Behind the Bastards - Part Two: The Holy Rollers Sex Cult

Episode Date: November 30, 2023

Sophie has never been wrong about a single thing in her life. Matt Lieb guests and Robert is also there.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Hi, I'm Daniel Tosh, host of a new podcast called Tosh Show. I'll be interviewing people that I find interesting, so not celebrities, and certainly not comedians. We'll be covering topics like religion, travel, sports, gambling, but mostly it will be about being a working mother. If you're looking for a podcast that will educate and inspire or one that will really make you think, this isn't the one for you. Listen to Tosh Show in the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy is the greatest murder mystery in American history.

That's Rob Breiner, Rob called me, so would Ed O'Brien, and asked me what I knew about this crime. Well, ask who had the motive to assassinate a sitting president? Then we'll pull the curtain back on the cover-up. The American people need to know the truth. Listen to who killed JFK on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Cool. So media. Oh, kiddo. Harvard's just like dry. He didn like a whole piece of paper size sheet to see we the numbers like I don't even think you've chewed.

You're just inhaling the seaweed. Oh, no seaweed turns to a sweet, sweet liquid in your mouth. Right. That's good stuff. Thanks for that. Yeah, that's gonna really piss off a significant chunk of the audience. Speaking of a significant chunk of the audience. Speaking of a significant chunk of the audience,

Matt Lee! I'm back, baby. Yeah, wow. God knows the sea. Wow, thank you. I was really, really, we've been waiting for years to have Nick cave come in as a guest on our podcast and just thrilled to have him. Thank you Nick. Oh, I love I love that you yeah Great. Watch Piki blinders. Oh man. That's such a banger. Oh, Nick Cave, just a ton of bangers.

I'm always a murder ballad's guy, but. Yeah, I mean, listen, he's a very talented, talented, deep voiced man. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah, but Peaky Blinders, now that's a goddamn, that's a great show, man. Yeah, Peaky Blinders, which is about children, right? So, you know, Roma people, but there are children in it.

There's children in it. And there's also children in Portland. And you can help them have access to a museum by texting bastards to 50155 to donate to the flip museum. I could have helped you with that transition. No, no, no, no, no, I didn't work. I didn't work. I was good was happening, but I was like, well, I mean, it's not really well-children. I just decided to get to get that moment. Yeah, there's there's there's kids all over the place. Sure. In most places, except for in this cult, which is well, actually a lot of them are children. Yeah, well, yeah, yeah, but you know, let's get back to the story. So, Yeah, but you know, let's get back to the story. So Joshua Krefield, as we kind of closed out the last episode with, I don't really feel

strongly that he was necessarily worse than the surrounding society. This is one of those cases where not really a clear good guy, but he was a pretty, he was still an abusive cult leader, right? Right. Because as a cult leader, you know, so that's with it. I think not a good guy is kind of relative. Yeah, cult leader, I think we can say, you make your judgment for yourself. Yeah, yeah. So one of the things about him as a cult leader is that he decides after he starts having sex with everyone that he has been given, quote,

the authority to regulate the details of their daily life. Now his first new rule is quote everything except the light of the day is a shoot which means no lamps, no fires and no electric lights right nothing but daylight anything else and you're you're angering God. I think it might have been still okay to navigate via like the fires caused by lightning strikes but I don't know if this ever got brought up to him, not a lot of lightning in Oregon. Right, I mean, and also how often are you going to be putting that position? Yeah, right. Yeah. So Joshua had also declared back on the island that sins had to be atoned for by having

his followers roll on the ground until he ordered them to stop. This is incorporated into their day long prayer sessions. Crefield also started telling his followers that God only would speak to them when they were rolling around on the ground, and that the way to welcome him in was to shout prayers as loudly as possible while, again, rolling around.

If you don't do this, then God's gonna smite you. Again, these are like 24-hour sessions. Now, you probably won't be surprised to hear this mix quite a ruckus. And it was noted that like neighbors as far as a quarter of a mile away from the Hertz house could hear them rolling around and screaming all night long when they would do these day long sessions. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's not exactly

an inconspicuous way of praying. No, no. Joshua next announced that he had to sanctify their food by touching it with his hands. He exercised extreme discrimination in what was worthy of sanctification, though. So not only did he have to sanctify your food, but he would decide what he was willing to sanctify. And if he didn't sanctify food for a week, you couldn't eat. No, that's my hamburger. Let me touch it. No, God doesn't want you to have this. Yum yum yum.

I love it. He's just everyone's big brother. Yeah, just jacking their food. Yeah, stealing from them and saying God doesn't want. He's the professor from that I think you should leave. Give me that. Give me that. Ooh, I should've got that. Yeah, that is exactly what he's doing. God, that is quite funny. So if he doesn't sanctify food, then you can't eat, right? So like when we keep you like, God has only approved me to sanctify bread and water, because he wants you to know what it's like to be hungry. And then the next week, he's like,

you don't know enough yet, so I'm not sanctifying everything. You can't even have water. And then when people will be like, but we want water, please tell us, why are we starving it and ourselves? He would be like, if you don't do this, God's gonna take me away.

Like, he'll make me leave. If you guys don't starve yourself this week, so. Yeah, yeah. God will get rid of the last good dick you've ever seen. They're like, oh, fuck. Yeah, I can't let the dick go away. Kind of where this is headed because next from Holy Roller's quote, Joshua ruled that men, women and children were all to sleep together on the floor in the same room while wearing little clothing. They were to do this so according to Joshua, they wouldn't know cold. Or so, so they would know cold. Joshua

established rules about whom they could communicate with. If someone wasn't one of God's anointed, refused to accept the gift of spirit, Joshua told them to have no dealings with the infidels, even if the infidels were members of their own families. So he's isolating everybody, he's now much more directly breaking up families. And this creates a problem because Crefield and his cult are now living at the Hurt Family House. And while Maud, and most of the rest of the Hurt Family, you know, Maud, her brother, one of her sisters, her mom,

they've all joined, Joshua's cult. Their father, the patriarch of the family, Ovi Hurt and the owner of the house, has not joined the cult, right? He has refused to. He's letting them all crash here because he doesn't want his daughter to like freeze to death in the woods.

But he has not in the cult and Crefield has just said, you have to like shun everyone who's not in the cult. And this is kind of, it's kind of sad because like in our whole story, Ovi Hurt is the only nice guy. Like everyone in town basically agrees, he was just like a really helpful kind man. And he, again, he had agreed to let the cult live on his family because he loved his family so much. And he's like, I don't understand what you're doing, but I

don't want you to die in the cold. Please come with me. Cheryl, take your cult leader too. And Joshua, we call that enabling. That's what he is. He is enabling. And Joshua punishes him for it because he's like, I know that we're living in his house, but you all have to shun your dad. Don't call, you can't call him dad. God's God's the only father. There's only one daddy here. It's me. Call him the black devil. That's a lie. Yeah. Yeah, very wild shit. And it's like you need to tell him whenever you have a chance that God's going to kill him, right?

Like, don't call him your dad and let him know he's going to be punished. Yeah, call him the black devil and that God wants him dead. Yeah. But, you know, have a regular relationship. I don't want to be. Otherwise, sure, don't be. Yeah. Now, as you probably would not be surprised to hear, this is kind of a bummer for O.V., right?

