The cult, based on New Age spiritualism, drew followers in Switzerland, France, and Canada. In that time, Perez had one disciplinary violation, according to his prison record. Angel's Landing. Sara and her younger sister Emily were barely teenagers when their mother, Jennifer Huston, packed their bags up and moved into Angels Landing in Kansas to be a part of Daniel Perezs cult. Although he claimed he was simply trying to "fix" her, she knew it was wrong. But the big break came when a girl told investigators she was 11 years old when Perez told her to give authorities a made-up story about Hughes demise. Daniel Perez was convicted of 20 counts of sexual abuse of children, with victims ranging in age from only 8 years old to 16, according to the Kansas Sex Offender Registry. The life insurance payout for Hughes death alone exceeded $1 million. K.L. pic.twitter.com/LsUYdFja74. It is also the place where he drowned Patricia Hughes to collect on her life insurance money. One day he and another detective showed up at Angels Landing with glossy photographs of made-up suspects. The investigation continued into March 2011 with authorities interviewing Sarah and Emily on several occasions. One of the survivors, Sara, told Oxygenin 2020 that when Perez raped her repeatedly, he would say he was fixing her. When Brian died in a freak accident atthe autobody shop where he worked in March2006, Goodwyndove into every bit of personal and financial information he could oneveryone living atAngels Landing. Sarah would later state on the show Deadly Cults that Lou Castro told her he had to fix her so that she would be able to get married and have babies someday. The commune leader is accused of killing Hughes, whose 2003 death was initially believed to be an. Charges would be eventually filed against Perez for the rapes, but the case was dismissed when Perez was found dead in Mexico. [Perez] is either very unlucky, with close friends dying, or hes involved in some way in making it happen, Sedgwick County Sheriffs Offices Detective Ron Goodwyn told Oxygen. It earned the nickname cowtown as it was where cowboys would bring their livestock up from Texas to the railroads. Emily was 10-years-old at the time. Multiple accounts of abuse and misconduct were carried out on this property, especially against minors. On April 21, 2010, authorities arrested Perez at his new home in Tennessee after learning about what had been going on at Angels Landing in the past years through interviews with members of the commune. Investigators found 48 bodies inside. In this photo, one of their bodies is carried out of a hotel room in Southern California. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. Daniel U. Perez, who went by the name Lou Castro, was the leader of a commune living there. Daniel Perez sits in a Sedgwick County courtroom during the first day of his murder trial on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015 in Wichita, Kan. Perez, 55, is charged with first-degree premeditated. There were also multiple houses built on the scene. Though initially from Texas, Perez settled down here in Kansas with his followers. Goodwyn began working with federal agents and found the identity Perez was likely about to inhabit next, in Tennessee. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Perez, also known by the name Lou Castro and many other names, convinced his followers he had magical powers. pic.twitter.com/aps7CzzYu8. Debuting in 1992, it has discussed many cases that have left the audience shocked at the violence and atrocities. [Perez] was telling him, One day youll get your chance to go to the other side,' she said. Considering that Perez had convinced his followers that he was actually an angel who had existed for many decades, the property was aptly named. Turns out his real name is Daniel Perez, and people formerly in his cult have since told tales of rape, sexual abuse, and murder. LAS VEGAS SHOOTING SURVIVORS RECALL CHAOS AND TURMOIL OF HORRIFIC NIGHT, MEETING RESCUER, IN NEW DOCUMENTARY, Sara McGrath today. Trish had also moved into a nearby apartment complex. The case of Kansas cult killer Daniel Perez, also known as Lou Castro, is being explored on Sunday. Let's start with one you might not have heard about. Investigators would later learn Hughes was collecting millions of dollars in life insurance payouts, and that six deaths ruled as accidents were connected to the cult. Patricia's husband, Brian, became severely depressed and began talking with Perez more, Sara said. He claimed that he could make it rain, or see someones past, present, and future lives and could communicate with the other side.. Lafferty, a member