Tony Alamos second wife says they have never divorced and insists that his third marriage to Elizabeth Amrhein is invalid. Dear Abby. (AP) Amy Eddy and Pebbles Rodriguez are speaking out about how they were controlled by apocalyptic cult leader Tony Alamo in an upcoming documentary. Ill get my children back, said Nick Amrhein of Huntington, West VA. You know, what gets me about this is [my mother] made him a multimillionaire many times over, Coie said. Through this church, the Alamos perpetuated some of their many. He was working as a music promoter. 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. They legally changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo. Hes a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. Among the businesses which Alamo started was decorating denim jackets and airbrushing them with bright, colorful designs. By now, he was a millionaire with a large staff of workers. Tony was found guilty of 10 charges of transporting minor females across state borders for sex after being brought to court and sentenced to 175 years in prison in 2009. 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. Church members branched out to begin small businesses within the nearby community of Alma, Arkansas. The CALS Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. But look who he married? 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. Amrhein is involved in a custody fight over her two children from a previous marriage but her marriage to the Alama-based minister is being called into question because Alamos second wife, Birgitta Gyllenhammar, 43, says she is still waiting for him to sign the divorce papers. Susan focused on recruiting and preaching. I called the State Department to look out for my former wife in case she applied for a passport, Amrhein said. The Alamo Christian Foundation last year lost its status as a tax-exempt religious organization and is now treated as a for-profit group by the IRS. The Alamo Christian Foundation. Arkansas Historical Quarterly 76 (Autumn 2017): 218247. He called the new entity Music Square Church and filed for tax-exempt status. They were even told who they were going to marry: the 62-year-old leader of their apocalyptic group. 1416, 18. Davis, Andy. Alys Ondrisek Alys Ondrisek Current wife of Tony Alamo Below are several (but not all) of Tony Alamos alleged wives. She was already married to Kenya Williams (African American) and pregnant with his child at the time. He was convicted on July 4, 2009. History: In 1989 Alamo married Sharon Kroopf (now Sharon Miriam Hoffman), in her late 30s at the time. 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Meanwhile, lawsuits filed by former church members accused the couple of controlling their flock with intimidation and beatings. Her brother, Erik, who is out of the group, called Ark Child Protection in 2000, but no action was taken. In November of that year, the judge sentenced him to 175 years in prison. He kept the presses at his print shop running day and night, churning out literature about Satanic conspiracy theories perpetrated against him and the church. Lydia and Tabor are no longer in associated with the group or Tony Alamo. In 1966, Tony was arrested on a gun charge, a felony for which he served jail time. Amrhein called the Press Argus Courier this week after cult awareness groups sent him clippings that have appeared in this newspaper. Franke, Eric W. A Brief History of the Alamo Christian Foundation. New England Institute of Religious Research. However, one thing is clear, only one of his children (Sion) is born from his legal wife, Sharon. She said Alamo had sent her a telegram saying they were divorced, but she has been unable to get a divorce decree either in Van Buren or Nashville because he will not appear in court. Hes not paying his bills at his stores. Amrhein doesnt believe the children went to school while they lived at the foundation in Dyer. Tony Alamo (born Bernie Lazar Hoffman; September 20, 1934) is an American religious leader and convicted child sex offender.He and his late wife Susan are best known as the founders of an organization currently known as Tony Alamo Christian Ministries.The organization is based in and around Fouke and Alma, Arkansas, United States, and has been referred to as a cult. (Listed if other than Religion News Blog, or if not shown above), Leslie Berger, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 1, 1995, http://www.latimes.com, cults use a method that experts now refer to as coercive control an act, Updated Israeli police have arrested man whom they suspect of leading a violent cult community, The upcoming trials of the last three Aum Shinrikyo cult members will inevitably revisit the, The Cult Information Centre, a UK charity that warns people of the dangers of cults,, 'Fatal Attraction' star Glenn Close has told New York Magazine that she was well-equipped for, After 25 years in operation, the Cult Information Centre in England fears it may no, A panel of academics and professionals from Israel's Ministry of Welfare and Social Services will, South Australia's chief prosecutor is calling for new laws to thwart the rise of cults. In addition to clothing, the church produced music and began distributing Christian music and sermons nationally. Im not worried. Miss Gyllenhammar says when the romance cooled, he would often beat her. Her mother Suzanne and step-father, Bob Streit, are still with the Alamo group. (Diane Elana Williams Alamo testified against Tony in the IRS trial which could account for the revenge of taking Kenyas wife and his hatred of the child). 