Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - This Holy Prophet Got Busted // The Suzan Carson and Michael Bear Murder Story

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Suzan Carson, along with her husband James "Bear" Carson, became known as the "San Francisco Witch Killers" during a notorious murder spree in the early 1980s. Driven by a shared paranoid schizophrenia and a radicalized religious delusion, the couple believed they were "holy warriors" tasked with eliminating "witches" who threatened their spiritual survival. Their trail of violence claimed the lives of three people: their roommate Keryn Barnes in San Francisco, farmworker Clark Stephens in Humboldt County, and hitchhiker Jon Hellyer in Sonoma County.

Visit BetMGM casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMDM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor,

free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. So this woman is psychic, allegedly, and she's gonna save the world by killing all the witches? Now the woman's name is pronounced Suzanne, and Suzanne's around 35 when the story starts, and she's living in Phoenix, Arizona, and Suzanne believes that she's psychic, like she can predict the future, and she gets visions all the time, and she'll hear voices talking to her. she even believes that her god talks directly to her and tells her what to do. But one day in 1977, she gets a vision that actually comes true.

Because this vision shows her the man of her dreams. And at some point, she's out at a party and she meets this guy, James. And Suzanne thinks James is fine, and that he's actually the man of her dreams that she saw in her vision. So they start talking and they hit it off, and soon they start dating. Now, both Suzanne and James are very into drugs, but now that they're together,

they get really into using hallucinogenics, like LSD and peyote and stuff, which definitely isn't helping her with the belief that she's psychic and seeing visions and hearing voices and stuff. So at some point, early in their dating period, Suzanne starts telling James that she has these visions and that her god talks to her and gives her instructions and stuff, and James, who's probably high on drugs, actually believes her and he believes that

she's a prophet, and he's willing to do whatever she says. So she starts using these visions and voices she's hearing to manipulate him. Like she tells him that she had a vision and that his name isn't really James anymore. It's actually Michael. James is like, all right, I guess my parents were wrong. And he changes his name. So now James is Michael. Then, And Suzanne tells Michael that she had another vision, saying that they both need to change their last name to Bear. And once again, Michael's like, all right. And he changes his name to Michael Bear. So this relationship dynamic keeps going.

She tells Michael Bear what to do, and he does it. And over time, her visions and the things her God is supposedly telling her to do become more and more insane. Like one day, Suzanne claims that she and Michael Bear have been given a new mission. that they're supposed to become Muslims, but not just any type of Muslim, specifically vegetarian Muslims for some reason. And in their new vegetarian Muslim religion, of course they're not allowed to eat meat, but they are allowed to use all the drugs they want, of course. But, most importantly, they believe that the world is secretly run by evil witches.

And their main purpose is to kill these witches. And Michael Bear hears all this and he's like, kill witches. All right. And they both actually take all of this very seriously. Like they want to evangelize and recruit more people into their weird hippie cult religion. And so in 1978, they travel to Europe because they're going to try and spread their beliefs there. And there they get married at Stonehenge, which, you know, good for them, I guess. But it doesn't seem like their evangelism works all that well in Europe.

I guess the Europeans just aren't all that gullible, because no one joins their hippie vegetarian Muslim cult. And after about a year, they run out of money. And so they return back to the United States, and they end up in San Francisco. And that is where the story gets dark. So it's now 1980, and they move into a woman's apartment as her roommates. And the woman is this woman, Karen. And so everything in this living situation seems to be going fine. But pretty quickly, Suzanne gets another vision.

And from that, she and Michael Bear start getting this idea that Karen could join them and become Michael Bear's second wife, like polyamory. And so they approached Karen about this, and Karen's like, no, fuck all that. Not long after, Suzanne claims to get another vision telling her that Karen is really a witch. And of course, according to their weird hippie cult, they're supposed to kill all witches. She tells Michael Bear that he has to kill Karen. And Michael Bear's like, all right. And so one day, Karen is at home in her kitchen and Michael Bear creeps up on her, suddenly,

pow, he hits her in the head with a frying pan. Then he grabs a knife and he stabs her multiple times. And unfortunately, Karen doesn't survive. Afterwards, Michael and Suzanne wrapped Karen's body in a blanket. Then, for whatever reason, they start drawing bizarre, childlike sketches on the walls. Not only that, but Suzanne writes her name on the walls too. Then they flee and they go on the run. And they hitchhike from place to place until they find a secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere, Oregon, and they start living there.

Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, police begin investigating Karen's murder. And pretty quickly, they discover that Suzanne and Michael Bear, were the ones behind it. Probably because Suzanne's dumbass wrote her name on the walls at the crime scene. But anyway, Suzanne and Michael Bear continue hiding out in this cabin, living in isolation, only leaving for town when they need supplies.

And about a year goes by, and it's now 1982. And they decide to move again from Oregon down to Northern California. And there, they take jobs as caretakers on a marijuana farm, and they also live on that farm. And on that farm, they meet this guy, Clark. Clark is a worker there, and I guess he drinks a lot, and he's just got kind of a loud personality.

And Suzanne, particularly, really grows to hate that. She sees it as disrespectful to her God for some reason. And one day, they get into an argument on the farm. And Suzanne just snaps, and she starts accusing him of being a witch. And you know what she and Michael Bear do to witches. So she tells Michael Bear, that he needs to execute Clark. And Michael Bear goes, and he grabs a gun, and blam, he shoots Clark, and unfortunately, Clark

dies. So Michael Bear and Suzanne, they pack up their things, and they go on the run again. And they head up into the Sierra foothills, and they go off the grid, and they hide out there for a while. And a few months pass, and it's now 1983. And one day, they hitchhike into town, probably to get some supplies. and that is when this guy shows up, John. And John is driving by in his pickup truck, and he stops and he offers them a ride.

And so Suzanne and Michael Bear get into the cab of his truck, and Michael Bear is on the passenger side while Suzanne sits in the middle. And while they're driving, I guess the roads are rough, and John's leg keeps brushing against Suzanne's leg, and Suzanne doesn't like this one bit. And suddenly she starts freaking out on John and calling him a witch. And so Michael Bear pulls out a gun, like he's going to shoot John. And so John pulls his truck over and they all start fighting inside the cab.

And eventually, blam, Michael Bear shoots John, and this unfortunately kills him. Then Michael Bear and Suzanne steal John's truck and they flee. But here's the thing. People driving by could see all the commotion happening in the cab of John's truck before he was shot. So someone ends up calling the police. So now the local police are actively searching for John's truck. And pretty quickly, they spot it, driving along, and they start following it. But Michael Bear and Suzanne, they try and get away.

And this whole thing turns into one big high-speed chase. But then, skirk, kaboon! Michael Bear and Suzanne make a wrong turn and accidentally crash the truck into a ditch. And so, bam, police arrest Suzanne. Here's her mugshot. Also, bam, they arrest Michael. Bear. Here's a picture of him. And ultimately, Suzanne pleads guilty and she's sentenced to 75 years to life in prison, while Michael Bear also pleads guilty, and he's also sentenced to 75

years to life.