Sunday October 1, 1995 Alamo Christian Ministries, Tony Alamo. Troubles continue to mount for Tony Alamo Christian Foundation. 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. In 1990, Alamo failed to appear in court to answer these charges and was ruled guilty in default. 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. Always the promoter, the Alamos established their theological foundation as staunchly anti-Catholic, promoting conspiracy theories about how the Pope, United Nations and mainstream media stood behind the US.. Presidency. Shown here with their son, Sion. Alamos church also lives, if in a far smaller and less organized fashion, said several sources including Alamos own lawyer. [4], After divorcing their respective spouses, Horn and Hoffman married in a 1966 Las Vegas ceremony, legally changing their names to Tony Alamo and Susan Alamo. [9], Tony and Susan Alamo founded the Alamo Christian Foundation in 1969 in Hollywood, California. They were even told who they were going to marry: the 62-year-old leader of their apocalyptic group. Alamo died in federal custody in North Carolina on May 2, 2017. She didnt hink he will hold on to his wealth much longer. 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. Susan wasnt., I fell in love with Tony, she said. They charged him with several counts related to his tax issues. 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. The Alamo Christian Foundation was an American cult founded in 1969 by Christian evangelist Tony Alamo and one of his wives, Susan Alamo. Additional support provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Were free! The housing complex in Muldrow appears to be vacant. By now, he was a millionaire with a large staff of workers. The assistant said there were many Scriptural reasons why they divorced. When he announced to his followers they would all need to leave the compound in 1991, certain the feds were about to raid the place, Tony took Susans body along. Authorities said the body was removed from its quiet hilltop the same night that dozens of Alamo followers fled the Dyer compound. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. 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. 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. Little Rock, AR. March 1, 2023 3:00am. He apparently adopted the name Marcus Abad for some time and achieved some modicum of success as a big band crooner in Los Angeles, California. I made sure he was properly dressed. Misheal Eden Jones-Williams Unofficial wife of Tony Alamo. He remained in prison until his death in May 2017 . 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. Pebbles was 12. Susan was the love of Alamos life, and by the time he met her, hed already dropped Bernie and begun calling himself Mark. Hed tried out a few stage namesBernie was a singersuch as Mark Hoffman and Marcus Abad.. Alamo denies it. She married Solomon Lipowitz, and together, they had a daughter. 2833. Hes a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. A judge granted Alamo the maximum sentence for his crimes,175 years in prison. Theme Ported to Wordpress by Kaushal Sheth . 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. [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. Bernard was born in 1934 and took a bus to Hollywood before graduating high school. [4][5][6][7], Susan Alamo (19251982) was born Edith Opal Horn in Alma, Arkansas. 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. Her mother Suzanne and step-father, Bob Streit, are still with the Alamo group. An assistant called back and said Alamo had divorced Gyllenhammar but would not say where. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. 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. 100 Rock Street Some were forced to become his wives throughout the 1990s. By the time the church was at its height in 1980, they had their own television ministry and were bringing in tens of thousands of dollars each week. Susan Alamo, born Edith Opal Horn, married Hoffman in 1966 after which the two changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo. Dear Abby. After he hooked up with Susan, his ambition, combined with her knowledge of Pentecostal life, along with the burgeoning pro-Jesus counterculture movement of the mid-1960s, resulted runaway success. . Alamo says he married Amrhein in December. The other children (Tabor and Antoinette) were conceived during Alamo and Kroopfs marriage and the biological mothers (Lydia Willis and Elizabeth Mercado) are in the group and currently living with (or near) Alamo. According to the Sept. 14 ruling by Arkansas Chancery Court Judge Jim Spears, Alamo illegally removed his wife Susan Alamos body from its mountaintop mausoleum in Dyer, Ark., four years ago, and will be held in contempt of court until he produces it. Alamo kicked Kenya out of the group and took his wife. Gordon, Ronald J. 1416, 18. He's a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. Divorce wasnt quite as scandalous in Hollywood, where Tony met Susan met in the mid-1960s. Many witnesses can verify that Amy has been severely beaten by Alamo on many occasions. She and her son are mistreated more than the others and are both referred to as nigger by Alamo. Anti-Catholic, pro-polygamy evangelist convicted in 2009 on 10 counts of transporting underage girls across state lines for sex. Years after his wife's death, Tony began taking child brides, as young as 8 years old, and in 2009, he was sentenced to 175 years in prison for transporting young girls across state lines for sex. 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. 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. When it became clear she wouldnt survive, she told church members she believed she would rise from the dead. He was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman on September 20, 1934, in Joplin, Missouri. Alamo formed the cult way back in 1969 with his wife Susan when he was a flamboyant preacher on the streets of Hollywood. When Bernie, sometimes called Mark, met Susan in 1965, they were both on their second marriages--at least thats what he told her. History: In 1993 Misheal Eden Jones-Williams became Tonys wife at 18 years old. Executive summary: Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. The feds had narrowed in Tony fought Coie for custody of Susans remains. Acting didnt pan out, but Susan Lipowitz made a good living as an evangelical preacher, often leaving southern California for long stretches to preach in tents across the country. Sharon Ast-Kroopf-Hoffman Legal wife of Tony Alamo. Ill tell you how bad a shape theyre