31: Trust Me: The False Prophet | Inside the Disturbing Details Behind Netflix’s New Cult Documentary

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polygamist leader accused of abusing child brides they're in a cult they're their brains are not their own and witnesses could see small hands were sticking out of the back investigators found three young girls inside wearing wedding rings abatement amassed more than 20 wives living together in a compound this arrest the beginning of bateman's downfall put your hands behind your back on april 8th 2026 netflix released a new documentary called trust me the false prophet now this doc highlights the crimes of a man named samuel bateman and maybe for some of you the name is unfamiliar however we actually have talked about samuel before see he was the leader of like a cult within a cult a bizarre offshoot of a cult within a cult and he was the leader of the flds and with his cult not that the flds with warren jeffs wasn't bad enough but with his there were so many hidden secrets and so many hidden crimes i'm talking young nine-year-old wives inner family marriage all sorts of bizarre things going on so for today's episode i'm going to revisit the episode that we did when i first exposed everything that i knew about samuel bateman when i went down like the full rabbit hole of everything that he did all his dirty secrets just the whole nine however this time i'm going to be weaving in more recent updates about his case and what you need to know about this new documentary and some revelations that have come from that because i think it's really interesting not only are you learning and seeing and witnessing this man who basically when warren jeffs was taken away tried to enter in as him as the new prophet step into his role but even in a darker more twisted way if that's even possible but now there's also i don't know if i would say like this point of contention but kind of where so many flds followers are still loyal to warren jeffs but some are also loyal to samuel bateman so it's kind of this weird crossroads within the flds so i'm going to break all of it down for you but i want you to be warned it is certainly not an easy topic to discuss there are a lot of weird ass things that are going on like we see in all cults right but we're going to break it down together all right i'm annie elise this is 10 to life today we are reopening the case of samuel bateman and we're going to be talking about the case of samuel bateman and let's get into it now really quickly before we get into the episode i do want to share with you spring merch is officially here but quantities are very limited so you're going to want to snag it now before it sells out it sold out last time very quickly and this is the first time we have merch back in for gosh almost a year now maybe so head to annie elise and i'll see you in the next one annieelise.com right now secure your goods and can't wait to see what your favorite is this time first let's talk about what the flds is because it can be pretty confusing the fundamentalist church of jesus christ of latter-day saints or the flds church as we will be referring to it as because that other statement and name is just like a huge mouthful it's basically a religious sect of the fundamentalist mormon denominations whose members practice polygamy and just in case you aren't familiar with the flds it's basically a religious sect of the fundamentalist mormon with polygamy polygamy is the practice of marrying multiple spouses usually in most cases it's when a man is married to multiple women at once which you've probably heard of the show sister wives it's the same kind of concept however in rare cases there are some families where the women are married to multiple men as well and tlc did a show on this called brother husbands i believe it was called and it's pretty wild just look it up but the flds emerged in the early 20th century when its founding was in the early 20th century and it was the first church to have a church founding members were excommunicated from the church of latter-day saints now the lds church is not to be confused with the flds church two separate things largely because of their refusal to abandon the practice of plural marriage after it was denounced by the church in 1904 polygamy is in fact illegal in the united states and it is not a protected american right however it is almost never prosecuted because it is so hard to prove and officials do not necessarily want to disrupt family units the flds are taught that they are the one and only true people of god on earth and that being part of the flds means that you have the highest degree of salvation they are taught that god's picture of earth is for a man to have multiple wives and in order to reach the highest degree of the celestial kingdom you must have at least three wives if you did reach this top tier then in the afterlife you would basically become a god yourself but one thing that was never taught is what women would become other than just a wife and that's what we're