In 1920s Los Angeles, the mother-daughter duo of May Otis Blackburn and Ruth Wieland ran a female-dominated religious cult. The Blackburn Cult, as it was called in the newspapers of the time, came to the attention of the LAPD after a fraud investigation. But following the clues soon led to revelations of far worse offenses than simple fraud.
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Opening music from https://filmmusic.io. "Dark Child" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Closing music by Soma.
SOURCES
Oregon Daily Journal, August 5, 1917.
“Body of Cult Priestess Discovered Under House.” Los Angeles Times, October 7, 1929.
“Police Probing Weird Burial by Cult.” Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, October 7, 1929.
“Priestess Snubs Ex-Swain.” Los Angeles Times, October 8, 1929.
“Rhoads is Known at Klamath Falls.” Salem Statesman Journal, October 10, 1929.
“Vancouver Marriage Licenses.” Oregon Daily Journal, May 28, 1915.
Fort, Samuel. Cult of the Great Eleven. Omaha: Nisirtu Publishing, 2019.
Fremont Everett - Facts (ancestry.com)
Ruth Angeline Wieland - Facts (ancestry.com)
35 - The Spiderman of Denver
34 - The Mouse Tower
33 - Rehmeyer's Hollow
32 - The Origin of the Poltergeist
31 - The Kissing Bug
30 - The Story of the Ghost
29 - Robert Nicholls
28 - The Murder of Mabel Mayer
27 - The Chase Vault
26 - The Lights of Capel Egryn
25 - The Tillinghast Airship
24 - Death Rides the Rails, Part 4
23 - Death Rides the Rails, Part Three
22 - Death Rides the Rails, Part Two
21 - Death Rides the Rails, Part One
20 - The Presque Isle Incident/The Morristown Monster
19 - The Drummer of Tedworth
18 - The Devil of Glenluce
17 - The Toledo Clubber
16 - The Mysterious Death of Joao Prestes
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