Claude Ouellette did the honours. A strange dynamic took hold of the group, with all the women (except Maryse Grenier, who hated being with the commune) competing for Rock's attention. She was born in Arthabaska, Quebec, Canada, on Jan. 27, 1943, the daughter of the late Armand and Rachel (Gardner) Chainey. Solange Boilard, who was killed with a kitchen knife as part of a cult ritual. Having teeth and even limbs removed was part of daily life for the 12 adults and 22 children under Theriault's sick spell. It was snowing, and the temperature was -10C (14F). After the coroner determined that the group was criminally responsible for the death of Samuel Gigure, the police made the following charges. Allegedly, baby Samuel's head was flopping around on his neck, and his penis had swelled up. This memorial website was created in memory of Robert R Boilard, 44, born on August 26, 1958 and passed away on February 24, 2003. I don't know if parole has ever been granted, but the prison staff always spoke very highly of Thriault. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Roch Theriault was a twisted religious extremist who forced his brainwashed followers to endure a campaign of horrific abuse, Twisted Theriault with his followers back at their commune in Canada, Theriault submitted his followers to horrific abuse, Theriault married all of the female followers in his cult and impregnated them to boost the commune's numbers, Inside Theirault's twisted cabin on his commune - where followers were tortured, A sketch of the warped cult leader in his commune in Ontario, Canada, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). This was about 67% of all the recorded Boilard's in USA. Part of this legal action involved testifying on the conditions under which the children of the compound lived. They were a doomsday cult whose beliefs were based on Seventh-day Adventist Church beliefs. The vast majority of the cult's followers abandoned Thriault after his arrest, but during his imprisonment he fathered another four children with remaining female members during conjugal visits. She said that the women who had not been married were lonely. He was transferred to the Orsainville Detention Centre in Qubec City. (n.d.).Opinion - Blogs -, Last edited on 16 February 2023, at 19:59, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/960359--former-burnt-river-cult-leader-killed-in-jail, "4 Cults You Might Not Know About - Mental Floss", "Revealed: Murder of Canadian cult leader who performed ritual killings and beat children to death | Ottawa Citizen", "The ant hill kids. They, the commune, would become God's chosen, but only if they made a righteous life for themselves in the scrub of these Appalacian foothills. My eyes saw things that went beyond them. During the peak of its popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, Sullivans programshowcased a wide range of entertainers, including Elvis read more, On September 28, 1918, a Liberty Loan parade in Philadelphia prompts a huge outbreak of Spanish flu in the city. Dr Groesbeck reassured Thriault that there was nothing Rock could have done to save her, but Thriault informed Groesbeck that God had named Groesbeck as Thriault's guide. After the cremation, everyone took some of the bones to keep. All Family Trees results for Adelard Boilard. A follower would sometimes be asked to cut off another follower's toes with wire cutters to prove loyalty. Meanwhile, Thriault was ingratiating himself to the doctors. Thriault's fear of the end of the world grew, claiming that God had warned him that it would come in February 1979, and used the commune to prepare for it. Texas cult convict murdered, served time for beating death of girl and sex abuse of boy Failed prophecies and predictions don't deter Christian fundamentalists from spreading doomsday message Mellon was the ex-husband of Jimmy Choo co . Roch-Sylvain said that although he understands how people could rejoice at the demise of his father, "I never wanted it to end this way.". Rock took a pair of scissors, and after sterilizing them in alcohol, he lanced Samuel's penis to permit urine to flow out. Thriault designed and assembled a rough sawmill from a chainsaw, a snowmobile engine, and some bicycle parts. Now believing himself to be a God-like being Theriault started performing surgeries on members of the cult even though he had no medical training. He had stopped drinking, he told them all, and there wouldn't be any more violence; and after all, as God's emissary they were obliged to follow him. Although Rock considered his children to be the children of God and the next generation of his religious following, their situation was utterly wretched. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Theriault punched Boilard in the stomach and then proceeded to slice open her stomach with a freshly sharpened knife and rip off a piece of her intestines with his bare hands. So the group began selling fruit, and later pastry. Death Roch Thriault was found dead in his cell, February 26, 2011, at Dorchester Penitentiary, in New Brunswick. Main Menu. Paul Veer never complained of another headache. It was this that gave Theriault's cult its name, the Ant Hill Kids. Younger followers were also not safe children were held over fires, nailed to trees and sexually assaulted. He poured boiling water on Claude; another time he made Claude sit down on a lit stove. As his power grew, Theriault even got his followers to break their own legs with sledgehammers, sit on lit stoves and shoot each other in their shoulders. I love you, And although the memories of their violent childhood will never leave them, they claim they won't pass anything on to their children. Thriault's response was to go and get another beer and go to sleep. (cult leader Roch Theriault) (includes related article) (Cover Story) | HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared", "Cult killer's prison art for sale on U.S. website", "Prison officials move to block sale of murderer's artwork", "Officials bring down gavel on murderer's art auction", "Inmate suspected in cult leader's death: RCMP", "Fellow inmate charged in cult leader's death", "Life sentence for murder of cult leader Roch Thriault", "Savage Messiah - European Premiere Screening", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roch_Thriault&oldid=1139764187, This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 19:59. [Solange Boilard] ~ master of life and death In the fall of 1988, Solange . Sometimes he would urinate on them, or force them to perform analingus on one another or smear themselves with each other's feces. Theriault also demanded sex from all of the women members in an attempt to increase the number of cult members through children. He also ordered Jacques to be circumcised, his whole glans removed. The depraved cult leader was murdered by his cell-mate, Matthew Gerrard MacDonald. Gabrielle Nadeau went into a coma and died shortly thereafter. Roch Theriault was a twisted religious extremist who forced his brainwashed followers to endure a campaign of horrific abuse across two decades in Canada. Rock decided to operate, pressing the leg to cause the wound to re-open, probing it with a red-hot iron file, and pouring cup after cup of boiling water on the leg. They erected a tent-town, spent a week retrieving tools from the cars, and then began construction on a large communal cabin. Theriault's original goal was to form a free-thinking commune where people could listen to his teachings and live in freedom as equals. If anyone fell asleep, he'd smack their head with a four inch thick club. Chantal Labrie (19) When cults stand-off Shelly Katz/Getty Images This was not unusual, and Gisle, Claude, Francine, and Marise all managed to sneak away into the bush to hide. Thriault encouraged them all to drop out of college; after all, Christ was coming soon, so there wasn't much point to learning skills to get by in a world that was already doomed. But as Rock became less desperate to survive, he became increasingly bored. According to investigators the death was a homicide. Gabrielle would act as coroner, and Roch's other six wives would act as jury. During that time Theriault chopped off the hand of one of his concubines and killed another woman by disembowelling her during a cult ritual. In a desperate attempt to bring the cult back to his original teachings, Theriault would 'purify' his followers by stripping them naked and then whipping them. He was 63 years old. The film starred Luc Picard as Thriault and Polly Walker as Paula Jackson, the social worker whose investigation revealed the crimes. She cleared away a narrow band of exposed bone that went all the way around Gabrielle's arm. When Gigure balked, Thriault began to taunt him: "What are you, a faggot? The authorities realized he was a delusional crank, but without any proof he was a dangerous delusional crank, they released him under his own recognizance. This includes ebooks of every book and magazine on the site. He was found guilty of amputating Gabrielle's arm and jailed for 12 years. I'm going to treat you tonight." Claude managed to escape into the woods, where he stayed until Thriault was sober once again. The three-member National Parole Board panel also ordered Theriault, who called himself Moses, to undergo a series of psychiatric evaluations. We pay for videos too. He then returned to Ontario, and after a couple of days, ordered Claude to exhume Solange's body. Thriault was arrested for assault in 1989, dissolving the cult, and was convicted for murder in 1993 for the death of follower Solange Boilard. "[16], The 2002 film Savage Messiah depicts Thriault's crimes against his followers and the ensuing legal recourse. . The one exception was Maryse Grenier, the outsider. July 26, 1989, Rock became drunk. Each giant issue is perfect bound and chock full of true crime articles, artwork, letters, documents and more. But the police were called, and the constable filed a charge of aggravated assault against Rock Thriault. