Roch Thériault

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Roch Thériault
Born(1947-05-16)May 16, 1947
DiedFebruary 26, 2011(2011-02-26) (aged 63)
New Brunswick, Canada
Cause of deathStabbed in neck with a shiv in Dorchester Penitentiary by his cellmate, Matthew Gerrard MacDonald
OccupationCult leader
Children26

Roch Thériault (

totalitarian rule at the commune and were subject to severe physical and sexual abuse
.

Thériault was arrested for

life sentence, which he was serving when he was murdered at Dorchester Penitentiary in 2011. Thériault, along with Robert Pickton, Clifford Olson and Paul Bernardo, has been considered one of Canada's most notorious criminals since the 1980s.[3]

Early life

Roch Thériault was born on May 16, 1947 into a

holistic beliefs which encouraged a healthy lifestyle free of unhealthy foods and tobacco.[5][6]

Ant Hill Kids

In the mid-1970s, Thériault convinced a group of people to leave their jobs and homes to join him in a religious movement. Thériault formed the

ant hill, naming the group the Ant Hill Kids. In February 1979, when the apocalypse did not occur, people started questioning Thériault's wisdom, but he defended himself saying that time on Earth and in God's world were not parallel, and that therefore it was a miscalculation. To expand the community as well as keep the members devoted, Thériault 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. Followers were made to wear identical tunics
to represent equality and their devotion to the commune.

In 1984, the group relocated from Quebec to a new site near Burnt River, a hamlet in Central Ontario now part of the city of Kawartha Lakes.

Abuse

Following the cult's formation, Thériault began to move away from being a motivational leader as his

baked goods, and members who did not bring in enough money were also punished.[10]

Over time, Thériault's punishments became increasingly extreme and violent, including making members break their own legs with

social workers removed 17 of the children from the commune. However, Thériault faced no repercussions for his abusive acts.[11][page needed
]

In 1989, when follower Solange Boilard complained of an upset stomach, Thériault performed another amateur surgery without

corpse was buried a short distance from the Ant Hill Kids' commune.[citation needed
]

Arrest and conviction

Lavallée underwent harsh treatment at the Ontario commune during the late 1980s, suffering

teeth being forcibly removed.[9] Lavallée attempted to escape from the commune after Thériault cut off parts of her breast and smashed her head in with the blunt side of an axe, but upon her return he removed one of her fingers with wire cutters, pinned her hand to a wooden table with a hunting knife, and then used a cleaver to amputate her arm.[2]

In 1989, Thériault was arrested for

second-degree murder for the death of Solange Boilard, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2000, Thériault was transferred to Dorchester Penitentiary, a medium-security prison in Dorchester, New Brunswick. In 2002, Thériault was rejected for parole
as he was considered too high a risk to re-offend, and he never applied again.

In 2009, Theriault tried to sell his artwork on a United States-based website MurderAuction.com, which called itself a "true crime auction house" and was willing to sell some of Theriault's drawings and poetry.[12] The Correctional Service of Canada prevented Theriault's works leaving Dorchester Penitentiary, and Stockwell Day, the Canadian federal Public Safety Minister at the time, wrote to the Correctional Service to express concern that the killer was benefiting from work in prison.[13][14]

Death and aftermath

On February 26, 2011, at age 63, Thériault was found dead near his cell at Dorchester Penitentiary. His death is believed to be the result of an altercation with his cellmate, Matthew Gerrard MacDonald, a 60-year-old convicted murderer from Port au Port, Newfoundland and Labrador, who was charged with the killing.[15][16][17] MacDonald pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison, having already been serving a life sentence for a previous murder charge. MacDonald had stabbed Thériault in the neck with a shiv, walked to the guards' station, handed them the weapon, and proclaimed "That piece of shit is down on the range. Here's the knife, I've sliced him up."[18]

The 2002 film

ISBN 2-920176-85-4
.

References

  1. ^ a b "Holy Moses Mountain Family". World Religions and Spirituality Project. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Laver, Ross; Kaihla, Paul (Feb 8, 1993). "The Ant Hill Kids". Maclean's. Vol. 106, no. 6. p. 18. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  3. JSTOR 3711432
    .
  4. ^ a b c d Ross, S. (2010, January 13). Sect of roch Thériault - Cults. (n.d.).Local Community Forum and Information for Every Town, Village and Hamlet in Britain. Retrieved March 15, 2013, from [1]
  5. ^ Roos, Robin (2020-05-20). "THE ANT HILL KIDS: Break Your Legs With A Sledgehammer Or Go To Hell". CVLT Nation. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  6. ^ Homer, Aaron (2023-03-16). "Who Killed Roch Thériault Of The Ant Hill Kids Cult?". Grunge. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  7. ^ MacEachern, B. (2011, February 28). MyKawartha Article: Former Burnt River cult leader killed in jail . Mykawartha.com | Your Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes online newspaper . Retrieved March 2013, from http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/960359--former-burnt-river-cult-leader-killed-in-jail Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine,
  8. ^ Kovalchik, K. (2010, February 16). 4 Cults You Might Not Know About - Mental Floss. (n.d.). Random, Interesting, Amazing Facts - Fun Quizzes and Trivia - Mental Floss. Retrieved March 2013, from "4 Cults You Might Not Know About - Mental Floss". Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  9. ^ a b Dimmock, G. (2011, November 14). Revealed: Murder of Canadian cult leader who performed ritual killings and beat children to death | Ottawa Citizen. (n.d.).Opinion - Blogs - Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved March 15, 2013, from "Revealed: Murder of Canadian cult leader who performed ritual killings and beat children to death | Ottawa Citizen". Archived from the original on 2013-04-08. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  10. ^ "4 Cults You Might Not Know About". 2010-02-16. Archived from the original on 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  11. ISBN 0-385-25440-7
    .
  12. ^ Beeby, Dean (March 10, 2008). "Cult killer's prison art for sale on U.S. website". The Star. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved Jul 7, 2020.
  13. ^ "Prison officials move to block sale of murderer's artwork". CBC News. April 6, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  14. ^ "Officials bring down gavel on murderer's art auction". CTV News. April 4, 2009. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  15. ^ "Roch «Moïse» Thériault tué | capacadie.com". Archived from the original on 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
  16. ^ "Inmate suspected in cult leader's death: RCMP". CBC News. February 28, 2011. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  17. ^ "Fellow inmate charged in cult leader's death". CBC News. May 6, 2011. Archived from the original on May 9, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  18. ^ "Life sentence for murder of cult leader Roch Thériault". The Gazette. Montreal. March 5, 2012. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012.
  19. ^ "Savage Messiah". IMDb. Archived from the original on 2006-10-28. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  20. ^ "Savage Messiah - European Premiere Screening". di-ve.com. June 2, 2003. Archived from the original on March 19, 2006. Retrieved September 8, 2007.

Sources

  • Savage Messiah, a compilation by two journalists of Thériault's life until his arrest.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roch_Thériault&oldid=1219443307"