moment we can never be reminded enough of the document and the rights upon which the United States of America was founded

Thank you, as always, for being here.

Be well,

Beth

Leave a comment

📰 Headlines of the Week

Another Arrest In🪳Pest Control Prophetess Cult Murders

As I’ve previously reported here, the religious group His Way Spirit Led Assemblies has been under investigation for illegal weapons charges, the death of a child, and the disappearance of two former members believed to be dead.

At this point, four people are in custody: the two married group leaders—who have been denied bail—and two additional “associates”.

This week, police arrested a fifth man in Tennessee, Ramon Ruiz Duran, alleging he conspired in and participated in the murder of former member Emilio Ghanem. Ghanem disappeared in California in 2023 after agreeing to meet another group member who claimed to need help escaping the group—just as Ghanem himself had done a few years earlier.

So yes—this cult-related criminal case out of Southern California keeps getting bigger, and warrants close media attention as it continues to unfold.

🚨Cult Leader Ziz Regains Access to Jailed Followers—Alarm 🔔 🔔 🔔

This week, three members of the group the media refers to as the Zizians walked into a Maryland courthouse that does not allow cameras. An Associated Press photographer still managed to capture images of them arriving together—important documentation for both the media and the public as this case moves toward trial.

Inside the courtroom, the three defendants—Jack LaSota, Michelle Zajko, and Daniel Blank—were granted permission to work together on their legal defense. On paper, that’s procedural and reasonable for co-defendants. Viewed in the context of a destructive cult—leader-driven, anti-establishment, and governed by a violent, ends-justify-the-means ideology—it’s deeply concerning. This decision could have serious consequences for the defendants’ ability to receive due process as individuals.

Here’s why the alarm bells are ringing. Public reporting across four separate murder cases 😳 linked to this group shows that parents, family members, and friends raised concerns about cultic control long before six people ended up dead—including Michelle Zajko’s parents, who were murdered. Zajko herself remains a person of interest in their death. She is an only child so unclear if any extended family is in contact with her.

Daniel Blank’s parents have spoken to reporters since his arrest, describing a dramatic personality change, a complete cutoff from family more than a year before his arrest, and their belief that he is under cult influence. I can imagine that they are further concerned that their son will now be in regular contact with the very person who lured him into the group and to commit the alleged crimes that could send him to prison.

“Ziz” LaSota’s mother appeared in court during 2023 proceedings in Pennsylvania, but there has been no reported family presence in Maryland.

The concern I’m flagging, from a cult lens, is that this judge ruling now provides an opportunity for LaSota to recreate the same control dynamic that defined the group, with defendants putting “Ziz” ahead of their own personal and legal interests just like before they were arrested for the alleged crimes.

In my opinion—and this is me putting myself in the impossible position of Daniel Blank’s parents—I would be urging him to take every possible step to act in his own best legal interest and break away from LaSota. That may mean seeking to sever his case. It may mean the far more drastic step of cooperating with prosecutors, even if that requires testifying against LaSota and Zajko.

My prediction: this Maryland Zizian trial will be overtaken by LaSota’s antics—outbursts, delays, false claims—while due process loses to cult control.

Click her for AP story that includes VIDEO of defendants arriving to court and Ziz responding to reporter Mark Scolforo

🇰🇷 Culty in South Korea

As you have read in my previous newsletters, the Unification Church and it’s leader, Han Hak-ja (widow of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, one half of the so-called “Heavenly Parents” and referred to as “the mother of peace”), have been under legal scrutiny by the current government of South Korea. Hak-ja is being prosecuted for bribing elected officials with luxury gifts.

This week it is being reported in the Korea Times that the Unification Church is not being singled out. The government has launched joint prosecution–police probes (yup, plural) into alleged criminal activity involving multiple high-control religious groups.

Authorities say the probes stem from concerns that leaders in these religious groups have defrauded followers or imposed coercive and abusive control, while legal scholars are noting that these probes are walking a thin line when it comes to freedom of religion—warning against holding entire faiths criminally responsible for the actions of individuals. One of the groups under investigation is Shincheonji Church of Jesus over allegations of deceptive recruitment, coercive control of members, obstruction of public health efforts during Covid, coordinated political interference, and the abuse of followers, including financial exploitation.

All of these South Korean alleged cults and leaders now under investigation claim the probes are politically motivated, arguing they are being targeted by the current administration for past support of other political parties no longer in power.

Hallelujuah!, He Pleads Guilty

In 2023, the Shakahola Forest massacre briefly dominated global headlines when mass graves were uncovered in Kenya, exposing a starvation cult linked to Good News International Ministries.

Authorities ultimately tied the deaths of at least 191 people—most of them children—to the group, whose followers were coerced into starving themselves and their families in order to “meet Jesus.”

This week brought a major development in the prosecution cases: one of the cult leader’s top lieutenants, Enos Amanya (also known as Hallelujah), pleaded guilty to participating in a coordinated scheme involving starvation, abuse, and coercive control that resulted in those deaths.