going to learn throughout this video that in this religion women are seen as nothing more than a piece of property a possession if you will this community is known to take place in two neighboring towns colorado city arizona and hilldale utah it is widely known as the short creek community these two places border each other and really are one of the most important places in the country this community is historically known for its practice of polygamy roulon jeffs led this organization until his death in 2002 he died at the age of 92 and according to documents it's believed that he had approximately 65 wives and 62 children i mean guys talk about overkill one of those 62 children was a son named warren jeffs who was born nearly two months prematurely in 1955. now i'm sure even if you don't know all of the inner workings of the flds you probably are familiar with the name warren jeffs and every time i hear his voice it sends a shiver down my spine or up my spine i don't know what the correct phrase is for that but like the creepiest voice you'll hear a little bit of it later but like i can't okay so anyways now his mother marilyn always pushed warren to be close with his father roulon she thought that he was so special because of his circumstances of surviving and his family and his family and his family and his family and being premature she stated that previous prophets had visited her in a dream and told her that warren was going to be a very special person so this made warren grow up to have this holier than thou type complex and personality and he wasn't liked by many people growing up he was awkward weird and kind of nerdy if i'm being honest but he had this proud way of being able to read people to pick up on what was important to them and to use that to manipulate and control them so as warren became a very important part of his life and as he grew older he became a very important part of his life and as he grew older he became a very important part of his life and as he grew older he became a very important part of his life and as he grew older he became a very important part of his life began to grow closer to rule on and started slowly taking over his teachings became even scarier he began to teach more about god's wrath and basically told the people of the church that they were going to be destroyed and cleansed off of the face of the earth if they did not live according to the flds and to submit to all of the prophets teachings because it was directly from god himself it was all fear-based to get these people to live according to the flds and to submit people to conform to his ways in 2002 after rulon died warren's fully took over and everybody was very confused by the death because they were always taught that he would never die that he was going to become young again they were taught that he was supposed to be the last prophet the one to bring them into the millennium so people were scared they didn't know what was supposed to happen now and what were his 65 wives now supposed to do and all of his children so many people just waited for him to literally sit up and come alive again and be renewed again in the many weeks after rulon's funeral warren was speaking as though his father was renewed and that his father had just assumed his body now like reincarnated into warren's body and slowly over time and with much manipulation people began to believe that warren was the next prophet of god now warren first came on to investigators radar after discovering that hundreds of teenage young boys were being kicked out of the flds community leaving them homeless this all happened in the late 19th century and warren was the first to die and he was and you had the lost boys who were essentially homeless and warren went on to have many many many many more women he had a total of 87 wives with the youngest one being 12 years old marianne jessup is known as the youngest wife of warren jeffs on july 27 2006 12 year old marianne was escorted to the temple by her parents she hadn't even had her first menstrual cycle yet there she was sealed for time and time again and she was taken to the temple by her parents and she was time and all eternity to Warren Jeffs. During the wedding ceremony, they were expected to consummate the marriage, where Warren truly assaulted Mary Ann, while many of his other wives watched. In June of 2005, Warren was charged in Arizona with assault on a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual misconduct, again, of a minor. In July, the Arizona Attorney General's office released wanted posters, rewarding $10,000, seeking information leading to the arrest of Warren Jeffs. In April of 2006, a warrant for Warren's arrest was issued in Utah for felony charges for accomplice of RAPE of a teenage girl between the ages of 14 and 18 years old. At this point, due to the multiple charges being filed in multiple states, the FBI got involved, and they put this false prophet wannabe on their FBI 10 most wanted list, and offered a $60,000 reward. Which was soon raised to $100,000. However, Warren