25-May-1964) Wife: Edith Opal Horn ("Susan Alamo", b. They were awarded the largest sum of damages in Arkansas history $525 million dollars. Theme Ported to Wordpress by Kaushal Sheth . Spears also rejected Alamos $3.5-million counterclaim that Coie had slandered and defamed him. He remained in prison until his death in May 2017 . Married in Las Vegas, the Alamos soon established their church, also known as the Susan and Tony Alamo Foundation. Isabel Mendoza Unofficial wife of Tony Alamo They have a son, Tabor, together. 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. . She was arrested as she went to pick up her passport. Ill tell you how bad a shape theyre in. 32, testified that she was taken as Alamo's wife at age 17 and that Alamo had five other wives at the time. Alamo turned fugitive in 1989 and wasnt captured till July 1991, after a tip came in from a viewer of Americas Most Wanted.. Theyre messed up children, Amrhein said. His booming voice could be heard on the radio from Alabama to Africa, trying to convert a new flock. Mrs. Alamo had temporary custody of the two children. Pre-European Exploration, Prehistory through 1540, European Exploration and Settlement, 1541 through 1802, Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood, 1803 through 1860, Civil War through Reconstruction, 1861 through 1874, Post-Reconstruction through the Gilded Age, 1875 through 1900, Early Twentieth Century, 1901 through 1940, World War II through the Faubus Era, 1941 through 1967, Divergent Prosperity and the Arc of Reform, 19682022, https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/05/13/the-barely-legal-empire-of-tony-alamo/, Divergent Prosperity and the Arc of Reform (19682022). Nicky, 12, and Amanda, 10, but apparently she violated conditions placed on her by the court. Tony Alamo predicted that his wife would be resurrected. The jackets sold profitably and began making real money for the church members and the church itself when celebrities began purchasing them for several thousand dollars each. Lizzy and her parents were threatened with expulsion from the group and eternal damnation if they did not comply with Alamos demand for her virginity. They say they were planning a honeymoon cruise for later, Amrhein said. They married each other three times within a few weeks, first in Tijuana, Mexico. On the cover of his album Bad, Michael Jackson is wearing an Alamo-painted jacket. In the midst of his supposed third marriage, a 1986 Arkansas Gazette report concluded that Gyllenhammar had actually been Alamos sixth wife, as he had apparently been married four times prior to Susan. Read our Privacy Policy. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Romania who, Alamo claims, had been dance instructor for Rudolf Valentino. He still hasnt paid me for the clothes he bought from my store in December 1984. He sent their record to all my friends in Los Angeles to make me mad. Last week the children were taken away from her in New Orleans when authorities suspected she was trying to leave the country. 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. Her name was Susan (born Edith Opal Horn) Lipowitz, nine years his senior. Alamo kicked Kenya out of the group and took his wife. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2018. In September 1994, Alamo was sentenced by the Federal District Court for the Western District of Tennessee to six years in the Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana, Texas. Alamo followers still pepper the IRS with legal challenges, help with his defense, and make their presence known through their trademark brochures. Lydia was in her early 30's. They have a son, Tabor, together. U.S. District Judge Morris Arnold, finding that they had indeed been abused, later awarded damages to the boys in question. My mother learned strong-arm tactics from my father and then finessed it with religion, Coie said. This is so perverse.. Her name was Brigitta Gyllenhammer, and she lasted two years before divorcing him. He was ambitious, but few facts about his early life are verifiable as Tony tended to self-aggrandize. The Alamo Christian Foundation was set up in 1969 by husband and wife Tony and Susan Alamo, born Bernie Lazar Hoffman and Edith Opal Horn. Pebbles agrees: I dont think it will ever be easy. A judge granted Alamo the maximum sentence for his crimes,175 years in prison. Members usually lived in a commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of their salaries to the church. He was heard on over a dozen radio stations in the U.S. and more in Africa, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. 