The leader of the group, Paul Mackenzie—a former taxi driver turned preacher—remains in custody, facing charges including murder, child torture, and terrorism. While 191 deaths have been formally confirmed, investigators and human rights groups now estimate the true death toll may exceed 400, accounting for those believed to have died or disappeared on Mackenzie’s orders.

That was a lot of murdery cult news for one week, right? Thanks for sticking with me this far—which I’d estimate is about the same amount of time it takes to scroll Instagram for ten minutes or watch twenty TikToks.

So now I’m going to ask you to indulge me just a bit longer while I give you what I love to give more than anything else: my opinion.

🗣️ BETH REVIEWS

This week, I’m offering my Cultstack two cents on two recent cult projects that couldn’t be more different in execution or intent: a new docuseries revisiting the murder case of Andrea Yates, and a CBC podcast centered on actress Allison Mack and her former role inside NXIVM.

I’ll start with the doc series: The Cult Behind the Killer, airing on HBO Max / ID Discovery.

The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story is a three-part docuseries that re-examines the widely known 2001 Houston case in which Andrea Yates drowned her five young children in a bathtub. The series claims to uncover a previously underreported influence on her actions: the alleged psychological manipulation of a rogue street preacher and self-proclaimed cult leader, Michael Woroniecki.

That’s the publicized series synopsis. Here’s why that framing doesn’t hold up.

I’ll start with the title. The Cult Behind the Killer sounds less like documentary inquiry and more like a TMZ headline on X — framing engineered to provoke, not inform. And prior to the Warner Bros./Discovery merger, it’s difficult to imagine this title—or this premise—clearing HBO’s once-rigorous documentary standards. I blame the streaming wars and media consolidation that has flattened all TV and Film into “Content”.

The series’ central claim is that Andrea Yates did not primarily kill her children because she was severely mentally ill, but because she was under the influence of a cult leader. That is presented as the “new angle” of this 25 year old story. It is also misleading.

The “cult leader”, Michael Woroniecki was, by credible on-camera sources, a creepy, controlling, end-of-days street preacher who recruited on college campuses—where Andrea Yates’s husband, Rusty, first encountered him. That matters. But on the spectrum of so-called cult leaders, Woroniecki was no Charles Manson, David Koresh, Jim Jones or Vincent Leaphart. He was a dime-a-dozen-strip-mall prophet—and not a singular force capable of explaining this tragedy, asserting a motive or and definitely does not justify a three-part documentary.

This streaming “content” inflates Woroniecki’s influence and minimizes the central, and tragic but not unique, fact of the case.

Andrea Yates, a nurse turned stay-at-home mother, suffered for years from severe postpartum depression that progressed into psychosis. She attempted suicide. She was then gave birth to a fifth child which resulted in a complete mental break drown. Her husband, family members, doctors, and institutions all had repeated, documented opportunities to intervene—for Andrea’s safety and for the 5 children in her full-time care. Andrea Yates was psychotic when she killed her children. Nothing, and anything including a random tv commercial, could have influenced her in that state of mind. Andrea needed psychiatric care away from her family.

Twenty-five years ago, Andrea Yates was branded a “monster” in headlines that favored outrage over understanding. This series goes further—implicitly recasting her as a mindless cult follower of a group that somehow escaped meaningful scrutiny for a quarter century—not because the evidence supports it, but because cults are a trending true-crime genre and this framing sells. In doing so, it inflates a marginal figure into something more sinister than the facts warrant and actively undermines serious, responsible reporting on cults by forcing a framework that doesn’t belong.

This series adds nothing to our understanding of what happened. Worse, it does harm on multiple fronts: minimizing postpartum mental illness, manufacturing a cult explanation that does not meaningfully exist in the context of the actual story, and squandering an opportunity to educate the public about the systemic failures in maternal mental health care that made this tragedy possible.

I watched it so that you don’t have to. You’re welcome.

And then there’s the cult podcast project that made me stop, rewind, and say out loud, “Yes. This is how you do it.”

This podcast had me hooked within the first five minutes of episode one, and every Monday for seven weeks I made time the day it dropped because I couldn’t wait to keep listening. Not just to Allison Mack recount her experience inside NXIVM, but to hear the host interrogating that experience in real time, as a producer navigating access, skepticism, and responsibility while also speaking with the people who knew Mack before, during, and after the cult. The series has exceptional access, without compromising objectivity. It delivers genuinely new information and uncompromising analysis that does not give Mack a pass simply because she agreed to participate—a line too many projects blur or cross in an era of access-over-accuracy journalism. The writing is sharp, the pacing is cinematic, and by the end I felt satisfied that the NXIVM story had finally been told in full, with no missing pieces and no need for another chapter.

click to hear to listen to Allison After NXIVM

📌 To End The Week

Be strong. 💪

Be kind. ☺️

Be well,

❤️ Beth 🍀

Leave a comment

I’m happy to be back after a two-week holiday break that included bingeing 8 seasons of HOMELAND, cult research, a the hideous flu that ended just in time for me to get this week’s CULTstack newsletter out the door.