continued to arrange his child bride marriages up until his arrest in 2006. For more information, visit www.fema.gov. It is, I need a new word for sick. I need a new word for sick. It is like horrifying, humiliating, disgusting, nerve grinding, gut-wrenching, you name it. Now this all was way too much for Lydia, his first wife. She told him that their daughter would never be his wife. She then took their daughter and left, eventually filing for divorce and negotiating a custody agreement that banned Samuel from ever having any contact with his daughter again. I mean, hero status right here. And honestly, just good for her because this is the first and the only time in this story that we see one of these women have the wherewithal to actually protect their children and not sell them off, not bring them to the temple on a silver platter for these gross, perverted men. But Samuel Bateman's reign, although aggressive and swift in as far as how quickly it came on, it didn't last long. Not long at all because he's an actual idiot. On August 28th, 2022, Samuel Bateman was pulled over in Flagstaff, Arizona after a patrol officer noticed small fingers and small hands sticking out of a wooden horse trailer that was being pulled by a truck. Authorities reported that inside this unventilated trailer, they found three girls, ages 11 to 14, who were using a bucket as a toilet. That's right. It was this situation that led to an FBI investigation into Samuel Bateman. Now, we want to warn you, while this video is edited, some may find it disturbing. Body camera video shows the moments authorities pulled over this truck and trailer in Flagstaff. The reason why? Saw fingers poking out of the trailer. With guns drawn, they opened the doors. Finding three young girls. How old are you? 14. 14. How old are you? 11. How old are you? 12. Also inside the trailer, a couch, camping chairs, and a makeshift toilet. When they tried questioning the girls, this woman in the maroon dress stepped in. Basically telling them what's going on. Then one of the officers noticed. A 14-year-old, she had a ring on her finger, on her ring finger. They've all kind of like hidden those. I mean, we know what's going on here. Police say the person driving the truck is this man, Samuel Bateman. Court documents claim Bateman is a self-proclaimed prophet, part of the polygamist group with the FLDS. Investigators say Bateman has dozens of followers and more than 20 wives, many of them underage. He's also accused of sexually abusing multiple girls, trafficking them across state lines. As you can see, there's a pretty serious deal here, sir. Police tried to question him about the trailer. How many other people in the truck? But Bateman refuses to answer. How many other people are in the truck? When another officer tries. Explain to me what's going on. Hold down. Bateman was eventually arrested. Put your hands behind your back. Samuel was taken into custody, arrested, and booked into the Coconino County Jail. He was charged with three counts of child endangerment, but was released from state custody when one of his followers, Torrance Bistline, posted his $150,000 bail using a business check from a company called Velocirapper, which is a company founded by the Bistline family, where they build self-propelled wrapping cable machines for wind and solar farms. And the Bistline family are huge fans of the Bistline family. They're a big fan of the Bistline family. They're huge followers of Samuel, no surprise. And Samuel is also married to one of the Bistline daughters, Naomi. So when Samuel was in jail, he managed to get instructions to his followers that they should go ahead and delete electronic evidence off of their cell phones, specifically whatever communications they had within the app called Signal. Signal is an app that promises end-to-end encrypted instant messaging, where users can communicate with one another with the promise of the conversation can read what's being said, not even the developers of the app, not the police, not even the government. After Samuel was bailed out of jail and he returned to his followers, he allegedly continued to get rid of this evidence and started securing passports for some of his wives. But in the early morning hours of September 13th, 2022, dozens of armed FBI agents raided the Short Creek community yet again. Specifically, they raided two homes that were affiliated with Samuel. Samuel was a member of the Bistline family, and Samuel was a member of the Samuel Bateman, as well as the business address for that Velociraptor city. Velociraptor, it's not the dinosaur, it's Velocirapper, sorry guys, which we know was obviously also affiliated with Samuel. But I guess a Velociraptor like a predator, it kind of works, it works, whatever. So they went into the two houses, a greenhouse where he lived with his wives, and a blue house that was about two blocks away from the greenhouse, where Moroni Johnson lived with two other brothers named Torrance and Lidal Bistline. Winning never sounded so good. What would you do