in. In July 1998, he was transferred to a Texarkana halfway house, from which he was released on December 8 of the same year. He still hasnt paid me for the clothes he bought from my store in December 1984. "SCVHistory.com LW3595 | People | Tony Alamo: "Cult Evangelist Tony Alamo Convicted On Sex Charges", "Christhiaon Coie Speaks Out About Her Stepfather, Tony Alamo", "Evangelist guilty of taking minors across state lines for rape", "Feds Target Jailed Evangelist Tony Alamo's Property", https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/3587, "Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo" (press release), "Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo Review: Hell on Earth", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alamo_Christian_Foundation&oldid=1134183205, 1982 disestablishments in the United States, American members of the clergy convicted of crimes, Christian organizations established in 1969, Pentecostal denominations in North America, Christian organizations disestablished in 1982, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 11:22. The court concluded Alamo also owed another $5 million to ex-members for unpaid labor. Now Tony . 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. Alamo is the president of the Alama-based Alamo Christian Foundation. Whispering in the Daylight: The Children of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries and Their Journey to Freedom. 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). 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. Mrs. Alamo had temporary custody of the two children. Others said they never got paid. His efforts succeeded in having the high-end jackets designed by Tony Alamo and manufactured by unpaid cult members removed from a majority of clothing stores on Hollywood Boulevard and in bringing the abuses of the cult to the attention of the local media. 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. They were even told who they were going to marry: the 62-year-old leader of their apocalyptic group. Updated. This project is funded in part by a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant award. Alamo, 74, faces up to 175 years in prison, plus fines that could total $2.5 million. She was born four and a half years before Black Friday, and the Great Depression dealt her already poor family another blow. Susan died in the early Spring of 1982. Years earlier, sheriffs deputies showed up at Alamos Saugus, California compound. 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. Tony Alamos second wife says they have never divorced and insists that his third marriage to Elizabeth Amrhein is invalid. There the church grew to several hundred members and it also established printing facilities, a school, and a tabernacle. Alamos various marriages were controversial and difficult to number. Speaking of which: One way in which you can support us at no additional cost to you is by shopping at Amazon.com. He's a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. 72201. Misheal is still in the group and often reads the responses on Tonys radio broadcast. (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). Said Hutchinson: We get their literature on our windshields about every Sunday morning.. Tony Alamo predicted that his wife would be resurrected. 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. What were they doing in New Orleans?. Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 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. Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. Tony was heartbroken. Regardless of his motive, if Alamo doesnt comply with Spears ruling, hell go straight to Crawford County Jail in Arkansas after completing his federal prison sentence and be held there indefinitely. ___ Alamo to Return Body of Wife after 7 Years. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,July 24, 1998, pp. Some days are easier than others.. 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. But last month Spears concluded after a weeklong trial that Mr. All Rights Reserved. Tony Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman on Sept. 20, 1934, to a Jewish family in Joplin, Missouri. 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. Alamo quickly declared bankruptcy, and his related businesses collapsed. Online at https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/05/13/the-barely-legal-empire-of-tony-alamo/ (accessed February 23, 2023). 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. The Ravening Wolf. Intelligence Report, Fall 2007. 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. All Rights Reserved. Meanwhile, lawsuits filed by former church members accused the couple of controlling their flock with intimidation and beatings. The Barely Legal Empire of Tony Alamo. Village Voice, May 13, 2008. [12], The church published religious tracts and distributed tapes of sermons by the Alamos. Now Tony Alamo is also a grave robberat least in the eyes of an Arkansas judge, who has ordered him to lay to rest his wifes missing 13-year-old corpse. On November 13, he was sentenced to 175 years in prison and also was fined $250,000. That was part of our custody agreement. Amrhein said he suspected his former wife might flee the country to avoid the custody hearing in West Virginia next week. On July 23, 1998, after a three-year legal battle, his followers brought the body to a funeral home in Van Buren (Crawford County). Among the businesses which Alamo started was decorating denim jackets and airbrushing them with bright, colorful designs. Members usually lived in a commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of their salaries to the church. In February 1991, Alamo ordered his followers to vacate the Arkansas compound prior to a federal raid and to bring along the body of Susan Alamo. In 2007, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries as a hate group, citing its anti-Catholic literature and rhetoric. Tony Alamo and his wife, Susan, established a church in Nashville called the Music Square Church, located near Printers Alley. She said, Im a successful designer. The Daughters Tale: Anti-Catholic Cult Leaders Child Recounts Abuse. Intelligence Report, Spring 2008. Despite repeated efforts to reach him, Alamo would not discuss the case. 1A, 11A. 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. Its embarrassing to have a husband who gives stupid interviews and gives out crazy literature, she went on, referring to his statements that the country is run by the Vatican. But look who he married? 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