In this newsletter I want to talk about the intersection of cult identity and due process in the criminal justice system, using two alleged cults currently moving through California courts as examples.

Both cases are unfolding in California — one in Solano County, outside San Francisco, and one in San Bernardino County, outside Los Angeles. Looking at them side by side clarifies how legal identity functions once criminal charges are filed.

When I refer to identity here, I mean legal identity — the name used by the court to properly charge, track, and adjudicate a criminal case.

For example, I referred to my late mother-in-law as Grandma Bunny — “Bunny” was what her father called her because of her light auburn hair and gentle nature. That was who she was to us. But if she were arrested, appearing in court, or identified as the owner of a winning $100 million lottery ticket, the record would list her as Elaine Brunelle. Both names can be true — but only one functions legally.

That legal distinction sits at the center of this essay.

And I am going to begin with His Way Spirit Led Assemblies.

Inside this SoCal pest-control company AND religious group alleged to be a cult, multiple names and titles were used as part of the internal hierarchy. Leader Shelly Kathryn “Kat” Martin referred to herself as “The Prophetess,” and followers operated within a tightly controlled system reinforced through language, roles, and obedience.

Once criminal charges were filed, that internal cult naming structure ends and the system under our rule of law begins.

In court, the defendants — Darryl Muzic Martin, his wife Shelly Kathryn Martin, Andre Thomas and Rudy Moreno — were processed under their verified legal names, confirmed by law enforcement and prosecutors. Whatever names or titles existed inside the group did not replace legal identity in charging documents or hearings.

This is the baseline one would expect: clear legal identity is clear and is reflected in both documents and public reporting.

The second example — the extreme vegan, effective altruist group of computer programmers the media has dubbed “the Zizians cult” — departs from that baseline.

In this case, legal identity itself became a point of contention and confusion.

One defendant, Alexander Leatham, attempted to conceal legal identity when first taken into custody, initially refusing to state a name and then claiming to be Somnulence “Somni” Logencia. Authorities determined this was an alias, verified Leatham’s legal identity through records, and proceeded with charges under the correct legal name.

The situation unfolded differently with a co-defendant.

When taken into custody, the second individual stated their name as Suri Dao. That name appears on indictments, court filings, jail records, and most media coverage. Unlike the Leatham scenario, the legal identity behind that name was not immediately verified and, despite later being determined to be an alias, was never corrected in the official record.

Leave a comment

That brings us to the victim whose death underpins the murder charges filed against both Leatham and “Dao.”

Amir Borhanian, 31, died during the November 13, 2022 alleged attempted murder of Curtis Lind. Prosecutors allege that Lind shot Borhanian and Leatham after Lind said he was attacked with knives and a samurai sword. Borhanian died at the scene. Leatham survived and was arrested. Suri Dao was arrested separately.

The group’s alleged leader, known publicly as “Ziz” and legally named Jack LaSota, was found on the property, provided a false name to law enforcement, insisted on emergency medical care, and then fled the hospital, the state, and eventually the region. LaSota was arrested nearly three years later, more than 3,000 miles away in Maryland, in connection with two additional murders.

Because Borhanian died during the incident, their identity is not part of the court proceedings in the same way as the surviving defendants. However, both Leatham and Suri Dao have been charged in connection with Borhanian’s death, which prosecutors allege occurred during the commission of another crime.

I can confirm that Borhanian was legally named Amir Borhanian at birth. In adulthood — the specific year is unclear — Borhanian came out as transgender and used the name Emma Borhanian. I have not been able to locate public records confirming a legal name change.

In a case where a death forms part of criminal charges against others, accuracy in naming is essential to understanding who was involved and how responsibility is being adjudicated.

In the Zizians case, the most recent court proceedings have largely centered on the mental competency of the defendant identified in official records and most media coverage as Suri Dao.

What troubled me was that the legal identity behind that name was widely known to anyone doing more than surface-level research — yet it remained absent from the public record.

Notably, there has been no video or photographic record from inside the courtroom showing the defendant identified as “Suri Dao”. This may be the result of judicial media restrictions, but it has meant that the public record contains no visual confirmation of who is actually appearing in court under that name and the felony charges.

I had planned to attend this past Monday’s mental-competency hearing in person to confirm the identity before reporting further, until the flu took me down.

Undeterred and determined to double-check my research, I did what I increasingly find myself doing: I caved to yet another city newspaper paywall.

I subscribed to the San Francisco Chronicle, which has done the most thorough and impressive reporting on this case. There, behind the paywall, I found confirmation — and a detailed reporter’s account of how prosecutors attempted to place a verified legal identity on the record, how the defense pushed back, and how the judge ruled.