if you won big? At Crown Coins Casino, real people win real prizes every single day. Hi, this is Chelsea from Dallas. I just hit the jackpot, won over 1,500,000. Visit crowncoins.com, sign up in seconds, enter code crown and get a free lucky wheel bonus. You may win up to 10,000 sweeps coins. Crowncoins.com, that's C-R-O-W-N coins.com. No purchase needed. Code valid for new users only. Void where prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply. Crown Coins Casino. Happy birthday, America. It's time to celebrate and play your favorite Las Vegas casino games by American-owned SpinQuest.com. What's better than fireworks and American pie? Hitting a blackjack in the palm of your hand and you won't lose your fingers. Over 1,000 games including slots and live dealers and $30 coin packs are on sale for 10. SpinQuest.com. Buy American players for American players. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Void where prohibited. Visit SpinQuest.com for more details. In the greenhouse where he lived, there was a white trailer that had been converted into a sewing room for all of his wives. When you enter this green home in the foyer, or the prayer room in this instance, you will see a big picture. In the framed picture is a 40-bedroom, multi-million dollar compound with words that say, coming soon. Kind of like a vision board. They were basically vision boards framed in this room that consisted of photos of private jets, mansions, ATVs, Bentleys, Rangers, and more. They were framed in this room that consisted of photos of private jets, all these physical things that Samuel was going to pretty much will into existence. In other words, steal enough money from his followers to be able to build this compound and purchase all of these materialistic things. Next to the vision boards, you'll see this picture of Warren Jeffs himself. On the photo, it says he is free. Because you know, these people are all still convinced that he's dead. That he is no longer alive and that Samuel is their new prophet. The blue house was a place for all of the women to sleep in. There's also photos of Warren Jeffs and previous FLDS leaders. At the warehouse, they seized hard drives, computers, his birth certificate, handwritten notes, journals, several cell phones, and even two adult toys. Gross. Samuel Bateman was taken back into custody again, and the Arizona Child Protective Services removed nine underage girls from the Short Creek community. Those nine girls were interviewed and placed into group homes pending dependency for safety. A dependency proceeding is basically where they're going to determine whether these girls' parents or guardians are fit enough to take care of them or not. The nine underaged girls were taken into custody and given initial interviews. During these interviews, none of them disclosed any sort of assaults or anything like that on the part of Samuel Bateman. But one girl did say that she was present and partially nude during one of his infamous sex group gatherings. The word starts with a no. I don't know if I can say it on you. So I'm not going to say it. But you know where I'm going. Like a group sex activity. The agents ended up scheduling additional interviews with five of the nine girls who stated that they had once slept in the same bed as Samuel, or they had written in their journals about kissing and touching him. According to the FBI, the girls refused to participate or cooperate fully in the interview, and the federal agents claimed that they believed that some of the older girls were influencing the three wives, Naomi, Donae, and Maretta, were definitely influencing these underage girls, their sister wives, not to talk to authorities. So the nine girls were separated from each other, and they were kept with their siblings and placed in different group homes around Arizona. During the time in those homes, one of the girls did disclose that she had in fact been assaulted by Samuel. Then on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, eight of the nine girls vanished from the homes that they were placed in, and their electronics that were left behind were taken away from them. had suggested that the girls were still in contact with the three older wives, Naomi, Donae, and Maretta, using that Signal app, the encrypted app that nobody can see what the messages are. So at around 8 30 p.m. the night that the girls left the group home, Samuel Bateman made a video call from jail to his adult wives. This video call was recorded because he was in jail, of course, and I feel like anyone in jail would know that they are being recorded, but I had no idea. In this video, it shows two adult wives sitting in the car. One is driving, and one is in the passenger seat. The one in the passenger seat was the one holding the phone. The wife in the passenger seat informed Samuel that they had two of the minor wives with them and used code names E1 and E2. At around 7 30 a.m. the next morning, he made another call, recorded video call from jail to one of his adult wives. In this video, it looked like