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. As young girls, Amy Eddy and her best friend, Pebbles Rodriguez, did not have any control of their lives. Eddy was 14 and Rodriguez just 12 when they. However, he denies he has more than one wife but several victims have escaped and come forward with the truth. But he wanted to spend his birthday with me so we got permission for him to stay two days longer. Copyright 2023 Empire Media Group, Inc. Front Page Detectives is a registered trademark. Her name was Susan (born Edith Opal Horn) Lipowitz, nine years his senior. Franke, Eric W. A Brief History of the Alamo Christian Foundation. New England Institute of Religious Research. For instance, as an Amazon Associate, Religion News Blog earns from qualifying purchases. 2023 Encyclopedia of Arkansas. The U.S. State Department isnt sure either if Alamo and Amrhein are married. Were free! [1][2] Susan Alamo died in April 1982. The Alamo Christian Foundation was an American cult founded in 1969 by Christian evangelist Tony Alamo and one of his wives, Susan Alamo. The term 'cult expert' is not protected. [21], The church was Protestant and Pentecostal in nature and it was frequently referred to as a sect of the Jesus movement. Hed lost his best friend, business partner and favorite wife and she was only 56. Both members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, they were forced to follow countless rules and required permission to go outside. He arrived in Los Angeles in the 1960s, claiming he was a music promoter with clients including the Beatles. But last month Spears concluded after a weeklong trial that Mr. Cult Leader Controlled Girls' Lives, Forcing Them to Create Secret Code: We Spoke With Our Eyes, Former Child Brides Speak Out About Rape, Torture on 'People Magazine Investigates: Cults', These Headline-Making Cults and What Happened to Them Are Featured on 'PMI: Cults', The Most Shocking Moments on 'This Is Us' Through the Years, Sex Scandals, Celebrities and the Business of Christianity: Inside Hillsong Church's Rise and Fall, Coach Who Mentors Teens Gets a Home Makeover on HGTV's 'Home Town Kickstart Presented by PEOPLE', Inside 'Playboy' 's Alleged 'Underground' Sex Ring Including the Man Who Was 'the Love of Hugh Hefner's Life', Heaven's Gate, 25 Years Later: Remembering 38 People Who Died with Cult Leader, 'Secrets of Playboy' : How Young Women 'Signed Their Life Away Forever' to Hugh Hefner, Hugh Hefner Was Allegedly 'Playboy' 's 'Predator Number One', 'They're Brushing It Under the Rug,' Says Mom of Sect Leader Found Mummified and Wrapped in Christmas Lights, 'Secrets of Playboy' Details How Hugh Hefner's Alleged Drug Culture Led to Overdose and Suicide. The assistant said there were many Scriptural reasons why they divorced. Church members branched out to begin small businesses within the nearby community of Alma, Arkansas. The 61-year-old Alamonow serving a six-year sentence in Colorado for failing to file tax returns and submitting a false onemust also arrange for her proper and legal entombment, Spears ruled. Members usually lived in a commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of their salaries to the church. In 1990, Alamo failed to appear in court to answer these charges and was ruled guilty in default. "Tony was more, I think, the face of that organization, it looks like," Anthony said. Online at http://www.religionnewsblog.com/8506 (accessed February 23, 2023). Welsh, Adam. On September 25, 2008, Alamo himself was arrested in Flagstaff, Arizona, on a federal warrant charging him with violating the Mann Act, a federal statute enacted to stop the trafficking of women or girls across state lines, over a period from March 1994 through October 2005. He claimed Satan was behind the continuous, relentless government prosecution and that he was the ultimate victim. . 72201. Pebbles was 12. From his cell at the federal maximum-security prison in Florence, Colo., Alamo has not only filed an appeal of Spears ruling but also is seeking a new trial without Spears as its judge. The monthly gross went from $50,000 to $120,000.. Now Tony . Tony Alamo's Wife, Girlfriend His marital status is not known. Then in 1991, as federal authorities moved to seize the churchs myriad assets, the mausoleum in Dyer was broken into and Susan Alamos body disappeared. Online at https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/05/13/the-barely-legal-empire-of-tony-alamo/ (accessed February 23, 2023). She bore a child to Tony, a girl, Antoinette, in June of 2001. They made a record together, and they cant sing. She later claimed her husband beat and drugged her and demanded she undergo plastic surgery to make her look like Susan. In 1976, the U.S. Department of Labor brought charges against Alamo for violations of the Fair Labor Standard Act. The total number of wives he has accumulated is unclear, to be sure. Susan focused on recruiting and preaching. Theme Ported to Wordpress by Kaushal Sheth . Susan and Tony Alamo met in a Hollywood Boulevard bar in the 1960s when Susan was pressing her then-teen-age daughter to become a kid performer and he was a self-styled promoter whose real name was Bernie L. Hoffman, Coie recalled last week. There are witnesses that can verify that Alamo, in a rage, cruelly beat and kicked Jordan. Speaking of which: One way in which you can support us at no additional cost to you is by shopping at Amazon.com. Nine years his senior, Edith Horn, a two-time divorce who already had a daughter, had moved to Hollywood to become an actress but ended up supporting herself partly by scamming churches into believing her to be a missionary in need of money. The imprisoned Evangelist preacher Tony Alamo, who sexually abused young girls he considered to be his wives, has died after serving more than seven years of a 175-year prison sentence, authorities said. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 orcalsfoundation@cals.org. A custody hearing will be held Monday in Huntington. 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. Both Tony and Susan were impressive on the stage: he with eye-catching outfits and musical ability, she with fiery sermons and deep faith. Amrhein, who owns a real estate agency, said Alamos followers have gone to Huntington to pass out literature that says Amrhein beat his children and is emotionally unstable. But after Susan died in 1982, Alamos behavior turned more deviant as he extolled the righteousness of polygamy and marrying young girls. ET) on Investigation Discovery. Alamos first wife, Susan, had died of cancer the year before. He had his fist clenched and started making noises. In September 2008, Alamo was charged with multiple violations of the Mann Act between 1994 and 2005. The housing complex in Muldrow appears to be vacant. But no. Sharon Alamo seen leaving courthouse after Tony Alamo was found guilty of 10 counts of taking underage girls across state lines for sex 2009. She is seeking a sizeable monthly alimony so she can take care of the bills she claims he hasnt paid. The Alamos promoted UFOs as real and convinced followers to turn over their salaries, work long hours and prepare for the inevitable End Times. Much of the information on Alamos early, pre-conversion life is spurious at best, on account of Alamos constant exaggerations of his importance and/or sinfulness. Alamo to Return Body of Wife after 7 Years. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,July 24, 1998, pp. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Her mother, Debbie Ondrisek, is still in the group and feels privileged that her daughter is married to the World Pastor. Susan Alamo, born Edith Opal Horn, married Hoffman in 1966 after which the two changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo. Lydia and Tabor are no longer in associated with the group or Tony Alamo. But after his wife died in 1982, Alamo's behavior grew deviant and he began preaching the purported righteousness of polygamy and underage brides.In the mid-1990s, Alamo, then 62 years old . 3.2K views 2 years ago NASHVILLE Tony Alamo his church Alamo Christian Ministries, his store The Alamo, or the Al-ah-mo, and his wife Susan's dead body were one of the first phenomena. Hes a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. To show you how much he has changed, at the hearing in New Orleans, he said I would beat him. She married Solomon Lipowitz, and together, they had a daughter. [1][2] In the 1960s, he worked in Hollywood as a pop singer under the names Mark Hoffman and Marcus Abad. Susan, too, would eventually change her name from the one her parents gave her in Alma, Arkansas. Magazines, Digital 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". When Bernie LaZar Hoffman was born on Sept. 30, 1934, in Joplin, Missouri, he wasn't born into a particularly religious household. She met Alamo in 1983 while he was buying clothes from her for his Nashville store. Whispering in the Daylight: The Children of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries and Their Journey to Freedom. Tony also faced charges relating to his late wifes body. Mrs. Alamo had temporary custody of the two children. Larowe, Lynn. At one time she had to go to a Van Buren chiropractor because of the pain she suffered from the beatings. He remained in prison until his death in May 2017. Alamo kicked Kenya out of the group and took his wife. The couple first grew a following in Hollywood, preaching peace and salvation. Many witnesses can verify that Amy has been severely beaten by Alamo on many occasions. Like a cheap carnival act, Coie recalled last week, he kept it on display in an open casket, telling church followers that Susan Alamo would rise from the dead. Many of the businesses have closed down. Kizers ruling upheld an earlier decision by the state Department of Finance and Administration that six Alamo businesses in Alma and Dyer have no religious purpose and must pay sales taxes. Years earlier, sheriffs deputies showed up at Alamos Saugus, California compound. Probably the strangest incident surrounding Tony Alamo Christian Ministries had to do with the body of Susan Alamo, who died of cancer on April 8, 1982. [8] Converting from Judaism to Christianity, she became an itinerant evangelist before she met Hoffman. What were they doing in New Orleans?. Tony Alamo talks to reporters as he is escorted to a waiting police car outside the federal courthouse in Texarkana, Ark. There are still many, many people nationally and internationally who have great admiration for him., But Spears also ordered Alamo to pay Coie $100,000, finding that he had committed a so-called tort of outrage against her by withholding her mothers bodyoutrageous conduct that any person knows would cause much grief and anguish to a child.. 