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Sometimes he would join in the matches, but then the rules changed; if you scored a hit on him, it would come out of your food rations. winter storm, Southern Ontario digs out of snowstorm, snowfall warnings still in effect for parts of Eastern Canada, Woman missing more than 30 years and thought to be dead found living in Puerto Rico nursing home, AI model can detect Alzheimers disease with over 90 per cent accuracy, new research finds, Trump pitches a sequel, but shies away from attacking rivals, Bus with 40 children crashes in French Alps; 21 injured, 'I had to get over here and help': 3 incredible acts of compassion by Canadians in Ukraine. Thriault wanted to bury her at the foot of the "Eternal Mountain," but she was taken by the authorities for an autopsy. But the terrifying truth of what was happening at Burnt River, Ontario, was only laid bare when, physically broken and brutally abused, one of his followers escaped and alerted authorities to the horrors of life as an Ant Hill Kid. But Auclair's husband fell in with Thriault. A charismatic speaker, he soon persuaded others to join his religious movement and the Ant Hill Kids cult was born. He burned Gabrielle's breast and genitals with the torch. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. He made his followers eat excrement and dead mice. Guy Veer was sentenced but later acquitted for mental incompetence and was returned to l'Hpital Robert Giffard. I am very well and very happy to belong to a REAL MASTER who himself belongs to the only real Master of Life. Solange Boilard's body was exhumed and properly laid to rest. She died the following day. [3] He prohibited the group from remaining in contact with their families and with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as this was against his cult's values of freedom. On August 16, 1989, she made it to a hospital, and concocted some story to explain the missing arm. (n.d.).Local Community Forum and Information for Every Town, Village and Hamlet in Britain. In fact, his "enthusiasm" for God's work began to unsettle the other Adventists, and his boastfulness irritated those who knew of his limited education. Thriault was arrested for assault in 1989, dissolving the cult, and was convicted for murder in 1993 for the death of follower Solange Boilard. He was found lifeless in his cell at Dorchester Penitentiary about 9 p.m., local time, said Etienne Chiasson of the CSC. Thriault told the group that the world would end on February 17, 1979, amid a storm of boulder-sized hail, earthquakes, and lightening. Thriault received a life sentence, which he was serving when he was murdered at Dorchester. Influenza is a highly contagious virus that attacks the respiratory read more, On September 28, 1781, General George Washington, commanding a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops, begins the siege known as the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and a contingent of 9,000 British troops at Yorktown, Virginia, in the read more, On September 28, 1918, in an incident that would go down in the lore of World War I historyalthough the details of the event are still unclearPrivate Henry Tandey, a British soldier serving near the French village of Marcoing, reportedly encounters a wounded German soldier and read more. . Born in 1947, Theriault was a bright boy but dropped out of school when he was just 13 and this is when his disturbing obsession with the end of the world began. Posted: Sep 25, 2020 / 08:53 PM EDT. Death date: 24 February, 2003, Monday. The children had chores around the commune such as hand-washing the adult women's sanitary napkins. Thriault received a life sentence, which he was serving when he was murdered at Dorchester Penitentiary in 2011. The town's local school went up to the seventh grade, and none of the Thriault kids went any further not even young Roch, who was bright, outgoing, and seemed to enjoy learning. He would then treat her nicely for a few days, but invariably she would be punished for running away and bringing him dishonour. Theriault had earlier told the board he wanted to remain behind bars at the Dorchester Penitentiary near Moncton because he feared for his safety outside prison. A WARPED doomsday cult leader made members BREAK their own legs with sledgehammers and nailed sexually abused kids to trees. He was arrested for assault in 1989 and was convicted of murder in 1993 in the death of Boilard. One of his former followers, Gabrielle Lavalle, wrote an autobiographic book about the sect titled L'alliance de la brebis ("Alliance of the Sheep"), ISBN 2920176854. In 1993, Thriault pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the death of Solange Boilard, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Between the five of them, they had lifted $453.37 in goods. He was sentenced to life in prison for her murder in 1993. Police raided Synanon, and a drunk Dederich was arrested in his Lake Havasu home on December 2, 1978. Theriault continues to cast a spell over some of his followers, and conjugal visits with three remaining wives have allowed him to father a number of children while in prison. He prescribed himself a case of beer for any pains. He spent a half an hour trying to get this done, and encouraged her not to be embarrassed about losing control of her bodily functions. Cabrillo was not the first to search for a water passage across the North American continent, and read more, On September 28, 1901, Ed Sullivan, who will become the host of the long-running TV variety program The Ed Sullivan Show, is born in New York City. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. The next day, Thriault discovered what had happened, and placed Samuel under the care of Gabrielle, nurse for the group. Then life at the commune went back to "normal.". Warning: This story contains details that may be disturbing to some readers. [8][pageneeded]. St. Petersburg parents break their silence following stabbing, daughter's death by: Chip Osowski. [4][5] There, Thriault made the commune build their town while he relaxed, comparing them to ants working in an ant hill, naming the group the Ant Hill Kids. They set up home in a hamlet in Burnt River, Ontario, and Theriault's drink problem worsened. He fought in Africa and Spain, quelled the slave revolt of Spartacus, read more. Retrieved March 2013, from, Dimmock, G. (2011, November 14). He started a commune in Burnt River, Ontario but while he sat back and guzzled booze his followers built a small town. With this, the systematic sex abuse of his female followers also became more profound but in addition to this, he began to exert control in ever increasingly sinister and violent ways. They moved to Montral, and over the next three years, she gave him two sons: Roch Sylvain (Roch jr) and Franois. The media began to portray him as a gentle mountain man that had run afoul of a prejudiced industrial society. [6] The Ant Hill Kids raised money for living by selling baked goods, and members who did not bring in enough money were also punished. The organization was dismantled and survivors sought to undertake healing as best they could. Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . Between this, and his interest in a number of topics that gave the illusion of a penetrating intelligence for which he was often praised (even by psychiatric evaluators after his ultimate arrest), he came to crave attention. Between 1977 and 1989 he was the head of a tiny religious group near Burnt River, Ont. (n.d.). Facebook gives people the power. Greg Lupson. Theriault hated the child and said that it had the "mark of the devil" and that killing it would be only good. In particular, he once tried to resurrect a woman he had killed by sawing the top off her corpse's skull and masturbating into the cavity. Thriault was charming to young women and was a good speaker. It was fatal. "It's not looking so good, is it?" They were forbidden to go to the hospital. "I was so scared of him when I was small," said Francois, "He would say my name and I would tremble like a leaf. In 2000, Thriault was transferred to Dorchester Penitentiary, a medium-security prison in Dorchester, New Brunswick. In 1987, social workers removed 17 of the children from the commune. He started pressing and punching Solange's stomach; when she put her hands up to fend him off, Rock simply told her to move her hands, and she did. Not only was he making money in this enterprise, he was also attracting followers. Members were forced to break their own legs with sledgehammers and children being nailed to trees. old-school old testament messiah. Roch Thriault (pronounced "Rosh Terry-o") was born in the Saguenay Valley of Qubec on May 16, 1947, to Hyacinthe and Pierrette Thriault, the second of seven children and the eldest boy. Everyone went back to the cabin, and Rock ordered a warm bath for her, filled with cherry. Following the cult's formation, Thriault began to move away from being a motivational leader as his drinking problem worsened, becoming increasingly totalitarian over the lives of his followers and irrational in his beliefs. This was not unusual, and . For some, this was all too much. They arrested Thriault for obstruction of justice, and he was ordered by the court to undergo psychological evaluation at Qubec City's l'Hpitale Robert Giffard. Franois, along with his brother Roch-Sylvain, gave an exclusive interview to QMI Agency Friday night about his father, who led a religious cult in Quebec and Ontario during the 1980s. After her leg healed a bit she tried to escape again, but a few days later she went back to Rock. To expand the community as well as keep the members devoted, Thriault married and impregnated all of the women, fathering over 20 children with 9 female members of the group, and by the 1980s there were nearly 40 members. When two police officers showed up at the compound, however, Thriault repelled them. Some children had mouths full of rotting teeth; some would randomly scream, rock, chant, or bang on things. Rock also hooked up with polygamist Alex Joseph of Big Water, Utah though Joseph didn't much like Rock's attitude. Maryse hot-footed it out of there, but after months of learning how to function in the real world after having spent eight years under Thriault's rule, she decided that she would persue legal action to get custody of the remaining daughter. As a child Thriault was considered to be very intelligent, but dropped out of school in the seventh grade and began to teach himself the Old Testament of the Bible. Members were not allowed to speak to each other when he was not present, nor were they allowed to have sex with each other without his permission. Theriault was 63 years old when he was murdered in prison by his cellmate Matthew MacDonald. He cut open her abdomen with a knife and ripped out part of her intestines with his bare hands.