they were in a hotel room of And Samuel asked why W2, which is another codename, name for the girl who decided not to run away from DCFS custody, he asked why she was not with them. Now, court records show that the girl referred to as W2 was between the ages of 11 and 12 years old, and Samuel Bateman took her in as a new wife in May of 2020, which made her around 9 or 10 years old when she was forced to marry Samuel, who was in his 40s. The wife informed Samuel that W2 was the only wife who had not left with them, but that they tried to get her to leave. So during this call, the camera panned from the two adult wives to the eight underaged girls. Samuel then asked the question, are you in our state? Which one of the adult wives replied, no, the mothers are in Arizona and heading to New Mexico with the babies. The FBI eventually learned that a credit card, which belonged to the cousin of one of the wives, had been used to rent an Airbnb. So on November 1st, W2, Samuel Bateman, who was in his 40s, and Samuel Bateman, who was in his 40s, and Samuel Bateman, who was in his 40s, and Samuel Bateman, who was in his 40s, had been used to rent an Airbnb. So on November 1st, W2, Samuel Bateman, who was in his 40s, but nobody answered. His backup witnessed the occupants of the house attempting to leave in a vehicle with the driver identified as Moretta, one of Samuel's wives. The police pulled over the vehicle and all eight of Samuel Bateman's underage wives were in the car and recovered. The three wives, Naomi, Donae, and Moretta, were all arrested and charged of kidnapping and impeding a foreseeable prosecution. The three of them are now awaiting a federal trial where they are facing 20 years to life in prison, which, rightfully so. Naomi Bisline is actually relieved that she is away from it all and stated that she doesn't want any contact with anybody involved in the FLDS. She's currently awaiting her next court appearance. Her lawyer put out a statement saying this. She's beginning to understand how victimized she was. She's realizing that she has loving family members independent of the cult that are out there to support her, and she was, from the most part, cut off from all of that. As of October 2023, Naomi was still behind bars awaiting her next federal court appearance. She had been charged with obstruction of justice and kidnapping. And this was all tied to deleting evidence at Samuel's directive and helping move underage girls across state lines for him. Now, over the following year, she remained part of the larger federal prosecution against Samuel's inner circle. Then, on December 3rd, 2024, Naomi was formally sentenced in federal court in Phoenix. Her conviction was released on December 3rd, 2024, and she was sentenced to three years in prison. This was fairly centered on obstructing an official proceeding and helping transport minors. So, essentially, carrying out Samuel's orders to hide evidence and to move his underage wives, if you can even call them that. This was all, too, as the FBI was closing in on him, on closing in on the scheme, the secrets. As of mid-2025, Naomi is still in federal custody serving her sentence. The exact term wasn't publicly listed in the reporting that we reviewed, but the charges that she pleaded, too, mean that she will remain incarcerated for a significant period of time. Meanwhile, the lawyer for Danae echoed what Naomi's lawyer said about victimization and added, she has been catapulted into a world foreign to her, and her incarceration is compounding the trauma that she's already endured in her young life. Danae is experiencing unimaginable agony being separated from her child. This is also the first time she has been separated from her mother, sister, and other close family members. By late December, Naomi was sentenced to three years in prison. In late 2023, Danae had been indicted for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and tampering with an official proceeding. Then, in August of 2024, she entered a plea agreement in federal court. She pled guilty to obstruction, admitting that, yes, she did delete messages for Samuel and help conceal evidence. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the much more serious kidnapping charges. But she also admitted her role in the kidnapping plot itself, helping pick up some of the girls, transporting them out of Arizona, and then, in the end, she was sentenced to three years in prison. Reconnecting them with Samuel's adult wives while they all were trying to hide. So, at sentencing, the judge took several factors into account, including the 20 months that she had already spent awaiting resolution, plus her history of trauma, coercion within the sect of this FLDS breakout group, the fact that she has a young daughter with a very rare terminal medical condition, and in the end, instead of more prison time, she received time served, six months of house arrest, three years of probation, and a year of prison. So, in the end, she was sentenced to three years in prison, mandatory life skills, and GED