Cults, Different groups

[Shammu]

The Ant Hill Kids

To be a great cult leader you need charisma, something Roch Theriault had in spades. The former Seventh-Day Adventists believed the ultimate battle between good and evil was coming and decided to form his own commune safe from the upcoming war in the Canadian wilderness. Naming themselves The Ant Hill Kids after the ant-like hard work carried out by its members, Theriault encouraged his followers to give up their families and possessions and live a free life under his teachings. The power soon went to Theriault’s head and he became sadistic, torturing his followers and marrying and impregnating all the women under his control, and consequently fathering over 20 children by nine different women.

He would also physically and sexually abuse his children, carry out surgery on those who disobeyed him, often with kitchen utensils, and was responsible for the deaths of a number of followers. Theriault’s reign of terror came to an end in 1989 after one of the women escaped (after having her arm hacked off) and went to the police. Theriault was sentenced to life imprisonment and was murdered by his cellmate in 2011.

[Shammu]

Order Of The Solar Temple

The Order Of The Solar Temple had some strange beliefs involving Christianity, aliens and New Age philosophy, but were generally seem as harmless until a number of mass suicides shined a light on their practices. In October of 1994, cult leader Joseph Di Mambro ordered the murder of one of his follower’s infant son because he believing him to be the antichrist. A few days later Di Mambro and twelve of his followers indulged in a last supper before taking part in a ritual suicide in their Swiss compound.

Over 50 bodies were found, with some having been drugged before being shot in the head, while other’s died from consuming poison. A few months later, another 16 members of the Order were found dead in the mountains of France, and five more members were burned alive in a deliberate house fire in March of 1997. Investigations into the deaths unveiled years of sexual abuse and physiological trauma suffered by members at the hands of Mambro and his cronies. Despite this, the cult still exists today, with a reported 500 members worldwide and a chapter in Australia.