of a renegade polygamist cult called the "School of Prophets," killed the woman because of her opposition to plural marriage. On April 8, 2019, Allison Mack appeared in a Brooklyn federal court to enter a guilty plea for two racketeering charges in connection with her involvement with the NXIVM cult. According to affidavits taken by the Saguache County Sheriff's Office, the group was brainwashing people and stealing their money. Castro/Venegas was taken into custody that day. One such story, where the cult leader Daniel Perez aka Lou Castro repeatedly manipulated and abused his followers, has been covered in the episode called Angels and Demons. For him to have been able to do such abhorrent acts, one wonders what the tools at his disposal were. To evade law enforcement, Perez would consistently be on the move, relocating constantly from one state to another. In the meantime, Castro/Perez/Venegas was sentenced to two years in jail for aggravated identity theft and social security fraud. Lafferty claimed he committed the killing after a revelation from God. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. It was in South Dakota that Trish met Brian Hughes and they soon started dating and would ultimately marry. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Among those was Hughes husband, Brian. The Times reported that female cult memberswere branded, used as sex slaves, punished by their "masters" and blackmailed. Jim had a private pilots license and had taken them up one day never to return. The Wichita Eagle noted that the Kansas Bureau of Investigations sex offender registry showed Perez raped girls ranging in age from 8 to 16. Friday on #Dateline at 9/8c, it's the saga of a traveling family involved in most of the seven deadly sins pic.twitter.com/nZd9ctWtTO, Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) August 6, 2020. The government also had eyes on the group because they believed Koresh was stockpiling weapons. Trishs death was the only one Daniel Perez stood trial for. Once recovered he moved to Corpus Christi, Texas. The Order of the Solar Temple was formed in 1984 by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret. She was dead. But it didnt take long for things to turn.. Brian was a diesel mechanic and from those that knew him, he was always safety conscious when working under vehicles. He was already suspicious about the accidents that occurred within the family and would work go on to work with the FBI in 2010 to find Daniel Perezs next identity (that he would use in Tennessee.) Trish would tell others that when he was young Castro had died and when he came back he had these powers. Then someone would die and the insurance payout would replenish the accounts. The group broke off from the Russian Orthodox church. The problem was they didnt have a crime, just suspicions. Angel's Landing Commune was an innocuous plot of land in a rural area near Wichita, Kansas where a now-convicted rapist and murderer, Daniel Perez, also known as Lou Castro, held power over a cult. Kansas Department of CorrectionsDaniel Perez Prison Record. In 1989, authorities found 12 male bodies on a ranch in Mexico, near the U.S. border. Manson instructed followers to kill people because he believed the murders would provoke the race war. Then, she saw Perez, wet and out of breath. He went on to tell Emily that after Trish passed that she would put Nicole into the pool then pull her out and call 911. One such episode, 'Angels and Demons,' presented the heinous crimes committed by self-proclaimed psychic Daniel Perez, whose known alias is Lou Castro (amongst others.) From that search, investigators discovered 11 firearms, 2 wallets that contained identification for Lou Castro and Joe Venegas along with a social security card and birth certificate for Joe Venegas. The Branch Davidians originated in 1955 from a schism among the Shepherd's Rod/Davidians, which stemmed from Seventh-Day Adventist teachings. Jennifer had sold Castro and his group property in Missouri when they had stayed there only a short time in 2001. An addition to the small group was Jennifer Hutson. Angels Landing is one of the most popular destinations in Zion National Park. Sedgwick County/Kansas Department of Corrections Authorities spent nine years investigating Perez. Authorities were further frustrated because they could not confirm the true identity of the man who called himself Lou Castro. When the suspects were asked who murdered an American victim, Mark Kilroy, they named Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, 26, the leader of the cult, and Sara Aldrete, a student at Texas Southmost College, known as "the witch.". Perez also collected millions of dollars over the years from life insurance policies on his followers who had died. Unfortunately for his followers, there was more to his scheme than that. Daniel Perez was back in Corpus Christi, Texas, but had assumed the new identity of Lou Castro. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Having put the pedophile behind bars, the 35-year has somewhat moved on with her life, fortunately, and became Mrs. Sara McGrath. Some were shot, some were found with bags over their heads and some had been injected with tranquilizers. The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God was a breakaway movement from the Roman Catholic Church founded in Uganda in the 1980s. It was in Angel's Landing that Emily had moved into the master bedroom with Daniel Perez. I dont think [cults] are common, McGrath said. The following March, Raniere faced new charges of exploiting a child and possessing child pornography. They have said that while he had multiple chances to give up on them, he has become a pillar of support for them. According to Oxygen, police first began to be suspicious of Perez in 2003 when he was living with a small group of people on a 20-acre property called Angels Landing. Sedgwick County/Kansas Department of Corrections. Angel's Landing Cult Mar 6 2022 Length: 1 hr and 1 min Podcast Listen for free View show details Summary Lou Castro (aka Daniel Perez, master manipulator) was a man who seemed to have this ability to draw families to him and convince them of the seemingly impossible. In August 2003, Trishs death benefit was paid out to her husband Brian. Daniel Perez testified in his defense along with three other witnesses. In 1997, Applewhite persuaded 38 followers to kill themselves, telling them that they wouldn't be dying, but leaving their earthly vessels behind. would soon join the group in Wichita. Mona also met a man named Jim and the couple soon became engaged. She was their real estate agent from Missouri who moved with her two daughters Emily, age 10, and Sarah. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. She was a wife and mother who lived and died at Angels Landing, The Wichita Eagle reported. By 1978, the population there had swelled to about 900. Due to there being no updates in the news since the report, and a lack of social media accounts, we are not exactly sure about her whereabouts today. Although local authorities were again hampered by a lack of evidence, they strongly suspected Daniel Perez was involved. He seemed to always place the blame on others. McGrath was about 17 at the time. The deadly and devastating secrets of this traveling commune will come tumbling out, Friday on #Dateline at 9/8c. Three years later, Patricia's husband Brian was killed in a similarly unusual incident while working in an auto body shop. So it surprised many when he had been crushed to death under a vehicle when his jack slipped. Before Trishs death, the group owned two Corvettes and several SUVs. The Family International, also known as the Children of God, was founded in Huntington Beach, California, by David Brandt Berg in 1968. Both Emily and Sarah being young and impressionable believed what the adults were telling them. He denied the charges after his March 2018 arrest, but a judge ordered him held without bailuntil trial. s mother. Ron Lafferty's brother, Dan Lafferty, seen here in 2003, is serving a life sentence in connection to the murders. Prior to his arrest and conviction, Perez was the cult leader of a Wichita, Kansas, group called Angel's Landing. She would also disclose that one day Lou had sat her and her sister, Emily down and told them that it was time for their mother to die. [Perez] was now known for two things: Money no one could explain and the death of Patricia Hughes, Goodwyn told producers. Goodwyn called it the most bizarre story he'd everheard butsaid Perez's conviction was probably the most amazing feeling in my law enforcement career.. The story of the rural Kansas compound, its survivors and Daniel Perez was told on an episode of Dateline that originally aired August 7, 2020, on NBC. The fix her part of his plan was to have sex with her on an ongoing basis. On the stand, he denied having any sort of magical powers and contended the sex was always consensual. . He also would tell her that if she told anyone he would kill her dad. This photo shows the Phoenix family in 1983. Lou Castro was a man with a shadowy past who somehow convinceda number ofpeople that he was an angel,could heal the sick and see into the future. Jones was later found dead. Lou Castro lived extravagantly inKansas with hiscult-likefamily and was found guilty