The saga began in 1982 when, instead of burying his 59-year-old wife, Alamo brought her embalmed body back to his compound near tiny Dyer, Ark. [8] Converting from Judaism to Christianity, she became an itinerant evangelist before she met Hoffman. Pebbles agrees: I dont think it will ever be easy. Her brother, Erik, who is out of the group, called Ark Child Protection in 2000, but no action was taken. Alamo turned fugitive in 1989 and wasnt captured till July 1991, after a tip came in from a viewer of Americas Most Wanted.. A custody hearing will be held Monday in Huntington. By the 1970s, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries had established particularly strong footholds in Arkansas, as well as maintaining outposts in California. Amrhein called the Press Argus Courier this week after cult awareness groups sent him clippings that have appeared in this newspaper. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Between 1986 and 1990, the preacher remarried twice. [13], In 1991 the federal government confiscated the property, finding when its agents arrived that Susan's body had been removed. The IRS and the labor board will take it all away from him, she said, referring to court rulings that have ordered Alamo to pay his followers minimum wage, as well as taxes on his businesses. Hes a riot. Ive been trying to divorce him since the end of January, she said. Alamo responded by declaring bankruptcy, and his businesses imploded, although Alamo Ministries limped along. For additional information: Our website includes affiliate links, which means we get a small commission -- at no additional cost to you -- for each qualifying purpose. The Arkansas compound had much in common with Jonestown, the South American outpost run by Jim Jones that resulted in 909 deaths by cyanide poisoning on Nov. 18, 1978. They also ran a nationwide network of lucrative, church-owned businesses, authorities said, including a distributor of designer denim and leather jackets, studded with rhinestones, that sold for $1,000 or more. If you can, provide 1-2 sources of information backing up this correction. Alamo had not been issuing checks to his employees and offered only the most menial financial recompense, leading some disgruntled followers to begin reporting his activities. Son: Mark Anthony Hoffman (b. Amy and Pebbles were finally freed from their torture in 2008 when Alamo was arrested and charged with 10 counts of interstate transportation of minors for illicit sexual purposes. According to Alamo, while he was in a meeting at a Beverly Hills investment firm, Jesus came to him and told him to preach the second coming of Christ. As young girls, Amy Eddy and her best friend, Pebbles Rodriguez, did not have any control of their lives. Among the businesses which Alamo started was decorating denim jackets and airbrushing them with bright, colorful designs. Ive been asked to go to France and design clothes there. As the church expanded, it established other churches in Nashville, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Miami Beach. Her name was Brigitta Gyllenhammer, and she lasted two years before divorcing him. In their prime during the 1970s and early 80s, the oddly paired Alamoshe a puffy Elvis look-alike and she a platinum-haired matroncommanded hundreds of followers, many of them living in what the government called a commune in Saugus remote Mint Canyon. An assistant called back and said Alamo had divorced Gyllenhammar but would not say where. Jordan (Kenyas son) was born in Alamos house and Alamo currently refers to him as the bastard and the nigger. Pictures are unavailable at this time. ET) on Investigation Discovery. She left Alamo Ministries and separated from him in the summer . Years earlier, sheriffs deputies showed up at Alamos Saugus, California compound. Acting upon reports of child abuse, on March 25, 1988, sheriffs deputies raided the Saugus, California, compound in order to reunite three boys with their natural fathers; the fathers had been members of the Arkansas compound but had been excommunicated. They named the group the Alamo Christian Foundation before forming the . The only thing thats ungodly is if you have a statue of another God., I tried to make the marriage work, Miss Gyllenhammar said. Georgia cop killed on first shift in retaliation for an arrest hour earlier, investigators say, Remains Found And Believed To Be Man Reported Missing In May 2021, Brother Accused Of Murder, Subscribe to Front Page Detectives Newsletter. Alamo has fathered three children by different women who live in his home as secretaries. Tony Alamo was a well-known evangelist who, after a radical conversion to Christianity, founded what is now called Tony Alamo Christian Ministries with his wife, Susan, later establishing its headquarters in Dyer (Crawford County). He claimed that the governments actions against him were merely the machinations of Satan, and his followers continued to attract controversy for distributing his printed literature across the United States and beyond. He was 82 years old. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Romania who, Alamo claims, had been dance instructor for Rudolf Valentino. The various publications his ministry offered, such as The Vatican Moscow Washington Alliance, detailed his conspiracy theories. She had just turned 16 years old. The case of the boys went before U.S. District Judge Morris Arnold, who ruled that child abuse had taken place and awarded damages to the plaintiffs. On November 13, he was sentenced to 175 years in prison and also was fined $250,000. Magazines, Digital "They did not leave a paper trail," said Tampa police Detective Grady Snyder. Her body was taken to the foundation's compound on a ridge overlooking the town of Dyer, Arkansas, where Susan Alamo was born as Edith . The children are brainwashed, but they will be OK, said Amrhein, who is involved in a bitter custody fight with his former wife, Elizabeth Amrhein-Alamo, who claims to have married, Tony Alamo, the Alma-based evangelist and has been living at his Dyer home with her children. Original Design by Gurpartap Singh, Eye Witness & First Hand Accounts of Abuse. In November of that year, the judge sentenced him to 175 years in prison. He has written and spoken favorably about polygamy over the years. He was convicted on July 4, 2009. They say they were planning a honeymoon cruise for later, Amrhein said. She believed a miracle would save her. Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBT hate groups, "Tony Alamo, Apocalyptic Ministry Leader Convicted of Sex Abuse, Dies at 82", "Christian Cult Leader and Child Sex Abuser Tony Alamo Dies in Federal Custody". At the time, Susan was married to Coies late father, Solomon Samuel Lipowitz, whom she described as a good man and a prizefighter who was also a mobster. And when she was 17, he took her virginity after making her one of the three "wives" he had at the time. He had his fist clenched and started making noises. If hed married Brooke Shields I would be jealous. Lydia was in her early 30s. They were even told who they were going to marry: the 62-year-old leader of their apocalyptic group. When it became clear she wouldnt survive, she told church members she believed she would rise from the dead. Many Hollywood celebrities were seen wearing them, including Michael Jackson, who wore a modified leather Alamo jacket on the cover of his album Bad. She was born four and a half years before Black Friday, and the Great Depression dealt her already poor family another blow. In 2007, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries as a hate group, citing its anti-Catholic literature and rhetoric. When Tony got back into the business in 1999, he immediately went on the air. Over the years, Alamo has alternately admitted and denied that he knew of the corpses whereaboutsmost recently maintaining he had no control over the theft or return. Troubles continue to mount for Tony Alamo Christian Foundation. For more on former child brides Amy Eddy and Pebbles Rodriguez, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this weeks issue, on newsstands now. He professed this great love for my mother. Pebbles Rodriguez claims Alamo married her in 1999 when she was 12. Soon, the organization established yet another compound in Nashville, Tennessee. [1][2] In the 1960s, he worked in Hollywood as a pop singer under the names Mark Hoffman and Marcus Abad. For instance, as an Amazon Associate, Religion News Blog earns from qualifying purchases. A chancery court judge ordered Alamo to return the body in 1995 in response to a suit filed by Christhiaon Coie, Susan Alamos estranged daughter. Mr. Alamo presently has the ability to have the body produced.. You are here: Home | Preacher Tony Alamo Told to Return Wifes Remains. On July 23, 1998, after a three-year legal battle, his followers brought the body to a funeral home in Van Buren (Crawford County). Married in Las Vegas, the Alamos soon established their church, also known as the Susan and Tony Alamo Foundation. She and her son are mistreated more than the others and are both referred to as nigger by Alamo. Jeanne, Amy, Desiree and Nikki were all born into the Tony Alamo Christian Ministry, which, some say, is a cult. Anyone can use it regardless of ability, approach, or level of acceptance by recognized authorities in the field. Read our Privacy Policy. Eddy was 14 and Rodriguez just 12 when they. Last week the children were taken away from her in New Orleans when authorities suspected she was trying to leave the country. He lost, and would soon lose his tax-exempt status as the lawsuits piled up and dragged on through the 1980s. It was her second marriage. Amrhein doesnt believe the children went to school while they lived at the foundation in Dyer. Click on the link above to open the article, Fashion designer claims he wont sign legal papers even though he married another woman. The show related his four-year struggle against the Alamo church on the streets of Hollywood. Chancery Judge Bernice Kizer ruled Monday that the foundations local business must pay back sales taxes. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. He still hasnt paid me for the clothes he bought from my store in December 1984. Original Design by Gurpartap Singh, Eye Witness & First Hand Accounts of Abuse, Tony Alamos second wife says theyre not divorced, 1986-03-06 Press Argus Courier Alamos second wife says theyre not divorced. Larowe, Lynn. In return, their own needs would be met and their children would receive basic education through high school. Lydia and Tabor are no longer in associated with the group or Tony Alamo. When Alamo saw Amrhein at the hearing the evangelist appeared upset. Spears also rejected Alamos $3.5-million counterclaim that Coie had slandered and defamed him. 1416, 18. The girls grew up in Fouke, Arkansas, where they lived on a compound. Tony allegedly threatened to kill Arnold but was never held legally accountable. 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