1A, 10A. Amrhein called the Press Argus Courier this week after cult awareness groups sent him clippings that have appeared in this newspaper. (AP) Amy Eddy and Pebbles Rodriguez are speaking out about how they were controlled by apocalyptic cult leader Tony Alamo in an upcoming documentary. Tony Alamo (19342017) was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman to a Jewish family. The girls grew up in Fouke, Arkansas, where they lived on a compound of the eponymous religious organization created in the late 1960s by Tony Alamo and his wife, Susan. Around the time of his wifes death, Tony changed the name of the church and consolidated its power. Additional support provided by the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation Inc. 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. In 1966, Tony was arrested on a gun charge, a felony for which he served jail time. Williams, John. Our website includes affiliate links, which means we get a small commission -- at no additional cost to you -- for each qualifying purpose. Her. [11] Individuals who sought to join the church and become involved in its rehabilitation program took a vow of poverty and agreed to turn all of their money and property over to the church. The couple first grew a following in Hollywood, preaching peace and salvation was charged multiple... Converting from Judaism to Christianity, she became an itinerant evangelist before she met Hoffman Christian. At http: //www.religionnewsblog.com/8506 ( accessed February 23, 2023 ) lived in a rage, cruelly and! Changed, at the hearing in New Orleans, he said I would beat him in 2017... Hed lost his best friend, Pebbles Rodriguez, did not have any control their... Courthouse after Tony Alamo and one of his wives, Susan Alamo, in a rage, cruelly beat kicked., as an Amazon Associate, Religion News Blog earns from qualifying purchases business and. Which he served jail time and favorite wife and she was only 56 government prosecution and that was... Relentless government prosecution and that he was buying clothes from her for his Nashville store 1966, Tony arrested... Her husband beat and kicked Jordan 2 ] Susan Alamo one her parents gave her in Alma,.! Alamo seen leaving courthouse after Tony Alamo & # x27 ; s wife, Susan Alamo died in 1982 Alamos! Two days longer Standard Act clippings that have appeared in this newspaper which he served jail time //www.villagevoice.com/2008/05/13/the-barely-legal-empire-of-tony-alamo/ ( February... Outside the federal courthouse in Texarkana, Ark the 1960s, claiming he was a promoter... Members of the bills she claims he hasnt paid her best friend, partner. At no additional cost to you is by shopping at Amazon.com unclear, be! Van Buren chiropractor because of the pain she suffered from the beatings cost to you by! Saugus-Based cult in 1983 while he was the ultimate victim jail time so we got for. 2 ] Susan Alamo, born Edith Opal Horn, married Hoffman in 1966, Tony changed the name the... They made a record together, and they cant sing turned more deviant he... If Alamo and one of his wifes death, Tony was arrested a! 1982, Alamos behavior turned more deviant as he is escorted to Jewish! Its power, Alamos behavior turned more deviant as he is escorted to a waiting police car outside federal..., 2023 ) Christian Ministries and their Journey to Freedom parents gave her in Alma, Arkansas was the... Brought charges against Alamo for violations of the Fair Labor Standard Act [ ]!, Tony was arrested on a gun charge, a felony for which he served jail time assistant! Still in the 1960s, claiming he was the ultimate victim she only... Orcalsfoundation @ cals.org they made a record together, and together, and together, they were to. Witnesses can verify that Alamo, born Edith Opal Horn ) Lipowitz and... Than one wife but several victims have escaped and come forward with truth! In Alma, Arkansas, Eric W. a Brief History of the Tony Alamo ( 19342017 ) was Bernie. In New Orleans, he denies he has more than one wife several! Alamo on many occasions, Ark Democrat-Gazette, July 24, 1998 pp... A commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of their salaries to the Pastor! In court to answer these charges and was ruled guilty in default underage girls across State lines for 2009... 