programming. She also had a ban on contact with Samuel, victims, or any active polygamist sects. As of now, she remains under court-supervised release, not incarceration. By late 2023, Moretta had been charged with kidnapping, conspiracy, transporting minors, and tampering, all tied to helping Samuel hide and move underage girls. She became one of the latest followers of his to formally plead guilty. She admitted that she played a direct role in removing the girls from Arizona State custody and then relocating them as part of the sect's plan to keep the children away from investigators. Her plea marked another major step in the case, too, shifting her from an indicted accomplice to a convicted co-conspirator. Her exact sentencing details also weren't fully listed in the available reporting, but as, of mid-2025, she is officially a convicted participant in the trafficking and kidnapping scheme. Now, here's a clear look at how the prosecutions around Samuel have unfolded since we last covered this case. In early 2024, several of Samuel's close followers appeared in federal court, and they entered not guilty pleas to an extensive list of charges. Prosecutors laid out just how large Samuel's operation really was, too. I mean, more than 20 wives, 10 of which included minors, and a coordinated network designed to hide abuse victims and destroy evidence as the investigators were closing in. But as the trial approached, things began to shift. Like I touched on above, more and more of Samuel's wives started flipping, admitting that they had not only helped hide his abuse, but that they had watched or participated in sex acts involving underage girls, that they helped plan and carry out the kidnapping and transport of minors from state custody, and that they hid all of his dirty secrets for him. So those plea deals really marked a major turning point in the case. And then came another development. One of Samuel's male followers, Morani Johnson, who we mentioned earlier in the episode, he confessed to transporting four underage girls across state lines, and he also admitted that he allowed Samuel to take some of his own daughters as what he called, quote, spiritual brides. Not long after all of that bombshells started coming out, Samuel himself entered a guilty plea. He admitted to taking underage girls as wives, orchestrating group sex acts involving minors, transporting girls across multiple states, and conspiring to kidnap them from state custody. So prosecutors recommended between 20 and 50 years, though one of the charges that he pled to carried a potential life sentence. And something really unusual happened with Samuel's plea when all this was going down, because it was tied directly to his followers. What I mean by that is for Samuel's deal to go through, all of the charged followers also had to plead guilty. And sure enough, by the deadline, almost all of them had. The only exception at that point was Naomi Bisline, who had previously been found not competent. But by the end of 2024, Samuel was formally sentenced to 50 years in federal prison. Essentially, a life sentence. And survivors delivered very powerful and emotional statements in court, describing what they endured inside his little offshoot sector of FLDS. That very same day, additional reporting confirmed the full scope of the abuse. Also, the transporting of minors across four states, the recording of these sex acts, the so-called atonement ceremonies, and also Samuel's claim that Warren Jeffs had died, and that he was now the new prophet. So that really gave the most complete picture that the public had seen. And Samuel's claim that he was now the new prophet, inside his inner circle. And finally, in May of 2025, one of the most heartbreaking pieces of this entire case came to a close. Moroni Johnson, the father who gave two of his daughters to Samuel Bateman, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison. In fact, two of his daughters testified at his sentencing, speaking directly to the years of trauma that he allowed, and that he kind of, you know, the system that he helped uphold within all of this. And what I mean by that moment being heartbreaking, it's not for him, obviously. He should have protected his daughters. But it's for his daughters, what they were put through at the hands of their own father, who they should have trusted. That's C-R-O-W-N-Coins.com. No purchase needed. Void when prohibited by law. Plus, terms and conditions apply. Crown Coins Casino! Hanging out at the pool is great. Relaxing and playing Vegas-style games on my phone at the same time. Drink in one hand and a blackjack in the other. It's all at SpinQuest. Over a thousand games, including your favorite slots and table games. Be cool with this summer special. New players get $30 coin packs for $10 at SpinQuest.com. Now, on April 8th, 2026, the new Netflix documentary was released that's titled, Trust Me, The False Prophet. And it has four episodes in it. And I'll be honest, each one is definitely worth checking out. Because it follows two people. Christine