Not a happy way to live. So by the end of October, he gives in and he's like, fuck it. I'll join the cult. What else am I going to do? Life is terrible. Otherwise, he quits his job. He sends them like his two weeks notice and he's like, I know, realize I've been living in sin and I'm going to go join a otherwise. He quits his job, he sends them like his two weeks notice and he's like, I now realize I've been living in sin and I'm going to go join a cult. And he puts a note on his front door that says, positively no admittance except on God's business, which

I also have on my front door. Yeah, sure. Different God. Different God. Think deeper, think older, more under water. Anyway, the holy rollers are overjoyed that OV has joined them. And like all of us, they knew the best way to express their joy was by lighting shit on fire, which they did using all of OV's possessions as kindling. So they take every once he joins, they take everything he owns, his carpets, his beds, his sheet, his like precious family heirlooms, his like things he't have it in from his dad family photos and they light them on fire they they put a build a big bonfire and they're like this shit's carnal so we have to

burn it. God damn it. He just want to be with his family. Poor mother fucker. Now Frank the guy who had made the newspaper because he wrote his bike to Oregon City, he throws his bike on the pyre, right? Because he's in the cult. So he has to burn his bicycle as carnal. And once they've finished with the furniture, the cult digs up all the flowers and grapevines

and fruit trees, their garden, and they burn that too. Last, they take all of the family livestock, their chickens, as well as the pet cat and dog in the living room alive. Yeah. All right. I officially don't like this. Yeah, now we're onto the monster part, right?

Listen, you can fuck my wife all you want, but you leave my kid cat out of this. You son of a bitch. Yeah. So that's good. Although there's some debate as to whether or not the animals were alive when this happened. So I don't know.

Imagine that it's the less horrible option, I guess. Yeah, I'm pretty bad. I like him again. You can leave me alone. So they decide next that they should march on another family home, the Hartley residents. Warren Hartley is again not a follower of the cult, but his wife and daughter are. So like his wife and daughter, well, he's like a way at work, start lighting his shit on a fire. And when he comes back, he like, it's a shotgun. He's like, you gotta be fucking like, fuck you guys, right? And so this whole brew, ha ha, obviously makes the local papers

kind of a kind of a wild thing to happen in your small city. Did he shoot anybody with the gun? He doesn't shit. No, he should have. Yeah. But he does not. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal.

I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal. maybe we'll get to see a crazy person. You know, there's not much going on in Oregon at this point. It is very boring.

We very stressed this enough. A guy burning a bunch of shit with a shotgun nearby is like literally watching 1997's The Titanic. Hey, honey, you know how our lives are unindirable drudgery? Let's risk them by traveling 18 hours by foot to look at a crazy man Wow look at him burn This was worth both of our sons dying of tetanus on the road. Yeah, I ate my child, but it's fun to see that that lady's almost got a

She's dancing or again, so She's dancing. Or again. So, this had all gone so, oh, sorry. So yeah, this becomes like a whole thing and a rumor starts to spread, right? Based on the fact that they burnt their pets on this pyre, that an adopted child had also been, like, because the hurts have a kid they adopted. And no one is able, like, no one's seen the kid in a while, so they're like a kid they adopted and no one is able, like no one's seen the kid in a while so they're like a shit that can't light a baby on fire. Because Crefield has been preaching

that this adopted child since they like, you know, you spend some money on the adoption process, right? So that makes this child profane in of the world and thus not worth a living. The dickhead. Yeah, he sees really made a heel turn now. Yeah, I don't like him. Yeah.

Good stuff. So, Crefield has not gone that far, thankfully. No children get lit on fire as far as we're aware of. No kids die in this story, in fact, which makes it fairly rare among behind the bastards. Yeah, I know. This is new for you.

Yeah, celebrate a kid not dying in this by donating to the Portland Children's Mississippi. Yes, please. Yeah, 50155 text there, then you can donate. Bam, that's a fucking plug. That was it. While Krifield has not lit a baby on fire, the rumor is widely believed enough

that the police have to make a welfare check. And not very pro police here, but like, yeah, you probably want to check up on that. Yeah, I think they're lighting cats and dogs on fire. They might kill a baby. There's no way to know. I mean, what else is your job? You know what I mean? Right.

Like, that's a part of it is like, hey, we got to lose cannon in the neighborhood. Fucking all the wives, burn all the pets. Yeah, maybe we take a look at this. Yeah, let's just give a little knocky knock on the door here and see if, uh, show up at the hurt house and OV lets them in and they, they enter to find the house empty because everything's been burned, all the furniture has been burned and all of the rollers are lying near naked in a pile in an empty room, like weeping. Some of them are crying, some of them are laughing.

All of them are chanting loudly in prayer. A lot of them are rolling around. They seem kind of like manic and crazy, right? Sure. None of them have eaten in days. They all look exhausted and like starving. So the police are like, well yeah, this does seem like it could be a problem,

but OV takes them to the adopted daughter. And so like, well, the kid's not dead. And so next they're like, did you guys kill, your pets in a bonfire and Frank hurt, whose OV's son and also in the cult is like, we killed a dog and cat, I admit, but we did so because we wanted to get rid of them but failed.

Yeah, I don't know, that's better. Yeah, no, listen, we tried to get rid of them but failed. Yeah, I don't know. That's better. Yeah, no, that's, you listen, we tried to get rid of them. The show is sponsored by BetterHelp. So the end of the year is coming up, the holidays are coming and that time can be a lot of fun, but there's also a lot of baggage and difficulty that comes with the holidays. Maybe you've got trouble with your family, maybe you've got difficulty with a romantic partner or a friend, maybe you need someone difficulty with a romantic partner or a friend. Maybe you need someone to talk to about it.

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Terms and conditions apply. Free plans have limited functionality. I'm Daniel Tosh, host of new podcast called Tosh Show, brought to you by I Heart Podcasts. Why am I getting into the podcast game now? Well, it seemed like the best way to let my family know what I'm up to instead of visiting or being part of their incessant group text. I'll be interviewing people that I find interesting, so not celebrities, and certainly not comedians. I'll be interviewing my plumber, my stylist, my wife's gynecologist. We'll be covering topics like religion, travel, sports, gambling, but mostly it will be about being a working mother.

If you're looking for a podcast that will educate and inspire, or one that will really make you think, this isn't the one for you. But it will be entertaining to a very select few, because you don't make it to your mid-40s with IBS without having a story or two to tell. Join me as I take my place among podcast royalty, like Joel Olstein and Lance Bass.

Those are words I hope I'd never have to say. Listen to Tosho on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. The cat came back, you know the song, and sometimes the cat comes back, you gotta burn it. Yeah, they did a real homeward bound thing, so we had fucking light up on fire. The alternative ending to homeward bound.

That would be a really different movie. If at the end of that, the family's like the director's cut. The animals followed us. Get the fire. You know, no, no, it is useful. So, um, yeah, the cops that ask, did you like, did you sacrifice these animals? And of Crefield is like, no, no, we didn't sacrifice the animals. But that would be weird.

Yeah, yeah. And in Frank says, we, no, no, we didn't sacrifice the animals, but we had no- No, that would be weird. Yeah, yeah. And Frank says, we have no laws except the Bible. You find nothing like that in the Bible. And O.V. is like, yeah, we killed the dog, but it was like a bad dog. It wouldn't obey orders. And so we had sent infants to death for its disobedience, right? Yeah, we had a child of everything. We had a child of everything, right?