From the Chronicle’s 02/22/25 reporting:

Shapiro said police body-camera footage showed that Dao made up the name on the spot as they sat next to LaSota in a police car. Prosecutors later alleged Dao tried to escape from jail after discussing it in a phone call with LaSota.

Investigators additionally deduced through jail calls that the defendant was adopted from China, and that their adopted mother’s name is Ann — details that match those of Berns.

When asked to identify the person in Dao’s Solano County mug shot, prosecutors said Ann Berns asked for contact information for the defense attorney and ceased communications with the prosecution team.

During a December 2023 hearing, Shapiro asked a judge to order Dao to acknowledge in court that their true name was Tessa Berns and that they were born on Nov. 26, 2000. “The People obviously have a right to know the true identity of a defendant,” the prosecutor declared.

If Dao managed to successfully break out or was granted bail, Shapiro said, the court “might potentially never see defendant Dao again.”

Defense attorney Ford responded that the name concerns were “much ado about nothing.”

“I don’t really know how important it is to have a quote, unquote true name,” Ford argued. “My client is transgender and perhaps has a different name than their birth name, but it is their name.”

Even if Tessa Berns was his client’s legal name, the prosecution found no previous criminal record or failures to appear under that name, Ford noted. “The only thing that is related to that person,” he said, “is that they won spelling bee competitions, which should be a point in our favor frankly.”

Judge Tim Kam denied the prosecution’s request, citing a state law that requires defendants, upon arraignment, to be informed that they may correct the record only if they are being prosecuted under the wrong name. Otherwise, the law states, they are “proceeded against by the name in the accusatory pleading.” The judge did note that Dao had to provide a thumbprint — though there were apparently no matches in government databases.

During more than two years in custody, Dao’s mental health has seemed to deteriorate. At one point, a judge suspended the proceedings while doctors determined whether they were able to participate in their own defense. Jail officials have at times resorted to force-feeding Dao, while a nurse sat outside their cell 24 hours a day, on suicide watch. Attorneys reported Dao’s self-harm, including biting their wrists and suffering from delusional thoughts that led them to stick objects in their eyes.

- reported by Michael Barba, Matthias Gafni, Megan Cassidy

A couple points I want to make about this reporting.

First, Dao has since been charged with two attempted escapes, which is clearly the basis for the prosecution’s stated concern about identity verification and flight risk.

Finally, the Chronicle’s detailed description of Dao’s physical and mental condition left me wondering how medical records and care are being handled given the court’s decision to proceed under the made-up-on-the-spot-name “Suri Dao” — and what the implications might be either way. This isn’t a question about public disclosure of Dao’s private medical information, but about record integrity. It also leaves me thinking about potential HIPAA-related issues depending on how identity is recorded and maintained across legal and medical systems.

In summation — and as a non-lawyer who takes verification seriously — my research confirms the following:

The use of an alias does not automatically invalidate a criminal case. Courts can proceed so long as a defendant is physically present and reliably linked to the alleged conduct — and a verdict is not automatically at risk of being thrown out on appeal because of it.

But when legal identity isn’t clearly established, records become harder to track — and the press and public lose clarity about who the state is actually prosecuting.

The Zizian cult story now spans four states, involves six deaths, and includes six defendants charged in state and federal courts.

These cases are still moving through the system, including pending determinations about Dao’s mental competency to stand trial. I’ll keep following them, verifying facts— and reporting back here on CULTstack.

I’ll end with this: while reviewing archived video connected to the other California case — His Way Spirit Led Assemblies — I came across a clip hosted on GodTube that appears to show one of the individuals later identified as a victim in the criminal filings.

This looks like ex-cult member and defector EMILIO GHANEM who went missing in 2023 and is believed to have been murdered which led to the arrests and charges.

Here are two publicly availabel photos of Ghanem for comparison.

And to show my face recognition work, here is Godtube video source. Beware that the “rapping for Jesus performance” is far from Grammy material.

📌 TO END THE WEEK

This first week of 2026 has been a freakin’ doozy so I wanted to leave you with TWO quotes,

The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. — from 1984 by George Orwell

The world doesn’t need a hero. It needs a good person willing to do what’s right. — Unknown

Be well,

Beth

Happy Friday! Welcome to the fourteenth issue of the weekly CULTstack newsletter.

This week’s issue is about two deadly cults — a deeper dive on recent trial news for a Zizian cult member and an introduction to a SoCal cult that is going to be getting a lot more national press in the coming months.

📰 Headlines - “M” is for Murder

Medical Issues Delay Murder Trial for Zizian

Last week, I briefly noted that a California judge issued an order for Zizian cult murder defendant Suri Dao* to be transferred from jail to a state prison medical facility.

Dao, 24, has repeatedly appeared in court visibly frail and wheelchair-bound, and medical reports submitted by the defense describe catatonia, anorexia, and rapid weight loss.

As of this 12/18, Dao has not yet been moved.

CULTstack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

According to public reporting, Dao’s defense attorney has said Dao identifies as nonbinary. The closest prison medical facility sought by the defense is male-only.

