![]() Eventually, the Rulo cult would grow to around 25 members. By stealing farm equipment and cattle, the cult would support itself and buy firearms and ammunition. He told Stice to stop raising pigs, as they weren’t kosher, according to the Chicago Tribune. Ryan referred to himself as “The King,” according to NPR Nebraska, and said Yahweh commanded he take multiple wives, eventually four in all, who he referred to as his “Queens,” according to the Daily News. It is Archangel Michael who leads the army of God against the forces of Satan in the Bible’s Book of Revelation, which tells of an apocalypse which presages the “Second Coming” of Jesus Christ. Ryan told his followers he spoke directly to Yahweh and was possessed by the spirit of the Archangel Michael, according to court documents. Stice invited Ryan and his family and followers to move onto the farm where they would study the Bible, smoke pot, and amass weapons in preparation for Armageddon. At one of Wickstrom’s appearances, Ryan met widower Rick Stice, who owned a struggling pig farm in Rulo, Nebraska, where he lived with his three children. Ryan soon earned a reputation as "Wickstrom's main man in Kansas," according to the SPLC. It was a trick Ryan would use once he began attracting his own followers. The person holding the arm and asking questions had complete control of the other person’s movements, and could manipulate the answers to his advantage. If the answer was "yes," the arm would stay up. If the answer was "no," the arm would drop. ![]() Despite the group’s anti-Semitism, they used the ancient Hebrew name for God “Yahweh,” with some adherents even following a traditionally kosher diet.Īccording to court documents, Wickstrom taught Ryan what was known as the “arm test,” where he would hold a person’s arm and shoulder and ask a question of Yahweh to learn his will. In the early ’80s, Ryan began attending rallies by James Wickstrom, who preached Christian Identity theology and anti-government sentiments, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.įrom Wickstrom, Ryan learned the basics tenants of the Christian Identity movement. Unfortunately, he found it in the Christian Identity movement, which the Southern Poverty Law Center dubs “ a unique anti-Semitic and racist theology that rose to a position of commanding influence on the racist right in the 1980s.” Feeling acute financial pressure and physical pain, he began using marijuana and looking for something to give him the spiritual strength to carry on despite life’s challenges. He worked as a truck driver until a back injury forced him off the road. In “ Deadly Cults” on Oxygen, former members of the Yahweh Cult of Rulo, Nebraska give shocking details of the heinous crimes of Michael Ryan and his followers.īorn in 1948, Michael Wayne Ryan was a high school dropout who worked various manual jobs to support his wife and children, according to a profile in New York Daily News. Ryan told his followers he spoke directly to God, or as he called him, Yahweh, and those who disobeyed him would suffer the worst of deaths. Others looked for someone to blame.Ĭult leader Michael Ryan did both, drawing in followers with a blend of anti-Semitism, white supremacy and doomsday prophecies. Confronted with bankruptcy, foreclosures and looming poverty, many turned to religion. ![]() But the 1980s saw the worst farm crisis since The Great Depression, according to sources like Minnesota’s Star Tribune, as production outpaced demand, leading prices and profits to fall. Life in America’s heartland has often been rough. How did Michael Wayne Ryan assemble a group of impoverished farmer folk in rural America - and involve them in crimes worse than they'd ever imagined? Murders A-Z is a collection of true crime stories that take an in-depth look at both little-known and famous murders throughout history.
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