Yeah, we had a child of- Yeah, we had a known dog as Judge. She was a jerk. It's years, a bunch of other dogs barking and shit. And this is, this is, this concerns the sheriff because again, OV is this nice man. Like he's not the kind of guy to murder his dog. But, you know.

It's a nice guy, you know, not the dog murdering. Yeah, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would kill his dog on a fire. Who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would, who would the kind of guy who would kill his dog on a fire who would seem like a character. Yeah, seems kind of weird for you, man. Um, which I guess it's nice to be known as not the kind of guy who would do that. No, I'd love that. Yeah. Put that on a resume.

Yeah, probably not the kind of guy who would light a dog on fire. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So the police asked next, hey, if God told you that you were supposed to murder your small adopted child, would you do that? And Crefield's like, well, you know, it's impossible for me to sin since God is scripting every action that I take. So if I were to burn a child, it wouldn't be wrong. Yeah, now, when he tells us to the cops, he tells us to the cops. Yeah, now he tells us to the cops. He tells us to the cops.

Dude, I like he's going for it. He's going for it, right? He's going for it. What can I get away with? That is unsettling. And honestly, probably should be cause for some sort of action being taken against you. But it's not illegal, right?

The cops are like, well, he has not committed a crime. Right. There's nothing illegal about killing your own pets. And there's nothing illegal about saying that it wouldn't be wrong for you to murder a child. If you haven't murdered the child. Yeah. We're like, I don't know if it's, I mean,

guess it's a first amendment issue here. Yeah. There's a lot going on here. I mean, I'm a free speech absolutist. Obviously, we live in Oregon, we're a little bit of like a white-only whatever, but yeah, I don't know. So 1903, not being a high point for animal rights,

there's nothing the police can do legally here, right? Now obviously the Oregon police have acted illegally in an awful lot in this period. Most of them are in the KKK and like 10 years or so when that comes through. So like, they're part of why they're not willing to do this is like, these are white Christians, right? So like, what are we supposed to do?

So instead of doing anything, the cops are like, well, we can't arrest you, but like, we should let you know, all the men in town are really angry and they are talking about forming a posse and maybe tarring and feathering all of the men running this cult. So, you know, heads up and you will not be surprised to hear Joshua does not change his behavior as a result of this warning.

Because again, part of what he's been preaching is that once we start teaching the true gospel, all of the, everyone's gonna hate us, right? This is within his religious cosmology to be expected. Right, is there anything an negative attention guy? The one negative attention he gets, the more he's like, I'm right. They're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives.

Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives.

Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us for stealing their lives. Yeah, they're trying to cancel us? That's a great new, don't tread on me, flag. Like, you still have the snake in the middle. Instead of don't tread on me, it's like, kill your pets,

fuck your wives. Good stuff, good stuff. So, after this point, after this police visit, ends in nothing. Herasement of the cult begins by locals, right? Gangs of men in the night start running up and like hurling rocks through the house windows, banging on the door and then running off. One father kidnaps back his daughter. Now, when I say he kidnaps her, she is 22 years old,

right? So assuming now legally, women are not independent in this church in time, right? They can't even vote. So I don't know what the law would say about this. But like, she's 22 years old and the society she wants to be here. He does steal her, right? Right. And he ties her to her bed in his house to keep her from going back. She spends days like not sleeping, screaming, refusing to eat.

But like, it is pretty bad. Again, not a clear good guy in this story. Yeah. And tie her down so she can't even roll. Yes, she can't roll, right? God's gonna be pissed. Yeah, she's like going through DTs from not rolling. Yeah, so eventually Crefield and one of his top men,

Brooks, like Flea town to try to avoid, because they think they're gonna get murdered, and try to shack up at a random house in a nearby town called Rin. And like, knock on this old lady's door, news does not percolate quickly, so she doesn't know who they are. She just sees two dirty guys coming off the road

being like, hey, we need a place to stay for the night. You know, we're starving, and, you know, being a nice person is like, of course, you can sleep here tonight, right? Crefiel, as soon as she invites a nice person is like, of course, you can sleep here tonight, right? Crefee old as soon as she invites him in is like, hey, you got any pets? Yeah, I'm God's prophet, will you cook me dinner? Now, I don't know much about this lady other than this,

but I like her because as soon as this guy says, hey, I'm God's chosen one, make me dinner lady. She's like, oh yeah, of course, I just gotta go to the grocery store real quick. So she rolls down to the grocery store and then finds the nearest group of armed men and it's like, hey, I need you to deal with this guy for me. Yeah.

And so a bunch of like lumberjacks show up with weapons and are like, we're gonna make this a problem if you don't get the fuck out of this lady's house Which is pretty cool. That's pretty based. Yeah, no, no, I'm a good story lady. You know what? She's got a good head on her shoulder. Yeah smart. She saw the red flags and said I got to get a lumberjack. Yeah Yeah, some lumberjack's I did like a tree trunk. We gotta get some lumberjack's here There you go I did like a tree trunk. We got to get some lumberjacks here. There you go.

So Crefield and this other guy returned to the herd house, right? Because they can't make it and rent. OVHirt, by this point, has gotten tired of being in the cult. He was never really into it. He just didn't want his wife and kids to hate him. So a friend of his is like, hey, you seem really depressed and you let your dog on fire. You want to like go to Portland with me for a week, you know, just kind of clear your head, right? And he's like, yeah, that actually seems like a good idea.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then this friend is his daughter's former fiance, James, right? They got the rich guy we heard about earlier. So James is like, why don't we take a drive? Why? You look like you needed, man. I'm looking to make you, yeah.

To not be around the ashes of your former life. Yeah, so as soon as he gets away from this, he's like, oh fuck, I don't wanna be an occult man. This is terrible, I made an horrible mistake. And yeah, so he returns home, now de-radicalized, I guess, just in time to learn like everyone else that God has given another message to Joshua Crefield has anointed. Great. And I bet you're not going to be surprised to hear that message is you should marry a

16-year-old. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's always where this was headed. That's always where it was going to end up, you know. There's a lot of roundabout ways that people try to eventually marry a 16 year old. And this is one of the things for all of the enjoyment that I have about the concept of sex cults. Whenever you're talking sex cult, there is a moment in which the leaders going to marry

a 16 year old. I know. That's every one of these stories. I've read a lot of them. It always goes in that direction. And it's just like every single time you've ruined sex cults for me. Yeah, exactly. It's really, we need a new non-problematic sex cult. Honestly, it's like an ethical sex cults where you know, and sex is key. Yeah. And there's none of this. Let's just say minimum age 28.

Right. We're really gonna go with above the line, you know? Right. I think this is, I think we could make a lot of money on. Let's do it. Let's get that island, Robert. Let's do it. This is a good idea.

This is a good idea. Don't say the word. So yeah, the 16 year old that God has told Joshua Crefuel to Mary is a cult member named Esther Mitchell. And so he's like, yep, we're gonna get hitched. God says that she's gonna be the new Mary, but before this can all happen. Esther's sister commits her to an insane asylum in Portment,

which is again, everything about all of this story is problematic, right? Like involuntary commitment is a huge part of what's going to happen, not just to Esther here. But the asylum, because she's too young for the straight up insane asylum, she's sent to the boys and girls aid society, which is both like if you're an orphan,

if you're like a homeless youth, it's where you'll go, but it's also where kids who are declared insane go, because they can't go to the adult asylum point yet, right? Right. This is, again, lot that's problematic about this. And Esther fights like hell, as soon as she's institutionalized, for days she would refuse to eat,

she would just shout glory to God and other such things. Her brother, this is one of the, her brother George visits her and is like, hey, me and your other brother, we really love you, we want you to come home. And she was like, you are only my brother's in name. Yeah, that'll definitely fuck you up. That is not a cool thing to say.