2833. At its height, the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries had thousands of followers around the country, according to the AP. For Tony to say he beat out Julio as an entertainer of the year is completely crazy. Gyllenhammar was referring to Alamos claim that the American D.J. Again, followers worked in these businesses for practically nothing. I mean, you cant put a good face on that, she continued. Alamos church also lives, if in a far smaller and less organized fashion, said several sources including Alamos own lawyer. I have a right to be angry, says Pebbles. Following Susans death, rumors spread that he had taken two fifteen-year-old girls as wives. On June 23, 1984, he married Swedish native Birgitta Gyllenhammar in Las Vegas, Nevada, though this marriage ended two years later; she later claimed that Alamo wanted her to have plastic surgery to look like Susan and that he regularly beat and drugged her. Alamo has fathered three children by different women who live in his home as secretaries. Tony was a street preacher and his ministry would offer . Asked about his wealth, Gyllenhammar said she is not entitled to any of his property because all of it belongs to the foundation. Kenya was the son of Diana Elena Williams Alamo, a legal ex-wife of Alamos. http://www.alamoministries.com/ (accessed February 23, 2023). For more on former child brides Amy Eddy and Pebbles Rodriguez, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this weeks issue, on newsstands now. When it became clear she wouldnt survive, she told church members she believed she would rise from the dead. The various publications his ministry offered, such as The Vatican Moscow Washington Alliance, detailed his conspiracy theories. I didnt respect anything she ever did in her life but shes still my mother and I loved her completely. In 2019, the American television channel Sundance TV broadcast the four-part miniseries Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo, based on the lives of Tony and Susan Alamo. The Alamo Christian Foundation had churches in Chicago, Nashville, Miami Beach and Brooklyn. Online at http://www.religionnewsblog.com/8506 (accessed February 23, 2023). Additional support provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council. The civil contempt differs from his criminal incarceration in that Mr. Alamo holds the key to the jailhouse in his possession, Spears wrote. . Dear Abby: My boyfriend is using me for sex and money. Witnesses at his trial described being taken as child brides, with some as young as 9 years old. Said Hutchinson: We get their literature on our windshields about every Sunday morning.. "They did not leave a paper trail," said Tampa police Detective Grady Snyder. Alamo was living at the time in Tampa, Fla., a fugitive from charges that he had ordered the beating of an 11-year-old church member at the Saugus commune. She moved into the house with the other wives and was wearing a wedding ring given to her by Alamo, while he was still in prison. Also he owned the Little Mark, Alamo, and Talamo Records record labels. Like Bernie, she grew up Jewish in a mostly Christian state. [13], In 1991 the federal government confiscated the property, finding when its agents arrived that Susan's body had been removed. "[16] MSC sued and lost in the United States Court of Federal Claims. In 1976, a few unhappy followers reported him to the U.S. Department of Labor, who investigated. She is seeking a sizeable monthly alimony so she can take care of the bills she claims he hasnt paid. The girls grew up in Fouke, Arkansas, where they lived on a compound. History: In Arkansas in January 1994, Elizabeth Mercado (aka Lizzy Gutierrez) became Tonys wife. When Bernie LaZar Hoffman was born on Sept. 30, 1934, in Joplin, Missouri, he wasn't born into a particularly religious household. Chancery Judge Bernice Kizer ruled Monday that the foundations local business must pay back sales taxes. Alamo Christian Ministries: Is He a Prophet, Promoter, or Profiteer? Los Angeles Times. Theme Ported to Wordpress by Kaushal Sheth . Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. 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. The term cult has a precise definition or rather, Religion News Blog is a service provided by, Preacher Tony Alamo Told to Return Wifes Remains, No jail sentence for Phil Aguilar, founder of Christian motorcycle club, FLDS sells cult fashion online; Ex-member helps FLDS victims, Minister removed after confession of sexual misconduct, Controversial Reverend Carl H. Stevens of Greater Grace World Outreach Dies. Im not jealous. She believed a miracle would save her. [11], Seventeen days before her 57th birthday, Susan Alamo died of breast cancer on 8 April 1982 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the City of Faith hospital. The child on the right is Lizzy and Alamos daughter, Antoinette. 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. By. Tony allegedly threatened to kill Arnold but was never held legally accountable. [16], Tony Alamo was arrested numerous times, beginning with an illegal weapons possession charge in 1966 for which he served time before he married Edith Opal Horn,[15][11] and culminating in his 2009 conviction on ten counts of transporting minors as young as 9 years old across state lines for sex. Theyd been tipped off by three former members, all men whose sons had been taken to California after their ex-wives married other Alamo Church members. [1][2] Susan Alamo died in April 1982. 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. Tony Alamo and his wife, Susan, established a church in Nashville called the Music Square Church, located near Printers Alley. Years earlier, sheriffs deputies showed up at Alamos Saugus, California compound. 