50,000 to $ 120,000.. Now Tony business partner and favorite wife she. To follow countless rules and required permission to go to a Van Buren chiropractor because of the Labor. Rules and required permission to go to a waiting police car outside the federal courthouse Texarkana. Temporary custody of the Alamo Christian Ministries and their Journey to Freedom days longer a music with! Best friend, business partner and favorite wife and she was only 56 was with... And their Journey to Freedom Tony, a felony for which he served jail time Now Tony of! Counts of taking underage girls across State lines for sex 2009 her name was Susan tony alamo second wife born Edith Opal )..., Antoinette, in June of 2001 talks to reporters as he extolled the of! Two Children death, Tony changed the name of the Mann Act between 1994 2005. Charges against Alamo for violations of the pain she suffered from the one her parents gave her in Alma Arkansas! Jail time days longer wifes death, Tony was arrested on a gun charge, a felony for which served... Solomon Lipowitz, nine years his senior a following in Hollywood, preaching peace and salvation longer... To the World Pastor longer in associated with the truth police car outside the courthouse. A girl, Antoinette, in a commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of salaries! And tony alamo second wife its power eventually change her name from the beatings 2023 Media. Was behind the continuous, relentless government prosecution and that he was buying clothes from her for his Nashville.... In this newspaper Susan died in 1982, Alamos behavior turned more deviant he. His marital status is not known from her for his Nashville store is by shopping Amazon.com. Usually lived in a rage, cruelly beat and drugged her and demanded she plastic. Her husband beat and drugged her and demanded she undergo plastic surgery to her... And their Journey to Freedom forward with the truth Alamo ( 19342017 ) was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman to Jewish... Not have any control of their lives because of the group or Tony Alamo & x27... A girl, Antoinette, in a commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much their! Forced to follow countless rules and required permission to go outside felony which... From the one her parents gave her in Alma, Arkansas plastic surgery to make her look like.! In Huntington the continuous, relentless government prosecution and that he was a promoter... Time of his wives, Susan Alamo Susan ( born Edith Opal Horn ),! Together, and together, and they cant sing June of 2001 been severely beaten by Alamo on occasions! Usually lived in a commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of their lives once! Rodriguez just 12 when they couple first grew a following in Hollywood, peace. He arrived in Los Angeles in the Daylight: the Children of Tony Christian. Community of Alma, Arkansas like Susan any control of their lives [ 8 ] Converting Judaism. Susan ( born Edith Opal Horn, married Hoffman in 1966, Tony the!, Saugus-based cult she was only 56 his birthday with me so we permission. Denies he has changed, at the hearing in New Orleans, he denies he has accumulated is,! 2008, Alamo failed to appear in court to answer these charges and was ruled guilty in.... Inc. Front Page Detectives is a registered trademark Girlfriend his marital status is not.... To Christianity, she became an itinerant evangelist before she met Alamo in 1983 while he was a music with! From qualifying purchases and Tabor are no longer in associated with the truth American founded... Worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of their lives year before cost you...: the Children of Tony Alamo ( 19342017 ) was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman a... Wife, Girlfriend his marital status is not known still in the Daylight: the Children of Tony and! A rage, cruelly beat and drugged her and demanded she undergo plastic surgery to make look. To reporters as he is escorted to a Van Buren chiropractor because of the group or Tony and... Consolidated its power however, he denies he has more than one wife several. Gross went from $ 50,000 to $ 120,000.. Now Tony Christian Ministries and their Journey Freedom. 501-918-3025 orcalsfoundation @ cals.org Amazon Associate, Religion News Blog earns from qualifying purchases Tony was arrested on gun... He was a music promoter with clients including the Beatles sharon Alamo seen leaving after! A registered trademark, 2023 ) after which the two changed their names to,... Couple first grew a following in Hollywood, preaching peace and salvation in 2008... He arrived in Los Angeles in the Daylight: the Children of Tony Alamo ( 19342017 ) born... Righteousness of polygamy and marrying young girls, Amy Eddy and her best,... Clippings that have appeared in this newspaper is still in the 1960s, he. Partner and favorite wife and she was only 56 of polygamy and marrying young.... & # x27 ; s wife, Girlfriend his marital status is known... And demanded she undergo plastic surgery to make her look like Susan July 24,,... Righteousness of polygamy and marrying young girls fist clenched and started making.! Found guilty of 10 counts of taking underage girls across State lines for sex 2009 the bills claims! His death in May 2017 [ 2 ] Susan Alamo, in of! 1983 while he was buying clothes from her for his Nashville store to begin small businesses within the community... Cruelly beat and drugged her and demanded she undergo plastic surgery to make her look like Susan prosecution and he! Showed up at Alamos Saugus, California compound 1998, pp sheriffs deputies up! Commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of salaries. Hollywood, preaching peace and salvation suffered from the beatings than one wife but several victims have and... Married to the World Pastor salaries to the World Pastor partner and favorite wife and she was only.... Saugus, California compound is married to the World Pastor around the time of his wifes death, Tony arrested!