Yeah, well, you're a fucking bitch. That's what I would have said. Yeah, yeah, I mean. Well, you're fucking stupid. Yeah, she has reason to be angry. Let's not pretend anyway. It's messy. So Esther may have been the most dedicated

of Crefield's believers. One night she told the matron of the facility that she's stuck at that God had started speaking directly to her and the matron for whatever she says, the woman who runs this is like, I think she is going to murder one of the other children. Yeah, we need to do that. Not unfair.

It's kind of like think he's unreasonable. Yeah. So, all of this enrages the community even more. Like, this is not, nothing is fun about this anymore. This is like a virus sweeping through our young women. That's how the men are treating it. And like, we need to fucking do something here. And Sophie Coe, one of the reasons I like her essay here is that it doesn't get you know, describing how a lot of this anger comes not just out of the fact, not

out of the fact that like aspects of what Josh was doing are really abusive, which they are, but out of the fact that Joshua has made the local women ungovernable, right? And here's what Sophie writes. female. The Corvalus Times also explained why this aspect was so significant, claiming that the idea of women freely running around and abandoning their husband's fathers and brothers was what made it so maddening. She was out of the world, and he was of the earth, and she would have nothing to do with him. The fact that women were engaging in such wild behavior without men threw off the balance of Corvalus, both in perceptions of social roles and in daily life. Crafield was altering the community already, and this was just the beginning.

So, I love that that, of course, that's the main issue of these men, is they're just like, listen, I have no problem with like, you know, you guys fucking like, you'd fuck my wife, but like, I have to watch. Yeah. I like, that's my thing, but like I have to watch. Yeah. I like that's my thing, bro.

Like the fact is, is that like, it ain't fun if the homies can't have none. Dog, you're just saying you're doing some real selfish shit. Well, and you're letting them dress slutty, you're letting them like, their heads aren't covered. They spend a lot of time about how these women do not wear hats. Oh my God, they're not even wearing a hat. They're showing their sluts. Crazy. Yeah. Speaking of slutty ass hair, there's nothing sludder than the sponsors of this podcast.

That's right. When they show their hair, oh my god, does God cry? God cries the devil jacks off. Great sponsors. Yeah. By the way, listen to Matt Leib's new three hour long Pentecostal sermon. Wait, what did you say? Said God, God cries the devil jacks off. Yeah, yeah. God cries the devil jacks off. Yeah. here's a little preview. God, cry in the Dale Chex off with season one. Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. If you wanna hear the entire long version of that, Matt is performing every night at Hillsdale College

for the next 11 months, so check him out there. Check me out at Hillsdale College for the next 11 months, so check him out there. Check me out in Hillsdale. Alright. Ahhhhhhh. We are back, back baby. That's right. Motherfucker. are back, back baby. That's right, motherfucker. So, good night.

Bye. Wait, shit. Hello, we're back. So that December, Krefield addressed his flock at the hurt home and told them that God had given him a new message. He strips in front of his cult after reading them the story of David and Beth Sheba,

and he tells them, clothing was intended to cover up sin and shame, and if the heart was made pure, there was no sin. Therefore, it should be no shame. So like, you can be naked again, just like in the Garden of Eden, because you haven't sinned since you're following me, right? Yeah, no, it makes, it makes sense.

It makes sense. It makes sense, but what it's the lead in for, as soon as he's got them all naked, they all start having sex, right? That is the goal that he's leading them into here is like, once I get them all naked, starting the Orchise gonna be a lot easier. Yeah, it's way easier when you're

at the fumble around with fruit of a loom underloose. Yeah, as the book Holy Roller describes, quote, and so orgies in the name of God and purification were held in Frank's house during the Christmas season of 1903. Mothers were debauched in the presence of their daughters and daughters were debauched in the presence of their mothers.

And after all had been debauched, purified, Joshua instructed the women and girls to submit themselves to the lust of other men. The only other men left in the flock were Frank Hurt, Charles Brooks, Samson, Levin's, and Lee Campbell. All of them, that is, but Sarah Hurt. She refused to submit to him, to make love to him. Joshua finally said that if Sarah would not submit to him,

he would drive her out of the church and God would smite her. All she would see in the hair after was her soul, plunging into whenever lasting burning, seething hell. So rather than risk eternal damnation, Sarah risked hell on earth and became a bride of Christ by making love to her son-in-law in front of her children, just as they had made love to others in front of her. It was almost cool.

It was almost cool. This is the first definite evidence I get that there was a significant amount of coercion involved in at least some of these relationships. I was like, yes, fuck yeah, Frank's gonna fuck, you know, Samson or whatever. And then you said that part, you should just let that part out, man. No, it's a lot, it's pretty abusive. Now, I think it escalates in its abusiveness over time. Yeah, man.

I think part of why these people get so into it is that for a while, it is much less abusive than aspects of their daily life. Yeah, but the clamp down has occurred by this point. That's always how it goes, man. You start off, you're just like, you know, what's a little bit of just like a little porn here and there,

and then one thing leads to another and you're like, have to have piss in it. Now everyone's pissing and pissing each other and you're like, what have I become? Is that relatable? Yeah, that's very relatable, Matt. I'm glad that we've increased your backstory with that. That's too a lot of world-building. The fans are really putting together a more complete picture of your life.

Is there heroin addicts? Do you like piss, poor, with the fuck? Yeah, the fans are really putting together a more complete picture of your life. This guy's a heroin addict, do you like his piss board? What the fuck? Yeah, of course. That's like, uh, I don't actually want to continue that bit. Um, so after quite a lot of orgies, Joshua informed his followers of the new orch shark. God is, of course, the head of the church. Uh, Joshua is the visible head.

Maude is now the spiritual mother. And Esther, who is still in an asylum, was a saint. And confusingly, now the church is spiritual God. And that's a weird org chart. I don't know if it's an weird org chart. I'm not sure how that graphs, but he tells them all that God has chosen Esther to be the mother of the new Christ.

Now again, Esther is 16. She is also institutionalized. Crefield is still obsessed with her though, because she is part of why, at least part of why the authors of Holy Roller suggest he's obsessed with her is because at this point, she is the only virgin left in the church, right? So he attempts to have several of his followers break her free of her asylum, but her mother sensing this, being like, I'm pretty sure he's going to come for her and he might succeed, moves her daughter to Illinois to be with her estranged father. So daddy abandoned

the Moilago, but she's like, hey, I need you to like do your job by keeping your daughter out of this cult. Yeah, like one thing. One thing. Just one thing. You don't even have to, you know, help me kidnap her. Yes. Yeah.

So the men of the town who'd spent weeks gathering at night and vandalizing the hurt houses took to calling themselves the white caps, because they were all wearing these hats to recognize each other. And this ties into the fact that again, like a decade after this, all of these guys are gonna be in the KKK. I was gonna say, yeah.