of rape and the murder of Patricia Hughes. They also testified to the ongoing sexual violence by Daniel Perez and the deaths of six people connected with the group (Mona, Lindsey, Jim, Tricia, Jennifer, and Brian). She said she did not. To establish his alibi, Perez drove out to a dealership and instructed the girl to go to the pool after 20 minutes and call 911. Megan and Castro were also dating at this time and Megan moved into Castros home. I was 10 when my childhood was over, one witness said during his sentencing hearing. Daniel Perez Now: Where Is Cult Leader Lou Castro Today in 2022. McGrath said she and her family joined the commune after Perez met her mother, Jennifer Hutson, a Wichita real estate agent who sold him a house, in 2001. Sedgwick County/Kansas Department of Corrections, Angels Landing Commune: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. Five drug smugglers were arrested in connection with the murders. Investigators in Sedgwick County, Kansas learned that Lou Perez and the Angels Landing commune was tied to six deaths which were ruled accidental. Noor Malhotra August 7, 2020 Sara and her younger sister Emily were barely teenagers when their mother, Jennifer Huston, packed their bags up and moved into Angel's Landing in Kansas to be a part of Daniel Perez's cult. In June 2003, a woman named Patricia Hughes died in a freak accident. When she went to court to testify against her abuser, Sara was terrified. [Perez] was telling him, 'One day you'll get your chance to go to the other side,' she told producers. After about six months, 14 members came out of the cave, and nine members came out later. Where Are Sara and Emily from Dateline's Angels and Demons Now? She eventually began dating a man named Daniel McGrath. There was nothing I could do, she said. However, on investigating the money trail, the police discovered that he himself had not signed the papers for the property or for the multitude of luxury cars that he owned. In total, there were six reported accidental deaths over seven years at Angels Landing. Jennifer would end up divorcing her husband and moving her and the girls to Wichita, Kansas in June 2001. He was able to look at bank balances for the majority of the group members. On April 28, 2021, themummified remains of Amy Carlson, the 45-year-old leader of the group Love Has Won, were found in a home in Moffat, Colorado. The episode ofDateline,titled Angels & Demons, features interviews with Daniel Perez, commune members Sara and Emily as well as with Detective Ron Goodwyn and more. Years later Sarah thought that Brian may have taken his own life mostly due to him never getting over Trishs death and Castors teachings on death and crossing over. Eventually, the wreckage would be found and death certificates were issued for Mona, Jim, and Lindsey. First published on June 15, 2018 / 2:32 PM. Unfortunately, the lab would be unable to get a good print off of anything the detective had collected. Sedgwick County Sheriff's OfficesDetective Ron Goodwyn had his eye on Perez already, and when he heard of 26-year-old Hughes's death, he took an active interest in finding out just what was happening atAngels Landing. He is required to register for life even though he is serving a life sentence for his crimes. It was after K.L. If theres one message McGrath hopes viewers will get from experience is that cults can find ways to entrap people without them even realizing it. For the next 20 years, the group lived in various camps in Southern California and took on new followers. One day when Detective Goodwyn happened to come upon Castro driving down the road and he decided to follow him. Sarah had gone to her mom to tell her what Lou said and Jennifer told her not to worry about it, but she had cause to worry. It is near Valley Center and Kechi. The Angels Landing commune was a house on a 20-acre plot of land in a rural area north of Wichita, in the 9500 block of North Oliver, near Valley Center and Kechi, The Wichita Eagle reported. You can survive a traumatic event, McGrath told Fox News. With this new name investigators were able to see that Joe Venegas had opened a new bank account in Tennessee. Over the course of seven years, he collected millions of dollars in life insurance payouts. According to the reports, eye witness statements reported that there was no way Jennifer didnt see she was heading straight into the oncoming truck. Perez is also working a job in prison, according to his prison record. In 2006, her husband Brian Hughes was killed when a carjack failed and he was crushed. In the beginning, things were all fine and dandy. 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