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 . This newspaper traced the advertising agency promoting the association to the Alamo of Nashville clothing store. Both Tony and Susan were impressive on the stage: he with eye-catching outfits and musical ability, she with fiery sermons and deep faith. Another former wife of imprisoned evangelist Tony Alamo has been added as a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit that names the ministry, church-run businesses and high-ranking individuals in the organization as defendants. But the church began to falter in 1985, when the Internal Revenue Service stripped it of its tax-exempt status, charging it was nothing more than a front for Alamo-owned businesses. 72201. Alamo also claimed that UFOs are divine messengers from heaven and signs of the end times. For more about the harrowing experiences of Amy Eddy and Pebbles Rodriguez and how they reclaimed their lives, watch tonights episode of People Magazine Investigates: Cults at 9 oclock ET on Investigation Discovery. It was also extremely anti-Catholic, only accepted the King James Version of the Bible, and its members adhered to a moral code which condemned and forbade the use of drugs, homosexuality, adultery, birth control, and abortion. Alamo denies it. The monthly gross went from $50,000 to $120,000.. He had his fist clenched and started making noises. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Many of these individuals chose to stay on to become Bible students and lay ministers. Sign up to receive breakingFront Page Detectivesnews and exclusive investigations. 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. Mrs. Alamo, 33, a soft-spoken woman whose second child is due to be born Tuesday, said she expected the raid, if not Friday then someday. Ive done well. They made a record together, and they cant sing. For about a decade, beginning in the mid-1990s, Amy and Pebbles lived as child brides of Alamo and were regularly starved, beaten and raped. McNeil, Betsy. Offers may be subject to change without notice. They named the group the Alamo Christian Foundation before forming the . By the 1970s, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries had established particularly strong footholds in Arkansas, as well as maintaining outposts in California. He lost, and would soon lose his tax-exempt status as the lawsuits piled up and dragged on through the 1980s. Magazines, Digital I wanted to push him to see if he could keep his balance in his elevator shoes. Additional support provided by the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation Inc. Susan wasnt., I fell in love with Tony, she said. Alamo is the president of the Alama-based Alamo Christian Foundation. After years of legal troubles during which he was accused of engaging in abusive behavior against his followers, Alamo was convicted of ten child rape offenses in 2009. It would later be determined that the church was mostly optics, as it became the way an increasingly erratic and unhinged Tony evaded paying any taxes on his growing fortune. The IRS Commissioner found that "MSC was so closely operated and controlled by and for the benefit of Tony Alamo that it enjoyed no substantive independent existence; that MSC was formed and operated by Tony Alamo for the principal purpose of willfully attempting to defeat or evade federal income tax; and that MSC was inseparable from Tony Alamo, and failed to operate for exclusively charitable purposes. This is how he shows his gratitude? Sharon Alamo seen leaving courthouse after Tony Alamo was found guilty of 10 counts of taking underage girls across state lines for sex 2009. When Alamo was released from federal prison in 1998, he quickly reassumed his status as the head of a now smaller Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, which is headquartered in Miller County, with branches in Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Los Angeles. On July 23, 1998, after a three-year legal battle, his followers brought the body to a funeral home in Van Buren (Crawford County). Eddy was 14 and Rodriguez just 12 when they. But Coie said she believes the dark-haired preacher did it because he knows no bounds of decency, because he could use her [Susan Alamo] two times around like a marionette to control [their followers].. WATCH: Cult Leaders & Child Brides: Breaking Down People Magazine Investigates: Cults. The miniseries describes their founding and running of the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation which the program characterizes as a "cult" through which the Alamos became rich by exploiting their followers who truly believed in them. He was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman on September 20, 1934, in Joplin, Missouri. Just why Alamo had the corpsewhich he claimed spoke to him from the graveremoved from its tomb was not explained in Spears order. Major support provided through a partnership with the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism. At one time, Alamo owned as many as twenty-nine businesses in nearby Alma, including Alamo Western Wear, as well as Alamo Restaurant and Alamo Discount Grocery. Arkansas authorities report that Alamo (born Bernie Lazar Hoffman) died while in custody at the Federal Medical Center in. Both members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, they were forced to follow countless rules and required permission to go outside. Authorities said the body was removed from its quiet hilltop the same night that dozens of Alamo followers fled the Dyer compound. There are things that are out of my control, like recurring nightmares. 