It's huge in Oregon. This is very much in line with that period of our state history, right? Yeah, that's kind of where I was. I was like, why do they just have white hats around? Yeah, they're very ready. Let's get that tingle on, but let's have a cover

the rest of the face and let's bring wizards into this for so many. Yeah, these guys are so ready to be a vigilante mob. Again, very. I am Daniel Tosh, host of new podcast called Tosh Show, brought to you by I Heart Podcast. Why am I getting into the podcast game now? Well, it seemed like the best way to let my family know

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Listen on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A little is happening in a core of hours. Yeah. So yeah, these guys all eventually corner Crefield and O.V. Hertz son Frank outside of the hurthouse and Taryn Feather them. Sick.

Yeah, yeah, I don't know a problem with this. They have that coming. They've got it coming. Yeah. I've been asking for a Taryn Feathering. Yeah, they have been warned. They've got it coming. Yeah. I've been asking for a tarring. Yeah, they have been warring. They're begging for it. Oh my God.

So one local paper describes the incident, thusly, quote, there was no attempt at secrecy by those who took part in the affair. None wore masks and none affected the skies. The identity of many of the party is known and these are men of standing in character. That a boy or hoodlum in the party. That's fun. Yeah. Good stuff. known and these are men of standing in character that a boy or hoodlum in the party. That's fun. Good stuff.

Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff.

Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff.

Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. thing. Yeah. So it's not clear to me if the police refuse to intervene here because they supported the white caps and doing violence to Krefield or if they're just like if we intervene our neighbors will murder us, right? Both are plausible, you know? Like either cowardice or complicity, perhaps a mix of the two. Either way. Yeah. Either way, nothing is done about this. Krefield promises that he will not let the actions of criminals stop his preaching, but he's also smart enough to know that like, well, if Tarring and Feathering doesn't work, they're going to try to murder me to X, right?

That's the only place to go. So I should probably take evasive action. Yes. So he has his followers clean him up and then it's still reeking of tar. He gets married, right? And after this, he announces that the cult will be moving to Portland together

and augmenting a grand tradition that continues to this very day. Now, this pisses off the men of Corvallis, right? Who see their chance to get their wives and daughters back from Crefield slipping away. If he gets to this degenerate big city, right? Then there will be nothing stopping him, you know? Yeah. And, importantly, it is, you know, it's still a much more conservative place than it

is today, but it is also the kind of place where maybe a guy like him could get away from the justice a bunch of drunk red necks. Right. He's one of many sex cult leaders. Yeah. Yeah. Get in line. So, fortunately for them, for the Minif Corvallis, Joshua Crefield was incapable of exactly one thing and that one thing is not being on his bullshit. So as soon as the cult moves to Portland, he tells them all that we're staying here until the annihilation of material things, which I think is going to come in a couple of weeks. So we'll move to China after that to preach the gospel, right? That's the plan.

Yeah. Well, they wait for that. He renews his relationship with the wife of Burgess Star, one of his early followers who had left once, you know, the wife fucking started. So star at this point goes to the cops because adultery is illegal in Oregon. You can, it's punishable wife to two years in jail. So and this is, it's very rare for this to get prosecuted. Not because adultery is where.

I think adultery is about equally common in every era. It's because if you're going to press charges, you have to admit that your wife cheated on you. And like, most men would rather die. But it says something about the kind of guy, Burgess is that he is willing to like, kind of take this hit. Because a lot of men could press charges for this in Corvallis. He decides to take this hit on himself, this burden and report Joshua.

And this opens the floodgates are there 12 men who are all former cult members kind of like come up afterwards and make similar allegations. And it's one of those things. This is where things get fucked up. Like obviously I don't think it's super fucked up for Burgess given the situation to do this. But what is fucked up is what has to happen to his wife Donna as a result of this because since he's making this allegation for it to be taken seriously, Donna star has to testify

that she has slept with Joshua Crefield and she is still very much in the cult. So you might think that it'd be difficult, right, for her to get her to admit this. But in this case, rampant sexism kind of comes to the rescue of the men of Corvallis once again. So basically, Burgess brings his wife to the police station. And the police are like, yeah, we need you to sign this affidavit saying that you've had improper relations with Joshua Crefield.

Well, we need you to sign this affidavit. They don't tell her what it says. Safa David saying that you've had improper relations with Joshua Crefield. Well, we need you to sign this, Affa David. They don't tell her what it says. Right. She has to sign it and she can't really read. So they have her sign a thing that says, I fucked the profit, but she doesn't actually know what she's signing, right? Right. Right.

Yeah. That sounds also like classic cops. It's very, very classic cops. It's very classic misogyny shit, right? And yeah, a warrant is issued for Joshua Crefield's arrest. So this police dragnet starts across the northern chunk of the state, northwest Oregon, but Joshua Crefield fucking disappears, right? This guy who had been everywhere, who was a publicity hound,

who's got all these cult members, suddenly nobody can fucking find him. After a couple of weeks, locals assume, well, shit, maybe he just left the state, right? And we're fucking done with him, you know? So newspapers start publishing articles celebrating the end of Crefieldism. We beat him, he ran scared, you know?

We got it. Hallelujah, the cult is over, you know? Yeah. So the men who had had their lives upended by Crefield's cult, like O. H. Hurt, tried to move forward. This also proved difficult. His daughter, Mod, was still in love with Joshua, and other cult members continued to congregate curiously at their house. Mod still refused to call him father, because that was reserved for God, and so she started

calling her father Old Man Hurt. she turned all of the pictures on their walls around, calling them vain, and she would fast for days at a time. When she would agree to eat, she would demand that she be allowed to eat alone. Other female Holi rollers were similarly recalcitrant. Newspapers complained that these women in the cult would, even now that Krefield was gone, were still parading around in public, quote, with hair unbraided and unkempt, flowing and tangled masses. This was seen as evidence of mental illness. The Albany Herald wrote,

saying people don't go barehead it. Ha ha ha ha ha. Yeah, I love that. I love that there was a time where that was the hottest thing ever. It was just like, your hair showing off. Katniss women. Yeah.

Yeah. Now, for the kind of sane people don't go barehead at line, Sophie Koeh provides some valuable context here in her paper. Minerva Kajer Reynolds explained that one day her and her family were shocked when we saw the women pass our house, their hair hanging down their backs, barefooted. Because of how confined women were to their social roles, if they did not keep up their image, even to the smallest detail of tying up their hair, the public might believe they were crazy. Some including Esther Mitchell were taken to other places by their families or partners

to separate them from the lifestyle of the Holy Rollers and Edmund Crefield. So you know, bad, not great. Mod hurt gets institutionalized as a result of this behavior. She is admitted about a month after Crefield disappears. She is admitted to the insane asylum. The intake paperwork declares that this is because she refused to wear, quote, any covering for the head. And in fact, when she was given bonnets and stuff,

she would destroy them. May hurt was also committed to the asylum, so was Sophie Hartley, and eventually, basically all of the whole, holy roller cult are admitted to insane asylums. Oh, damn, just for at least one comment. I mean, like, the thing is, is like some of the behavior feels like,

like maybe psych ward adjacent, like I would be like, yeah, maybe, you know, I'll get on a little bit of that gabapentin. Some of that Sarah Quill dog, like that, I think that that would help, but it sounds like the reason they chose was just of the time, you know? You're not wearing a hat. You're not wearing a hat.

You know what else has hair? The pussy. Put her in jail. No, they're actually all very lucky that this was when it was, because if it was a little bit No, they're actually all very lucky that this was when it was, because if it was a little bit later, they'd have had their fucking brains scrambled by a lobotomist. That's a very good point.