Courthouse News reporter Carly Nairn, who was in the courtroom, reported that:

…the Department of Corrections said that because Dao was “assigned female at birth,” the department disagreed with sending Dao to CMF, a male-only facility, and that it was unlikely Dao would receive the psychiatric treatment they needed there.

“I’m not necessarily inclined to change my order,” Judge Ellis said, noting he could hold the Department of Corrections in contempt of court or require compliance with the order.

Ellis said that because Dao chooses their gender identity, and because the penal code has been updated to reflect a person’s right to choose, CMF is the best possible facility for Dao, due to its proximity to court proceedings and defense attorney Ford’s ability to meet with his client.

“These things are in flux,” Ellis said, referring to the rules governing gender identity and housing.

Prosecutors have argued they have not been given access to the “work product” underlying the medical reports submitted by the defense and, on that basis, have maintained that Dao is fit to stand trial, which is scheduled for March.

Given those unresolved medical and housing questions, the judge ordered an independent medical evaluation, with a report due by Jan. 5, before determining how — or even whether — Dao’s case can proceed.

Dao is charged with attempted murder, murder, and aggravated mayhem stemming from a November 2022 attack with a samurai sword on their 80-year-old Vallejo landlord, Curtis Lind. During the incident, Lind defended himself and fatally shot Emma Borhanian, another Zizian involved in the attempted murder of Lind. Borhanian’s death during the commission of the attempted murder forms the legal basis of the murder charge against Dao and another Zizian defendant, Alexander Leatham, who uses the name “Somni” and identifies as a trans woman.

More than two years after the attempted murder of Lind, the prosecutor stated in court that her only testifying witness would be the 82-year-old victim. The next day Lind was murdered allegedly by an individual with a knife who is connected to the Zizian group.

And this is just California. There are four additional “Zizian” individuals, including leader Jack “Ziz” LaSota, being held without bail on charges related to trespassing, weapons offenses, violent crimes, and murder. I am continuing to research those cases in preparation for upcoming articles.

*Suri Dao is an alias, but it is the only name currently used in court records, investigative materials, and charging documents. The defendant’s identity and background remain part of my ongoing research.

Leave a comment

🐀 Pest Control “Prophetess” Arrested for Cult Murders

Authorities in Southern California have arrested six members, including the leaders of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, in connection with two murders, a missing person, and weapons offenses.

Prosecutors allege the suspects are responsible for:

• The 2023 disappearance and presumed murder of a former member, Emilio Ghanem, age 40

• Timothy Thomas, age 4, was left in the cult by his parents and in 2010 allegedly died because adults refused to seek medical care for his appendicitis. His father Andre is charged in his death.

49 year-old Ruben Moreno, a former member of the cult and brother of arrested high level follower Rudy Moreno, went missing in 2017. Authorities believed that the cult is responsible for his disappearance and presumed death.

Former members have told investigators and local press that His Way Spirit Led Assemblies revolved around obedience, isolation, and claims of divine authority. The group’s leaders, Pastor Darryl “Muzic” Martin and his wife, Prophetess “Kat” Martin, allegedly exercised near-total control over followers’ lives, including medical decisions, finances, relationships, housing, and daily schedules.

The “church” held services in a strip mall and was financially supported through a pest control company owned and operated by the Martins in Riverside County staffed by loyal followers working for as little as $100/week.

Authorities say the investigation remains active and have not ruled out additional victims or charges.

To get a sense of this cult’s “vibe”, be sure to check out the their youtube channel which features sermons, lots of new comments since their arrest and music videos like this one featuring Pastor Daryl Muzic Martin and his Prophetess Wife.

Thanks for reading CULTstack ! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Share

CULTstack will be on holiday until after the New Year.

Wishing you and yours healthy and happy holidays, however you celebrate.

❤️ Beth

This week’s issue is about two deadly cults — a deeper dive on recent trial news for a Zizian cult member and an introduction to a SoCal cult that is going to be getting a lot more national press in the coming months.

📰 Headlines - “M” is for Murder

Medical Issues Delay Murder Trial for Zizian

Last week, I briefly noted that a California judge issued an order for Zizian cult murder defendant Suri Dao* to be transferred from jail to a state prison medical facility.

Dao, 24, has repeatedly appeared in court visibly frail and wheelchair-bound, and medical reports submitted by the defense describe catatonia, anorexia, and rapid weight loss.

As of this 12/18, Dao has not yet been moved.

According to public reporting, Dao’s defense attorney has said Dao identifies as nonbinary. The closest prison medical facility sought by the defense is male-only.

Courthouse News reporter Carly Nairn, who was in the courtroom, reported that:

…the Department of Corrections said that because Dao was “assigned female at birth,” the department disagreed with sending Dao to CMF, a male-only facility, and that it was unlikely Dao would receive the psychiatric treatment they needed there.