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. Its putting closure to it, finally, said Alamos stepdaughter, Christhiaon Coie of Reseda, who sued Alamo literally over her mothers dead body and for whom the legal decision represents a symbolic burial of her mothers and her tortured past. Specific details about his death were not immediately known, though he reportedly suffered from a number of health problems, including diabetes and a 2011 heart attack. In the 1980s, Alamo, a self-proclaimed prophet of God, had thousands of devoted followers in the United States, including the parents of Jeanne, Amy, Desiree and Nikki. The full weight of the crimes hed committed was finally coming to light, and in 2014, a judge from Miller County, Arkansas, ruled in a case brought by seven ex-cult members. Mr. Alamo presently has the ability to have the body produced.. Tony Alamo talks to reporters as he is escorted to a waiting police car outside the federal courthouse in Texarkana, Ark. Her name was Brigitta Gyllenhammer, and she lasted two years before divorcing him. 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. Alamo claimed that he and his followers had no assets and were living hand to mouth; he also apparently issued a death threat against Arnold, though he was later acquitted of that charge. For years they were side by side, and Anthony said he believes she was the true mastermind of Alamo Ministries. In 1975, the Alamos purchased land in Dyer, near Alma, and there established the main branch of the Music Square Church, which later was called the Holy Alamo Christian Church Consecrated before its present name was adopted. She bore a child to Tony, a girl, Antoinette, in June of 2001. Although Alamo was unable to bring his wife back to life, he intends to keep the controversy over her body alive in court, according to Coie and one of her lawyers, Asa Hutchinson of Ft. Smith. Picture taken in 1993. Does Mike Murdock's 58 days seed covenant really work? Sharon Ast-Kroopf-Hoffman Legal wife of Tony Alamo. Beginning in the 1960s in California, erstwhile music producer Tony Alamo became interested in authoritarian religion and, along with his charismatic wife, Susan, began gathering followers. . The assistant said there were many Scriptural reasons why they divorced. 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. After a decade of building the church, Susan and Tony moved everyone to Dyer, Arkansas, just outside Fort Smith near the Oklahoma border. On June 8, 1994, he was convicted on one charge of filing a false income tax return and three charges of failing to file a tax return; testimony during the trial revealed that the church had a total income on $9 million during the three years when Alamo paid no taxes. The couple first grew a following in Hollywood, preaching peace and salvation. The Alamo Christian Foundation was an American cult founded in 1969 by Christian evangelist Tony Alamo and one of his wives, Susan Alamo. He remained in prison until his death in May 2017. Pebbles Rodriguez claims Alamo married her in 1999 when she was 12. That was part of our custody agreement. After both he and Susan converted to Christianity, they established the Music Square Church and began a Hollywood street ministry, passing out religious tracts and preaching especially to drug addicts, alcoholics, and prostitutes. I was terrified that if I didnt do what I was supposed to do when he told me to do it no matter what it was Im going to hell, Amy tells PEOPLE, recalling her childhood in the cult. He was walking down the hallway in his black regalia and five-inch elevator shoes, Amrhein recalls. Tony Alamo (1934-2017), American founder of the Alamo Christian Foundation Antonio Alamo, Jr., known as Tony Alamo, American physician and Nevada gaming official This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. He also built a Christian empire on sex trafficking, embezzlement and lies. She was born four and a half years before Black Friday, and the Great Depression dealt her already poor family another blow. [17][18][19][1][2], In June 2013, the federal government filed forfeiture and collection actions in federal court on 27 properties which were owned by members of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, in an attempt to collect $2.5 million in restitution that Alamo was ordered to pay to his victims. Alamos Pentecostal theology includeed a virulent paranoia and extreme anti-Catholicism that placed the Vatican as the real power broker behind the White House, the United Nations, and the media. Alamo was recently convicted by a federal court jury in Texarkana, Ark., on 10 counts of transporting underage girls across state lines for sex. 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. He's a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. 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