That's a good point. She's going around hatless, breaker brain. Yeah, break the nose. I speak in the nose. Yeah. He's making me horny. Take a little bit of that brain. I should say, just to give you some context,

they have institutionalized basically the whole cult at this point Which is fucked up. It is worth noting that in this period of time one out of every 200 oregonians is institutionalized God damn like they a lot of people get thrown in crazy people jail and Basically all of them for no good reason. Yeah, and like but is it weird that I'm like low-key reason. Yeah, and like, but is it weird that I'm like low key jealous of their robust social services budget? I think we you might want to Google a little bit about how institutions were in this period of time before you get jealous. You mean they didn't have jail put and pop some TV in every room? I'll have to Google when Jello was invented. Okay. Well, we know TV was like

700. Yeah, 1700. So like, yeah, I think all in the family is really big in this point. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean, that's good enough. That's not bad. Yeah. So the last Jello was invented in 1897, mother. Oh, yeah, they got Jello, baby. They got yellow. They got yellow. So I take it back. How bad can it be? This is fine. Yeah. This is fine. So as the months after Joshua's disappearance rolled on,

the scale of commitments expanded. As Colt members refused to turn away from their beliefs and reintegrate with society, the last of the Colt to be institutionalized was Sarah Hurt, OV's wife. After he announced that she had been willing to sacrifice their adopted baby. He's like, hey, actually, you know, when I said we were never going to kill that baby, I actually had to stop my wife from killing that baby.

And when he wouldn't let them do it, Joshua's was like, all right, well, we're not going to burn the baby alive, but you're not allowed to feed it or wash it. Jesus Christ. Yeah, he hurt later said, quote, my wife and daughters came to believe that I was defiled and that this little one was defiled. At the suggestion of that viper, they talked of making the sacrifice of the child.

They would have burned her along with their clothing, their furniture and the cats and dogs, which they declared to be of this world an unfit to live. They were all crazy. Yes, crazy. I was pleading, threatening, and trying with all my power to bring my wife and daughters back to sanity, but without a veil.

And again, this dude who's generally considered to be like the nicest guy in town is then like, I would like to hurt Crefield with a bullet if I could. Just such a childish way of saying, I want to shoot a guy. I want to kill him, but I want to wound him with a bullet if I could. Um, just such like a, such a childish way of saying, I want to shoot a guy. Yeah. I want to kill him, but I want to wound him with a guy.

I just want to wound him like in the knee. Yeah, yeah, get him right in the knee. A little, a fleshy part of the thigh or something, but like, you know, I want him to be okay. Yeah, yeah, I don't want him to die. I'll take care of him after. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can be friends.

Mm-hmm. I just think he deserves a little bullet bullet. Just a little bullet, yeah, yeah, we can be friends. Mm-hmm. I just think he deserves a little bullet bullet. Just a little bullet, yeah. Now, after July, or like so, Crefield stays missing, everyone's fucking locked up, and then on July 29th, when he's been missing like four months, something like that,

he bursts out of the center of the earth with the longest long you've ever seen. Matt, you literally called it. That is exactly what happens. Yes. So, this is, that's so funny. So. I feel like I've called multiple different like,

act. This is, this one is weirdly exact because what happens is the hurts adopted sun Roy is like looking for worms, because he wants to go fishing. And the best way to do him, he goes under the foundation of the house to dig for worms.

And he gets under there, he looks up and he sees a naked, emaciated man with a wild beard, like staring at him with crazy eyes. And eventually, because Roy's family was in the cult, he's like, oh my God, that's juxtapor Crefiel. Like, he's naked and under, he's family was in the cult. He's like, oh my god. That's juxtapher with Crefio He's naked and under he's been living under our house not eating for three or four months

Just quietly whispering That's that's almost exist. So it turns out that modern may had been feeding him That's why they were like they would starve themselves and be like all eat but only if you don't watch of they've been giving him their food right yes and then when they get institutionalized he had started to starve oh no really obviously having a good head on his shoulders calls the cops and is like there's a cult leader living under my house in the cops show up and they grab them and they're like, were you just going to like stay there until you start to death? And Crefield was like, I went under the house because I was told to hide away by the Lord. I was crucified while I was there.

God came to me. I was to suffer from my people. I was to die from hunger and from the cold. So was padding up, padding them on the back. All right, buddy. Sure. Yeah, yeah, sure. All right, buddy. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Let's get you somewhere else. You hungry? Yeah. Hungry. Let's go. Well, they do feed him next. Sure. So he gets, he gets, this is where I said you were exactly right. They pull him out of this

hole in the ground naked. And in broad daylight, the men of Corvallis, who have assembled to watch this, get to see why he's so popular because this dude is a hung like a fucking stallion. Like the share of Steppi describes it as wonderfully undoward by Mother Nature. Oh, I love it. Everyone just, you just like collectively went. Oh, oh. Okay, this all makes a lot more sense. Oh, we should get my wife out of the insane asylum. Oh, fuck, they didn't say it was a massive.

Yeah. Oh, my God. So he gets taken to Portland. He's put in jail and like they feed him and stuff. He's given some time to regain his strength before they put him on trial. Sophie co writes quote appearing for judge Alfred F. Sears. Crefield continued to speak as Joshua in court. He claimed that he did not need a lawyer and that God would will whatever was meant to happen. If he were found guilty, he would he would receive it joyfully. Donna star admitted to the actions that Crefield was accused of,

claiming that she was inspired by God and truly believed that relations with Crefield allowed her to purify herself. Four other witnesses testified against Crefield, claiming that not only had he committed adultery with many women, but also that the reason that their mothers, daughters and sisters were going insane was because he had made them brides of Christ.

The evening telegram described the courtroom as being crowded to all doors and all forenoons by staring morbid crowd, bent on catching a glimpse of the religious crank. Now, just the whole jury and judge while he's talking are just staring at his pants going, come on. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it twitch I want to see it. We'll see it twitch like a cat's tail.

So he acting as his own lawyer and justifying his crimes by saying he had to make brides of Christ doesn't in a winning strategy. Doesn't work out. No, no, no, no. Crethield also refuses to call it witnesses in his defense. And instead, he quotes the Bible repeatedly and describes his sex with Donna as a purification right. He is found guilty and sentenced to a bit less than two years in prison. He serves 17 months in his let out early on good behavior. And as thanks for performing community service,

while inside, he moderates his behavior slightly. And some people started to think like, maybe he's turning over a new leaf. But then as soon as he's let out, he gets right back together with his followers in the Hurt family. They've all been let out of the institution now. And he's like, Hey, guys, let's all get back together, right? I'm bad. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So he had, you know, he had married Maude since he couldn't marry Esther, but they got divorced while he was in jail. So he remarried her as soon as they're out.

She seems to be down with this. Maude is definitely one of the people, the women who is all on board with this cult. So is Esther Mitchell, you know, she had been moved to Illinois to live with her absent and uncareing father. And as soon as she hears that Krefiul's out of jail, she moves right back to Oregon. So she has become even more devoted in her time away, and would now tell anyone who would listen that Joshua is not just a prophet, but God himself. Now it's kind of unclear exactly how this all times out, but soon after this point, Joshua

starts referring, stops referring to himself as an apostle, searching for the bride of Christ, and starts declaring himself to just be Jesus, right? That's where we are now, right? I am the second coming, all that good stuff. Yeah. It's a third act, you know? He's gotta go there.