Marie, who has a PhD in psychology and an interest in cult-based human trafficking. And her husband, Tolga, who is a filmmaker. Now, of course, I'm not going to summarize the multiple hours worth of the documentary, or docuseries rather, especially since we've already gone over everything in this episode. However, I do just want to briefly talk about the docuseries itself as a whole. And a few of the things that really stood out to me. So to give you a little bit of a quick backstory, Christine and her husband moved into the FLDS community not long after Warren Jeffs was arrested. So they really came in during a moment when things started to change. And when Samuel Bateman became the new, you know, head dog, big dog, whatever you want to call it. So this docuseries isn't substantial because it's telling his story after the fact. It follows his rise from the very bottom to the top of the FLDS community. And then him breaking off and creating his own community. You know, his sect, the Samueltees. So this is pre-arrest, pre-everything that we know now. Now here's the thing. Christine and her husband had to do a little bit of lying. Because it's one of those situations where, yes, they weren't being truthful. And they weren't being truthful. They were deceiving, but with good intentions at the end of the day. They made Samuel, his wives, and the followers believe that they were there just documenting their community. Which was why Samuel and everyone else pretty much welcomed them with open arms. But not too long into their stay, they started to hear rumors about Samuel's wives. Specifically, that he had underage wives. So behind the scenes, they started making some phone calls to the authorities. And this was something that really stood out to me. And I have to say, it sent. It sent chills down my spine. Because Christine says that the cop that she spoke to concerning this possibility about Samuel Bateman being married to literal children responded by saying, It's not a crime to call someone your wife, even if it's a child. What is a crime is to do something with that child. Something like assault that child. Which, I can't even tell you how far off base that is. If there is a man saying that some 8-year-old little girl is his wife, it is concerning. It is concerning. So, of course, Christine and her husband, now took that as pretty much like a challenge. They already had the trust of the group and the people involved, including Samuel. So they were determined to get proof that there was something nefarious happening behind closed doors with Samuel and his underage wives. And what's so ironic is that Samuel was so into himself that he literally was so eager to be the face of this documentary. Though, of course, he wouldn't have been had he realized what the documentary was truly about. But at one point, they talk about, how Samuel was calling them up daily, wanting them to film just like pointless stuff. Things like hiking, dirt biking, anything to be on camera. And there were many moments when Christine and her husband were kind of just like sigh to themselves. Like, "I can't believe we're really about to go record Samuel hiking by himself for an hour. But we got to play our role. We got to get our info." They knew that it was all part of the process, part of getting that trust and getting behind the closed doors. Because even though they seemed welcoming, there were still rules. Christine, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Christine wasn't ever allowed to be alone with them and get the scoop, get the truth. She had to play along. She had to go along with every whim of Samuel's of like, "Fill me on my dirt bike, fill me hiking." Because she wanted to be exposed and build that trust. And sure enough, it worked. And one random day, their moment had finally come. It was the moment when they knew that they were on the right track. Samuel had invited them over, saying that he had one of his impressions, which was when God would allegedly tell him something. And he said that Christine and her husband needed to come over right away so that they could tell some of the things, so that they could see some of this and share and document what was going on. It was very vague, but they were kind of like, "Yeah, okay, sure." And then once they got there, Samuel said that he, Christine, her husband, and three of the girls needed to get into his Bentley and go for a drive. However, now he said no cameras, which obviously that was incredibly sketchy. Christine still, though, had her purse with her. And inside, once they got into the car, she snuck it out and she hit record. And apparently, in that moment, that is when Samuel finally confessed. Kind of. He said that he had been told by God that those three girls in the car with them, who were Samuel's wives, needed to have sex with other men in the community, and that he needed to watch. One of those girls was just 13 years old. So just like that, Christine had finally caught Samuel on tape admitting to sexually exploiting these minors, all under the guise of this