[13], In 1991 the federal government confiscated the property, finding when its agents arrived that Susan's body had been removed. Pebbles Rodriguez claims Alamo married her in 1999 when she was 12. In 1984, Tony Alamo married what was either his fourth or sixth wife, as there have been claims he was married four times before he wed Susan. One of the fathers, Robert Miller, had previously overseen the churchs trucking company and alleged that Alamo had embezzled $100,000 from it. There are things that are out of my control, like recurring nightmares. 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The case of the boys went before U.S. District Judge Morris Arnold, who ruled that child abuse had taken place and awarded damages to the plaintiffs. For additional information: Alamo began preaching in Los Angeles in the 1960s on a platform of anti-catholicism, homophobia and polygamy with young women, according to the AP. Specific details about his death were not immediately known, though he reportedly suffered from a number of health problems, including diabetes and a 2011 heart attack. But after Susan died in 1982, Alamos behavior turned more deviant as he extolled the righteousness of polygamy and marrying young girls. Now Tony Alamo is also a grave robberat least in the eyes of an Arkansas judge, who has ordered him to lay to rest his wifes missing 13-year-old corpse. Alamo denies it. Communal living was a staple of the Music Square Church. Ill get my children back, said Nick Amrhein of Huntington, West VA. Ten would be convicted on ten counts, all related to trafficking underage girls across state lines. With the assistance of some church members, the Alamos produced records and tapes. Alamos church also lives, if in a far smaller and less organized fashion, said several sources including Alamos own lawyer. Gyllenhammar said Alamo is attracted to blond women. The assistant said there were many Scriptural reasons why they divorced. . Susan Alamo, born Edith Opal Horn, married Hoffman in 1966 after which the two changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo. Isabel Mendoza Unofficial wife of Tony Alamo Many of the businesses have closed down. History: In Arkansas in January 1994, Elizabeth Mercado (aka Lizzy Gutierrez) became Tonys wife. 25-Apr-1925, m. 1966, d. 8-Apr-1982 cancer) Wife: Birgetta Oyllenhammer (m . After he hooked up with Susan, his ambition, combined with her knowledge of Pentecostal life, along with the burgeoning pro-Jesus counterculture movement of the mid-1960s, resulted runaway success. 32, testified that she was taken as Alamo's wife at age 17 and that Alamo had five other wives at the time. Larowe, Lynn. Widely regarded as a cult, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries was at the center of a number of lawsuits and government actions, and its leader was jailed on a variety of charges, including income tax evasion, the theft of his late wifes body, and taking underage girls across state lines for sex. He claimed Satan was behind the continuous, relentless government prosecution and that he was the ultimate victim. She said, Im a successful designer. Special thanks to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. She said Alamo had sent her a telegram saying they were divorced, but she has been unable to get a divorce decree either in Van Buren or Nashville because he will not appear in court. What were they doing in New Orleans?. Amrhein called the Press Argus Courier this week after cult awareness groups sent him clippings that have appeared in this newspaper. Both members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, they were forced to follow countless rules and required permission to go outside. [11] Individuals who sought to join the church and become involved in its rehabilitation program took a vow of poverty and agreed to turn all of their money and property over to the church. In February 1991, Alamo ordered his followers to vacate the Arkansas compound prior to a federal raid and to bring along the body of Susan Alamo. Tony was heartbroken. He is very talented. Coie, a 45-year-old singer, said last week she had not expected a monetary award but sued to preserve some semblance of her mothers dignity. John Wesley Hall, a lawyer who represented Alamo, told the AP that several former members of his evangelist community expressed relief upon learning news of his passing was true. The next raid wouldnt just be the feds and it wouldnt be a pesky tax problem. At the age of 82, Tony Alamo died while serving his federal prison sentence. History: In 1993 Misheal Eden Jones-Williams became Tonys wife at 18 years old. Misheal Eden Jones-Williams Unofficial wife of Tony Alamo. He can be very charming.. I took care of his business. [1][2] The Alamo Ministries posted a notice of his death on its website's homepage, but it has not posted a notice of succession nor has it stated what its future plans are. Ive been asked to go to France and design clothes there. Hed lost his best friend, business partner and favorite wife and she was only 56. [4], After divorcing their respective spouses, Horn and Hoffman married in a 1966 Las Vegas ceremony, legally changing their names to Tony Alamo and Susan Alamo. [20], Alamo died on May 2, 2017, while he was in custody at the Federal Medical Center, Butner in Butner, North Carolina. March 1, 2023 3:00am. One business was particularly successful airbrushing denim jackets to produce beautiful pop art. He's a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. On November 13, he was sentenced to 175 years in prison and also was fined $250,000. The ministry has buildings in Moffett and Muldrow. WATCH: Cult Leaders & Child Brides: Breaking Down People Magazine Investigates: Cults. I dont get the feeling he is very smart.. [12], The church published religious tracts and distributed tapes of sermons by the Alamos. Nailing Tony Alamo. This Rock 1 (October 1990). The Alamo Christian Foundation last year lost its status as