He's gotta go there. There's nowhere else to go, but I am God. And you know what else signifies that we're in the third act? What? Our second ad break. Oh, yeah. I love ads, man. So do I.

I love when they tell me what to buy. Oh, that's my favorite. Because I don't know what to buy most of the time. No, no. Well, just like I guess I'll just buy drugs. Yeah. And they're like, no, have you ever thought of buying a lawnmower?

Yeah, a meal box, a bed, a mattress, yeah. Exactly, or an online therapy. Yeah. Sure. Check it all out. All of it, buy everything. We're back. Back by me.

Baby. So we're a talking Jay Chrissy, Joshua Crefield. So yeah, he's back. He's walking around and basically all of his cult members are like, life's sure has sucked without you because it's Oregon in 1906. Yeah, they're really good. Can we join up again?

Yeah, everybody else here has a good dick game. Let's get back into it, right? Sophie co writes quote, as men were experiencing their wives and daughters abandon them to follow Krefield for a second time, anger rose again among those in Corvallis. Many were plotting against Krefield, some half heartedly and some very seriously. Louis Hartley, a father of one of the brides, attempted to shoot Crefield five times, but each time the gun failed to shoot a bullet. Now there was a belief within the cult that Crefield, being Joshua, could not be killed. So like, that's, that's not going to work out well. I can feel that. No, no, and this is by the way, the fact that this guy fails to shoot him six times is less miraculous than it may sound because the heartily does not know anything about guns.

So he buys a 32 caliber revolver and then he buys 32 caliber ammo, but his revolver is a center fire revolver and he buys rim fire 32 caliber ammo. And the difference between the two, so bullets have a thing called a primer in them, right? And the hammer strikes the primer. The primer ignites the gunpowder that makes bullet go, right? Sure. Most modern bullets are center fires. So there's a little primer, if you look at the back of a bullet, there's this little silver thing, that's the primer in the back of the bullet.

Rimfire, it's on the rim. So if you're shooting a rimfire bullet out of a center fire gun, the hammer, the firing pin is not gonna hit the fucking primer, right? It just won't work. Totally. Yeah, no, I get it now. Yeah, I mean, I know about guns. Yeah. This is, I just want to note, it's not inexplicable, right?

This guy bought the wrong bullets. You're saying he's not God Robert because I'm saying he's not God. He's hogged. Yeah. He saying he's not God's hog. Yeah. He's got a God size hog. He does have a God size hog. And fortunately, the men of Corvallis, not arms experts, which is really going to work out for him. One God size hog or a hundred hog size gods.

Oh, man, keep going. I mean, if they're Havolina sized, I bet repeatedly killing like God in Havolina form would be delicious. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Yeah. Yummers. Yummers. So anyway, um, Krefield himself veers in this story, um, between like again, being this monster, a, a abuse of monster, and also being like kind of, you have to accept, again, all of these women were freed

and spent two years not under his influence. And as soon as he came back, we're like, yes, this is much better than our lives. Let's go back, right? That's an undeniable aspect of this story. He is of course also a giant asshole. And one of the things that happens is they're alliable aspect of this story. Yeah. He is, of course, also a giant asshole. And one of the things that happens is they're all getting out of town together.

The city of San Francisco burns to the ground after the 1906 earthquake, killing a shitload of people. And Joshua is like, I did that. Yeah, I was angry at San Francisco, so I killed him all. I'll do it to Portland and Seattle. If you fuck with us, I'll burn your cities down.

San Francisco was a warning shot, mother fuckers. I love that. He's here. He's about a big fire and he goes like, hey, guys, remember when I made fire? Yeah. Yeah, that was me. Yeah, it's very funny.

So again, it remains up for debate. How much Crefield really believed, but he seems to have been aware that this was a bluff because immediately after making this threat, he leads his cult on a starvation march out of town and towards a location on the Oregon coast, along the Yachtshire River. Now, along the way, Crefield's preferences

for nudity increased. And so his followers basically don't bring any clothes with them, they have like one blanket for the whole group and I don't know if you've ever been to the coast of Oregon, but in the dead of summer, it's not warm, right? Like it's a cold coat. The beach is always.

Yes, it's not a warm place. And it's warmer today than it would have been in 1906. So you have to think pretty cool, miserable to be a naked person on the Oregon coast in 1906. So he leads them all to like literally the middle of nowhere. They have nothing and then it's like, all right, you guys stay here. I'm gonna go to Seattle with Maud and we're gonna like,

we're gonna figure some shit out, right? We're gonna like start a band. Yeah. Yeah. Just chill here for a bit. I'm gonna find you guys a new home, no worry. So by this point, the men of Corvallis are shitting themselves Yeah, just chill here for a bit. I'm gonna find you guys a new home. No worry. So By this point the men of Corvallis are shitting themselves with rage two men who had family in the cult George Mitchell and Edwin Baldwin

Arm themselves and set off on separate vengeance quests to kill Joshua Mitchell is the one who proves most adept at the task tracking modahart to Seattle and hurt to Seattle and sneaking around until he spots the Messiah and his wife outside of a convenient store. So he, they're like milling around outside of the fucking, well, it's the Northwest. That's out of the plaid pantry. And so I don't know if they have those in Washington, whatever, maybe is 7-11. He pulls out a revolver and he shoots dead Edmund Joshua Krefield, fucking dead. Like, oh no. You didn't even get to eat those

jalapeno cream trees' rollers? No, no, he sure doesn't. He sure doesn't. Walks him out. There were two for three, 33. He's a really good team dog. He is not a good dude. I should say this right now, Mitchell,

because his primary complaint with Krefield is that by sleeping with his sisters, Joshua had ruined them, right? Yeah. So again, nobody's, no clear good guy here. Sure, Sophie Kose. What is worse? Sophie Kose analyzes this further.

The fact that women were still considered the lesser sex created a role that helped make an enemy out of Crefield while withholding any power given to his female followers for straying from their social role. Arguments of the time included that by leaving their home and husband overtaxed their brains and their mental agitation caused wounds that would never heal. Women were not blamed, however, for leaving their families in previous lives. There was a general agreement throughout the public in press that these brides of Christ were not to blame for their misguided devotion to him because by nature they were weak creatures easily led astray.

I mean, you know, show me the lie. Yeah, where's the lie, you know? Wow, Sophie is giving you quite a look. Just kidding. I'm going to keep my mouth shut. So, Mitchell goes on. Oh, you're so easily digmatized, bro. Like, fucking clearly.

So, no, that's fucked up. Mitchell goes on tri-flex, Seattle. And officials in Portland try to extradite him. They're like, we should try him here because his crimes were mostly here, except for the murder part, but like, you know, so they were like, yeah, they try to extradite him. But everyone in Washington is like,

no, you can't let them hold the trial in Oregon, they'll just murder the man. Everyone in Oregon is too lawless and anarchic for a real trial. And in fact, there's a quote from some Washington prosecutors that in Oregon, Lynch mobs and anarchy rule. So again, nothing has changed. Nothing at all has changed.

Yeah, it's all exactly the same. So they have the trial here. And despite the fact that Mitchell had absolutely committed the crime, he was declared not guilty. Basically because everyone of the jury was like, well, I would have done the same thing in his use. Right. Yeah. Yeah. This winds up not being a good thing

for George Mitchell though, because the jury had been debating not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty, right? Oh, oh. If it had been not guilty by reason of insanity, he would have been remanded to state custody. As it was, he walks out of court a free man, right? This is going to be a problem for him because his sister is Esther, right?