impression that he got from God. It's really, really sick stuff. Especially since they play this recording in the documentary. I mean, don't get me wrong, just recapping all of this is hard enough to think about and, you know, put your, wrap your mind around. But seeing these actual videos of children and hearing their small little voices talking about the abuse that they faced, it is unreal. And really, I think that the most disturbing thing about this entire documentary is the fact that the authorities knew about the rumors. But it was these two random people with a mission who put in the work to get the proof. Had Christine and her husband just decided that this was too much for them, or that they couldn't put their lives on hold for this, and that it was such a slim chance, who knows what would have happened. However, that specific recording that I just mentioned, it ended up not being enough evidence. So they had to put in a lot more work. So at the same time as they were still filming Samuel, they were also going behind his back and playing a very risky game, interviewing people, talking with people, interviewing people they knew didn't agree with Samuel, people who had allegedly witnessed Samuel with his underage wives, doing things like kissing them and just being too close to them. And they were just trying to play both sides of the fence to get enough evidence. And then, one of Moroni's wives, Julia, began helping not only Christine, but the FBI. Now, Julia wasn't only one of Moroni's wives, but was also Moretta's mother. And like I mentioned earlier, Moretta was one of Samuel's most devoted wives. And Julia documented everything, things that Christine and her husband would have never had a chance to film, which seeing Julia in this documentary, it really truly broke my heart. I think that we hear about cults and sometimes we just can think, you know, well, why don't you leave? Just walk out, leave, get out. But it's never that simple. It's a cycle that you can't just get out of. Julia knew what was going on and she knew that it was wrong, but she was terrified, terrified of cops, but also terrified that if she went to them for help, they wouldn't believe her and they wouldn't do anything. Her exact quote in one of the episodes was, quote, "Will they hear the cry of one woman?" Which that just devastated me. Now, Samuel threatened Julia, not even knowing what she was doing, but threatening her that he would take her children away, something that would have been all too easy to do, and something that he had already done to four of her daughters, two of which were underage, including Moretta. So, I mean, nothing really was ever off the table. Not to mention that Julia knew that if Samuel ever even like smelled that anything was off, he would take everyone and flee. So, Julia knew that Samuel was growing worried, and she even told the authorities about him buying a plane and making everyone passports. And after he fled, who knows where they'd all end up? And to be honest, who knows if the FBI and other authorities would even look into it? I don't know. But think about that. I can't imagine that kind of uncertainty as a mother and that fear. But eventually, all of the hard work paid off. After months and months of essentially begging local law enforcement and even getting the FBI to get involved. And then finally, as we know, they eventually did, come in, arresting Samuel and saving these women and kids. I know that that was a lot to go over today. So, I want to thank you for sticking with me. Cults always fascinate me. I try to get in their mind. I try to figure out what the motivation is, which personally, I feel like more times than not, especially with these Mormon radicalized cults, I think it's so that they can be with underage women. I mean, why is it that you're the prophet and God is telling all of you, coincidentally, that you need to take a young bride? I mean, you're a pervert, right? So, anyway, I know that this one was difficult, but thank you for listening. As a reminder, the uncensored version of all of these episodes live on my podcast where I don't have to bleep a dang thing. So, you can listen to those anytime. I have two different true crime podcasts. One is called Serialistly with new episodes every Monday and Thursday. And then we also have the second true crime podcast, Tend to Life, which is where this episode is housed, and also uncensored and new episodes every single Tuesday. So, again, thank you so much for listening and until next time, until the next one, stay safe. Bye. and coins.com. No purchase needed. New users only. Crown Coins Casino. Hey guys, Lady Luck here. I just love the fall season. Crisp mornings, pumpkin spice latte, and it's the best time to cozy up and play SpinQuest. They have over a thousand different slots in all my favorite casino style games. And they're running a deal for all new players. A $30 coin package for just $10. So this fall, grab your favorite blanket, visit SpinQuest.com, and download the app today. Visit SpinQuest.com for more details.