a tax-exempt religious organization and is now treated as a for-profit group by the IRS. It also operated a drug rehabilitation facility, and those who were involved in the church developed several businesses in the Alma area. Many of these individuals chose to stay on to become Bible students and lay ministers. In the reported belief that she would rise from the dead,[4] her embalmed body was kept on display for six months,[8] before it was entombed in a heart-shaped marble mausoleum on church property. Welsh, Adam. Susan Alamo died in April 1982. You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. When Bernie, sometimes called Mark, met Susan in 1965, they were both on their second marriages--at least thats what he told her. Sharon Ast-Kroopf-Hoffman Legal wife of Tony Alamo. This newspaper traced the advertising agency promoting the association to the Alamo of Nashville clothing store. She was born four and a half years before Black Friday, and the Great Depression dealt her already poor family another blow. After a decade of building the church, Susan and Tony moved everyone to Dyer, Arkansas, just outside Fort Smith near the Oklahoma border. Alamo is the president of the Alama-based Alamo Christian Foundation. Kenya was the son of Diana Elena Williams Alamo, a legal ex-wife of Alamos. She converted to Pentecostal Christianity in childhood. He claimed that the governments actions against him were merely the machinations of Satan, and his followers continued to attract controversy for distributing his printed literature across the United States and beyond. Saying he appreciated the articles about Alamo, Amrhein insisted, Ill keep the kids. Alamos Pentecostal theology includeed a virulent paranoia and extreme anti-Catholicism that placed the Vatican as the real power broker behind the White House, the United Nations, and the media. Gyllenhammar, who moved to California from Sweden 15 years ago, talked of a romance that had gone sour. They made a record together, and they cant sing. I wanted to push him to see if he could keep his balance in his elevator shoes. Alamos Fort Smith attorneys say they do not know if Alamo divorced Gyllenhammar and if he properly married Amrhein. Married in Las Vegas, the Alamos soon established their church, also known as the Susan and Tony Alamo Foundation. History: In 1989 Alamo married Sharon Kroopf (now Sharon Miriam Hoffman), in her late 30s at the time. Both Tony and Susan were impressive on the stage: he with eye-catching outfits and musical ability, she with fiery sermons and deep faith. Online at http://www.religionnewsblog.com/8506 (accessed February 23, 2023). The miniseries describes their founding and running of the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation which the program characterizes as a "cult" through which the Alamos became rich by exploiting their followers who truly believed in them. Her. About 18 months later, his prophecy unfulfilled, Alamo erected a mausoleum on the property and entombed her there. Acting didnt pan out, but Susan Lipowitz made a good living as an evangelical preacher, often leaving southern California for long stretches to preach in tents across the country. History: Alys went to Tony Alamos house in Fouke, Ark at 11 yrs old to become Alamos wife. They complained of long shifts, and some revealed the organization required absolute loyalty. Nicky, 12, and Amanda, 10, but apparently she violated conditions placed on her by the court. Some were forced to become his wives throughout the 1990s. At its height, the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries had thousands of followers around the country, according to the AP. ___ I made sure he was properly dressed. The smaller compound was now in Fouke, Arkansas, but there were two extant branches in Ft. Smith and Los Angeles. There are witnesses that can verify that Alamo, in a rage, cruelly beat and kicked Jordan. Jordan (Kenyas son) was born in Alamos house and Alamo currently refers to him as the bastard and the nigger. But he wanted to spend his birthday with me so we got permission for him to stay two days longer. He was 82 years old. Alamo, 74, faces up to 175 years in prison, plus fines that could total $2.5 million. Shown here holding Alamos biological son, Sion, in Palm Springs, California in 1993 and then again with her son, Jordan (picture taken in 1994) and another wife, Elizabeth Mercado (aka Lizzy Gutierrez) The Alamo Christian Foundation was an American cult founded in 1969 by Christian evangelist Tony Alamo and one of his wives, Susan Alamo. Lydia and Tabor are no longer in associated with the group or Tony Alamo. The U.S. Attorney's Office argued that the owners were "owners in name only" because the properties were still under Alamo's control. I mean, you cant put a good face on that, she continued. The Alamo Christian Foundation was set up in 1969 by husband and wife Tony and Susan Alamo, born Bernie Lazar Hoffman and Edith Opal Horn. Hes a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. It would later be determined that the church was mostly optics, as it became the way an increasingly erratic and unhinged Tony evaded paying any taxes on his growing fortune. The jackets sold profitably and began making real money for the church members and the church itself when celebrities began purchasing them for several thousand dollars each. But no. Sprinkle said she, her parents and others were beaten severely. When Alamo saw Amrhein at the hearing the evangelist appeared upset. The Barely Legal Empire of Tony Alamo. Village Voice, May 13, 2008. Her name was Brigitta Gyllenhammer, and she lasted two years before divorcing him. It was her second marriage. . Tony Alamo was born on 20 September 1934 and his place of birth was in Joplin, Missouri, US. I have a right to be angry, says Pebbles. Franke, Eric W. A Brief History of the Alamo Christian Foundation. New England Institute of Religious Research. 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