Yeah. And Esther, so Esther's like, hey, brother, let's meet up at the train station to talk about you killing my cult leader. And so he had to know this. He had to know. So he shows up and Esther shoots him in the back of the head with the pocket pistol. Just fucking guns are brother down.

Now, you will be surprised to hear this becomes quite a story in the media. Yeah, no, the newspapers, yeah. They're finally, they're like finally, we don't have to write about a fucking bicyclist. Yeah, yeah, and it was you know The newspaper once the news like keeps interviewing here They wanted to say God told me to do it or whatever or I was in a religious frenzy But all she'll say is like I did the same thing my brother did right the law is an adequate to the task of punishing a murderer

Because he was acquitted so I did the same thing to him that he did to Crefield. And she uses kind of the same justification her brother has done. Yeah. Yeah. She'd also pointed out that like my brother did what like my brother accused Jeff, like Crefield of making me into a fornicator. But by claiming that that he did the same thing that he was saying Crefield did to me. He got me branded a fornicator in society

and ruined my reputation. She insisted that Krefield never had sex with her. And yeah, this is, she kinda has a point that like. She does kind of have a point. Yeah, like that she's not wrong about this, right? Yeah, I mean, it's a hell of a way to make a point with a political background. It is quite a point, yeah, but she's not incorrect here. I mean, listen, people, you know, have gone through far less to make an argument.

I'm glad that she went all the way there, I guess. I guess what we're saying is we're proud of you, Esther. Yeah, we're proud of you. You're stuck up for your man. Yeah, yeah. You're stuck up for yourself. Yeah, I mean, bad pick on the man, but good in you for sticking up for yourself. Yeah, yeah, stuck up for yourself. Yeah, I mean bad pick on the man, but good and you for sticking up for yourself. Yeah, yeah, and honestly, good for you for pointing out hypocrisy. Yeah, that's the most important part. Yeah, so Esther refuses to claim insanity. The state forces it on her anyway, because we don't care what a woman says.

Right. She's a woman. They're like, yeah, of course she's not going to say she's crazy. Yeah. Where's the state? Yeah. She's showing her hair. Yep. So she gets committed to an asylum. And yeah, eventually she gets out after a couple of years. And she's, you know, living at a family friends place after getting out of the asylum and takes a massive dose of strict night and commit suicide. Oh, geez. Mod hurt does the same thing, right? Uh, right after the trial. So like the two women who are closest to Krefield kill themselves as soon as they possibly can. And that's the end of the story.

And that is the story of Pete Davidson. Yeah. The man with the magic cock. He would, Pete Davidson would have been murdered by a small town in Oregon if like if he was had been alive in 1906. There's no other way. There's no other way probably would have been Corvallis. Yeah. He's not even that funny. I can't back it sale. What the fuck? No, people are reacting to him throughout the story exactly like I react That motherfucker better have ten dicks That is like that is such a wild story because of the fact that like the dick reveal.

It's so good. It's so good. It's all in a perspective. Yeah, this mysterious man, is he a hypnotist? I don't know and then you see his huge guy. Oh, okay. Oh, it's like, I love that they pulled out a really skinny guy and his massive hog He's the same size like the whole crowd is silent and then suddenly like the townity. It's like oh

Cuz we all got tiny dick Oh fuck. Good for him. So funny. He's a shit, but everyone's bad in some way. Yeah, everyone's bad in some way. Not all in this way, most not in this way. Most not in that way. Yeah, I just like, I've yet to hear the story

of the perfect sex cult. Like so far, the closest is like being in like theater crew. So far, the closest is like being in like theater crew. That's the closest to a sex call that exists without all the, you know, just like, you know, join the theater program at your high school or college. Well, no, do not be telling our listeners to do that, Matt. I'm sorry. Well, if you're in high school,

you're in high school, you're in high school. I thought that was implied. No, I think the whole history of sex cults means that shouldn't be implied. You're right, you make a good point, you make a great point. I'm saying join your local theater company and you don't even have to act.

You just run the lights and you'll, that's like a sex cult. That's what I'm saying. Please do not just go to a high school and say, Matt Leib sent me here. To join the cult. Speaking of which folks, you can buy our official behind the bastards,

laminated Matt Leibh sent me here cards for whatever you want to do. You use them for anything. Anything. Anything you want, just pop them on top of, you know, anything. Yeah. Oh, fuck. Anything else you want to plug, Matt?

Yeah, other than Matt Leibh's tips for how to join sex cults that are non-problematic. Listen to my podcast, podcast yourself a gun, a TV rewatch podcast, and it's, you know, wherever you get your podcasts. And once again, tickets will go on sale soon for Sunday, March 17th in Sacramento. At the Sacramento Punch Line, I'll be headlining with my wife, my wife, Francesca Furen-Tini.

So, and finally follow me on Instagram. You know, there's a lot of things going on in the whole Gaza Strip in Israel. Yes. And mostly bad things. A lot of bad things. And as an anti-Zionist Jew, did I say Jew? Yeah, you did, you did.

As an anti-Zionist Jew, I have some thoughts on it and I've been making some videos. And if you wanna check those out, you can go to Instagram at MattLeabJokes. That's my account. Graham him, folks. And you know, if you're an Aju. Yeah, exactly.

Aju, yeah. Oh, aju. Speaking, exactly. Aju. Oh, yeah. Speaking of sauce, if you want to provide the special sauce to children in Portland, the Portland Children's Museum, Robert, Robert, Robert. Okay, okay, let's retake that. Woo!

You're not at all speaking of sauce. The Portland Children's Museum, the Flip Museum is raising money. It's a traveling museum. They provide mobile exhibits throughout the Portland metro area for kids. It's a good cause to donate text bastards to 50155. That's bastards to 50155. All right, we're done.

Go home. I love you. I love you guys. Or you. Behind the bastards is a production of Cool Zone Media. Go home. I love you. I love you guys. Or you. Behind the bastards is a production of Cool Zone Media. From work from Cool Zone Media, visit our website CoolZoneMedia.com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Daniel Tosh, host of a new podcast called Tosh Show. I'll be interviewing people that I find interesting, so not celebrities.

And certainly not comedians. We'll be covering topics like religion, travel, sports, gambling, but mostly it will be about being a working mother. If you're looking for a podcast that will educate and inspire, or one that will really make you think, this isn't the one for you. Listen to Toss Show in the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy is the greatest murder mystery in American history. That's Rob Breiner. Rob called me, so would Edo Brein, and asked me what I knew about this crime. Well, I asked who had the motive to assassinate a sitting president. Then we'll pull the curtain back on the cover-up.

The American people need to know the truth. Listen to Who Killed JFK on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Payne Lindsay. Throughout my career, I've had the chance to travel all over the place, investigating true crimes, researching the unexplained, and I've been able to meet some of the most truly interesting people, and I've decided to sit down with them and pick their brains. We're going to talk about life, death, unsolved crimes, the supernatural, there's something here, truly something going on, The Supernatural, There's Something Here, Truly Something Going On, and honestly, just whatever the hell is on our minds.

Wait a minute, you should be very happy with it. This is Talking to Death. New episodes of Talking to Death are available now. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.