“I’m not necessarily inclined to change my order,” Judge Ellis said, noting he could hold the Department of Corrections in contempt of court or require compliance with the order.

Ellis said that because Dao chooses their gender identity, and because the penal code has been updated to reflect a person’s right to choose, CMF is the best possible facility for Dao, due to its proximity to court proceedings and defense attorney Ford’s ability to meet with his client.

“These things are in flux,” Ellis said, referring to the rules governing gender identity and housing.

Prosecutors have argued they have not been given access to the “work product” underlying the medical reports submitted by the defense and, on that basis, have maintained that Dao is fit to stand trial, which is scheduled for March.

Given those unresolved medical and housing questions, the judge ordered an independent medical evaluation, with a report due by Jan. 5, before determining how — or even whether — Dao’s case can proceed.

Dao is charged with attempted murder, murder, and aggravated mayhem stemming from a November 2022 attack with a samurai sword on their 80-year-old Vallejo landlord, Curtis Lind. During the incident, Lind defended himself and fatally shot Emma Borhanian, another Zizian involved in the attempted murder of Lind. Borhanian’s death during the commission of the attempted murder forms the legal basis of the murder charge against Dao and another Zizian defendant, Alexander Leatham, who uses the name “Somni” and identifies as a trans woman.

More than two years after the attempted murder of Lind, the prosecutor stated in court that her only testifying witness would be the 82-year-old victim. The next day Lind was murdered allegedly by an individual with a knife who is connected to the Zizian group.

And this is just California. There are four additional “Zizian” individuals, including leader Jack “Ziz” LaSota, being held without bail on charges related to trespassing, weapons offenses, violent crimes, and murder. I am continuing to research those cases in preparation for upcoming articles.

*Suri Dao is an alias, but it is the only name currently used in court records, investigative materials, and charging documents. The defendant’s identity and background remain part of my ongoing research.

Leave a comment

🐀 Pest Control “Prophetess” Arrested for Cult Murders

Authorities in Southern California have arrested six members, including the leaders of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, in connection with two murders, a missing person, and weapons offenses.

Prosecutors allege the suspects are responsible for:

• The 2023 disappearance and presumed murder of a former member, Emilio Ghanem, age 40

• Timothy Thomas, age 4, was left in the cult by his parents and in 2010 allegedly died because adults refused to seek medical care for his appendicitis. His father Andre is charged in his death.

49 year-old Ruben Moreno, a former member of the cult and brother of arrested high level follower Rudy Moreno, went missing in 2017. Authorities believed that the cult is responsible for his disappearance and presumed death.

Former members have told investigators and local press that His Way Spirit Led Assemblies revolved around obedience, isolation, and claims of divine authority. The group’s leaders, Pastor Darryl “Muzic” Martin and his wife, Prophetess “Kat” Martin, allegedly exercised near-total control over followers’ lives, including medical decisions, finances, relationships, housing, and daily schedules.

The “church” held services in a strip mall and was financially supported through a pest control company owned and operated by the Martins in Riverside County staffed by loyal followers working for as little as $100/week.

Authorities say the investigation remains active and have not ruled out additional victims or charges.

To get a sense of this cult’s “vibe”, be sure to check out the their youtube channel which features sermons, lots of new comments since their arrest and music videos like this one featuring Pastor Daryl Muzic Martin and his Prophetess Wife.

CULTstack will be on holiday until after the New Year.

Wishing you and yours healthy and happy holidays, however you celebrate.

❤️ Beth

Read more

Welcome to the 13th issue of The CULTstack Weekly Newsletter—and thank goodness it does not fall on a Friday the 13th, because while I am a facts-and-logic person, I am also inherently superstitious. Probably because I am Irish and was raised to look for four leaf clovers and to cross my fingers but NEVER on both hands at once because that guarantees bad luck.

Typically I start the newsletter with headlines but pre-holidays the cult news cycle is a bit slow so I will just give you some highlights — the “church” of Scientology filed something trying to get Danny Masterson a new trial (yawn), Zizian murder defendant Suri Dao moved to medical facility after losing 32 lbs. (sad), and ex-NXIVM Mark Vicente is dishing on Allison Mack’s CBC podcast behind a Patreon paywall 🤑 (annoying).

But that’s not to say my week was less culty. I never stop researching—requesting archive materials, filing public records requests (you know who you are), interviewing people, monitoring social media accounts, and this week showing up to an event in order to meet a potential source related to an incarcerated open secret MOVE cult member ⬇️.

I recognize, though not often enough, that I spend too much time chained to my cult news desk so this week I made plans to see a movie with a friend — a matinee of the musical WICKED: FOR GOOD.

No computer. No cell phone. Just eating overpriced buttered popcorn mixed with peanut M&M’s and sucking down an ice-cold root beer in the dark with 7 other strangers.

A much-needed break from cults.

Until —

Cue music.

Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard explaining cult dynamics via song and dance made me feel like he was singing just to me.

I wanted to stand up in the dark theater, point at the screen and yell

but I kept my ass in the seat and started thinking about how I was going to tell you all about it here on CULTstack.

Share

Okay, let’s get into these lyrics for WONDERFUL

Take it from a wise old carny
Once folks buy into your blarney
It becomes the thing they’ll most hold onto
Once they’ve swallowed sham and hokum
Facts and logic won’t unchoke ‘em
They’ll go on believing what they want to
Show them exactly what’s the score
They’ll just believe it even more
“Wonderful”
They called me “Wonderful”
So I said, “Wonderful”
If you insist
“Wonderful”
I will be wonderful

Let me set up the scene in case you haven’t seen the movie:

Elphaba Thropp—our green-skinned, morally righteous-to-her-own-detriment heroine with legit magical powers—ended the first Wicked movie by refusing to participate in the Wizard’s fraud and violence against the animals. He smears her as a traitor, rebrands her “wicked,” and weaponizes public fear to cement his power over the people of Oz.

Now, in Wicked: For Good, she becomes the protagonist we root for as she pushes back against his authoritarian crackdown on the talking Animals of Oz. She’s sabotaging his construction of the Yellow Brick Road—built via Animal slave labor.

Elphaba’s mission is simple:
Expose the Wizard’s lies.
Inform the public.
Break the spell. Everything goes back to the way it was before the Wizard.

She confronts him face-to-face confessing

“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. No one believed in you more than I did.”

But now that she knows the truth she is determined to expose his lies so that the people of Oz will drive him out of the Emerald City.

Instead of denying it—or calling in the guards to drag her away—the Wizard breaks into a full song-and-dance number explaining exactly why her whistleblower plan won’t work.

It’s all right there in the verses:

“Once folks buy into your blarney / It becomes the thing they’ll most hold onto.”
Once people adopt your narrative—your propaganda, your mythos—they cling to it. It becomes part of who their identity, their world view.

“Once they’ve swallowed sham and hokum / Facts and logic won’t unchoke ’em.”
This is cognitive dissonance - the mental discomfort of being wrong or being confronted with information that contradicts what we already decided. It fires in the anterior cingulate cortex—the conflict detector tucked inside the frontal lobe of every human brain

The human brain hates being wrong more than it loves the truth. And a good cult leader knows it.

BTW, Hokum is an old-timey word for utter nonsense—absolute bullshit. I love the sound of “that is utter hokum,” and I am fully committed to using it in as many conversations (and Substack posts) as possible in 2026. Merch?

“They’ll go on believing what they want to.”
Because letting go means losing your tribe, your worldview, your belonging.
Because people would rather hear another lie than confront the unraveling one.
Because no one wants to admit they’ve been conned—especially if they benefited.

“Show them exactly what’s the score / They’ll just believe it even more.”
There it is: the cult playbook, set to a broadway show tune.
Evidence doesn’t matter when belief has fused to identity.(should go on a t-shirt)
Show a true believer the truth, and they don’t crack.
They double down.

The wizard is not powerful just because he got people to believe he’s rich, brilliant or has magic powers.
He’s powerful because he understands human nature—and exploits it.
And he’s not just admitting it—he’s bragging about how well it works.

What the Wizard and all other malignant narcissists count on is that once people commit to a story—especially one that makes them feel chosen, righteous, persecuted, or enlightened—they’ll defend it harder than they defend themselves and even if it directly harms them.

The hard part is getting them to buy your story. After that it’s like a self-cleaning oven — the people do the work of upholding, protecting and repeating the propaganda because their identity has fused with the cult leader’s narrative.

The “wicked witch” is the only person who isn’t under the cult leader’s spell.
The one pointing out the con while everyone else digs in their heels.
And the one person the cult leader fears the most and by any means necessary must destroy in order to hold onto their power. See Salem Witch Trials.

The Wizard of Oz — an insecure man hiding behind a manufactured persona so he can deceive, control, and abuse others = total cult leader.

If you read to this point, which is the end, I want you to know that I have not spoiled the movie. So if you haven’t seen it yet, I genuinely hope you’ll catch it in a theater over the holidays.

WICKED: FOR GOOD ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*This is not an ad.

Just me being a consistent cult nerd.

Have a great weekend.

Beth

Leave a comment

Welcome to the twelfth issue of The CULTstack Weekly Newsletter — news, history, and quizzes from the ever-expanding cultiverse.

I hope you had a good holiday last week — whether you celebrate Thanksgiving, don’t celebrate because it’s not your culture, don’t celebrate because it’s not your thing, or don’t celebrate because you think the Pilgrims were culty jerks - they were. Either way, I hope you had great food, minimal family drama, and at least one very good hair day.

There wasn’t much CULT NEWS during the holiday week, which synced up nicely with my own binge schedule: cooking and consuming high-calorie meals, finally watching Killing Eve (obsessed withVillanelle - she scares the beejesus out of me but I cannot take my eyes off her wardrobe and performance), and filing public records requests - FOIAs.

I am super into requesting police records, emails, invoices — anything that counts as a public record and serves the public interest. It’s my favorite kind of nerd activity: a question, a puzzle, and a battle of words to unlock a document that answers the initial question and usually sparks three more. I’m planning to write a lot more in 2026 about what I’ve requested, why I requested it, what I found, and why you should try it at least once in your life as an exercise in participating in a democratic society.

Leave a comment

On my xmas list:

Hope you’ve had a chance to watch Monday’s video interview with author , who wrote CULTS LIKE US: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America.

My plan is to do more interviews and more face-to-face broadcasts with you in 2026 — especially now that Substack has rolled out its new live video features.

Okay, now to the business at hand — cults, and what in the devil they’ve been up to this week.

📰 Headlines - Cults in Cuffs

Two cults, two continents, one theme: consequences.

Heavenly Mother And the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day…in court

82-year-old Hak Ja Han — “True Mother,” “Heavenly Mother,” and current leader of the Unification Church — is standing trial in South Korea on political bribery charges, including allegations of quid pro quo arrangements and the misuse of church funds to influence government officials.

During this week’s proceedings, prosecutors introduced a recording of a 2019 speech in which Han said that “politics and religion must become one,” urged politicians to “listen to the voice of Heaven” (meaning her), and outlined her vision to reshape Japan and unify South Korea and the United States under “Heavenly Parents.” Translation: the Unification Church — which is her — running the government and controlling these countries. President Heavenly Mother. Yeesh.

South Korea’s President Lee responded to the “tale of the tape” the following day during a Cabinet meeting. He said that religions intervening in government undermine constitutional order, cited Japan’s dissolution of the Unification Church’s religious status, and ordered a legal review into whether religious foundations that intervene in politics can be dissolved under South Korea’s constitutional principle of church–state separation.

Could this be the beginning of the end for the “mass wedding” cult once dubbed “the Moonies”? Stay tuned. Things are moving quickly on this.

The Cult Described As The “Jewish Taliban”

This is a religious cult you’ve probably never heard of — mostly because it is very small (around 200 people) and has spent years isolating itself in Central America to stay out of reach of U.S., Canadian, and Israeli authorities.

Lev Tahor is an ultra-fundamentalist Hasidic sect founded in Israel in the late 1980s and widely regarded as a cult due to allegations of forced marriages of underage girls — children, child abuse, extreme isolation, and international human trafficking.

Over the years, the group relocated repeatedly — first fleeing scrutiny in Israel, where authorities had begun investigating abuse allegations and where many of the sect’s early members were Israeli citizens. From there, Lev Tahor moved to the United States, then Canada, and eventually Guatemala and Mexico — always splitting town as investigators were circling.

Several senior Lev Tahor members have already been convicted in U.S. federal court for kidnapping and trafficking American children. According to the Justice Department, young brides — meaning minors, which are children — in the sect were expected “to have sex with their husbands, to tell people outside Lev Tahor that they were not married, to pretend to be older, and to deliver babies inside their homes instead of at a hospital, partially to conceal from the public the mothers’ young ages” - again, children. Two sons of the group’s leader are currently serving significant federal sentences for trafficking a 14-year-old American girl - child - across multiple countries in an attempted forced marriage.

Other high-ranking members are in custody abroad and fighting extradition to the U.S. on charges including child trafficking, international kidnapping, conspiracy, and arranging forced marriages of minors.

Last week, Colombian authorities — acting on Interpol alerts — raided a hotel housing Lev Tahor members and rescued 17 minors (including American and Israeli citizens) and 9 adults. All 26 individuals were expelled to the United States. The children have been placed into the care of U.S. child-protective services, and the adults are now in federal custody or under investigation.

Why This Matters

This rescue of child victims succeeded because of multinational cooperation — Colombia, Israel, the United States, Interpol, and other agencies worked together. It’s proof that when governments coordinate, even highly evasive abusive cults can be stopped. This case should be seen as a working template and precedent for addressing other cross-border cults committing similar crimes outside the reach of any single judicial system. I am thinking specifically about Children of God cult that has gotten away with crimes against thousands of children over decades.

👍🏼 Beth Recommends

Great new investigative piece in Rolling Stone on the “Zizians” cult that I wrote about in my pre-Thanksgiving newsletter:

The Radicalization of Ziz Lasota: How an AI Doomer Became an Accused Cult Leader by Tess Stuart.

📌 TO END THE WEEK

I am only 1/2 way through the ALLISON AFTER NXVIUM podcast from CBC with plans to write up a full review and/or make a little video, BUT until then I just had to share this little clip from Episode 5

This is a “What If…?” that I am now always going to associate with NXVIUM, Allison Mack and the Netflix series.

One casting callback away from a completely different life trajectory.

Okay I have run out of email length space again and I have to get myself ready to interview the like the 500th source for my MOVE cult book so signing off for today.

Have a nice weekend.

Be well,

Beth

Subscribe now