Susan died in the early Spring of 1982. But Ill get the kids, and theyll be all right. The Daughters Tale: Anti-Catholic Cult Leaders Child Recounts Abuse. Intelligence Report, Spring 2008. Below are several (but not all) of Tony Alamos alleged wives. History: In 1993 Misheal Eden Jones-Williams became Tonys wife at 18 years old. The other children (Tabor and Antoinette) were conceived during Alamo and Kroopfs marriage and the biological mothers (Lydia Willis and Elizabeth Mercado) are in the group and currently living with (or near) Alamo. He remained in prison until his death in May 2017. Tony Alamo (1934-2017), American founder of the Alamo Christian Foundation Antonio Alamo, Jr., known as Tony Alamo, American physician and Nevada gaming official This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. 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. If hed married Brooke Shields I would be jealous. Many Hollywood celebrities were seen wearing them, including Michael Jackson, who wore a modified leather Alamo jacket on the cover of his album Bad. Alamo went on to own a health club and work in the music industry. [11], In 1976, the church relocated to Dyer, Arkansas, where Susan had grown up. Her name was Brigitta Gyllenhammer, and she lasted two years before divorcing him. By the time the church was at its height in 1980, they had their own television ministry and were bringing in tens of thousands of dollars each week. Alamo was recently convicted by a federal court jury in Texarkana, Ark., on 10 counts of transporting underage girls across state lines for sex. At its height, the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries had thousands of followers around the country, according to the AP. To treat my mother like a bag of garbage? The documentary series also features archival footage, including Tony Alamo's videotaped deposition, as well as interviews with former members of the cult and the FBI agent who brought Alamo down.[23][24]. Just why Alamo had the corpsewhich he claimed spoke to him from the graveremoved from its tomb was not explained in Spears order. [11], In 2016, award-winning playwright Ernest Kearney produced his one-man show My Alamo War for the Hollywood Fringe Festival in Los Angeles, California. In 2019, the American television channel Sundance TV broadcast the four-part miniseries Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo, based on the lives of Tony and Susan Alamo. Then in 1991, as federal authorities moved to seize the churchs myriad assets, the mausoleum in Dyer was broken into and Susan Alamos body disappeared. Tony Alamo was born on 20 September 1934 and his place of birth was in Joplin, Missouri, US. The IRS Commissioner found that "MSC was so closely operated and controlled by and for the benefit of Tony Alamo that it enjoyed no substantive independent existence; that MSC was formed and operated by Tony Alamo for the principal purpose of willfully attempting to defeat or evade federal income tax; and that MSC was inseparable from Tony Alamo, and failed to operate for exclusively charitable purposes. My mother learned strong-arm tactics from my father and then finessed it with religion, Coie said. Theyre messed up children, Amrhein said. He professed this great love for my mother. Her estranged daughter, Christhiaon Coie, brought a suit against Tony for stealing the body, and her stepfather obtained a court order requiring the body to be returned.[14]. 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They also ran a nationwide network of lucrative, church-owned businesses, authorities said, including a distributor of designer denim and leather jackets, studded with rhinestones, that sold for $1,000 or more. Lizzy and her parents were threatened with expulsion from the group and eternal damnation if they did not comply with Alamos demand for her virginity. In this paragraph, we have covered all details of his relationship and wife in this article. He was 82 years old. McNeil, Betsy. The term 'cult expert' is not protected. History: In California in February 1993 Tony Alamo took Lydia , an African American, as a second wife. [21], The church was Protestant and Pentecostal in nature and it was frequently referred to as a sect of the Jesus movement. Beginning in the 1960s in California, erstwhile music producer Tony Alamo became interested in authoritarian religion and, along with his charismatic wife, Susan, began gathering followers. When Alamo was released from federal prison in 1998, he quickly reassumed his status as the head of a now smaller Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, which is headquartered in Miller County, with branches in Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Los Angeles. For years they were side by side, and Anthony said he believes she was the true mastermind of Alamo Ministries. Many of the businesses have closed down. Alamo says he married Amrhein in December. At the time, Susan was married to Coies late father, Solomon Samuel Lipowitz, whom she described as a good man and a prizefighter who was also a mobster. For more about the harrowing experiences of Amy Eddy and Pebbles Rodriguez and how they reclaimed their lives, watch tonights episode of People Magazine Investigates: Cults at 9 oclock ET on Investigation Discovery. He remained in federal custody since then, spending his days at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, when he died on May 2, 2017, at the age of 82. She sings better than he does. Alamos Fort Smith attorneys say they do not know if Alamo divorced Gyllenhammar and if he properly married Amrhein. They were even told who they were going to marry: the 62-year-old leader of their apocalyptic group. I still do, said Coie, who last saw her mother in 1971 when she quit the sect against her parents wishes. In 1975, the Alamos purchased land in Dyer, near Alma, and there established the main branch of the Music Square Church, which later was called the Holy Alamo Christian Church Consecrated before its present name was adopted. Preacher Tony Alamo Told to Return Wife's Remains. 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. Im not jealous. He served slightly less than four years, was transferred to a Texarkana halfway house, and by Christmas 1998, he was a free man again. Shown here in 1993 at Alamos birthday party before she became a wife and again after she was unofficially married to Alamo. Now Tony . At the age of 82, Tony Alamo died while serving his federal prison sentence. You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. He built her a heart-shaped mausoleum, and the church kept her body on display. Her name was Susan (born Edith Opal Horn) Lipowitz, nine years his senior. Tony was a street preacher and his ministry would offer . An assistant called back and said Alamo had divorced Gyllenhammar but would not say where. In the official record, Tony Alamo is listed as a pastor. Im not worried. Witnesses at his trial described being taken as child brides, with some as young as 9 years old. After years of legal troubles during which he was accused of engaging in abusive behavior against his followers,[3] Alamo was convicted of ten child rape offenses in 2009. This newspaper traced the advertising agency promoting the association to the Alamo of Nashville clothing store. Tony allegedly threatened to kill Arnold but was never held legally accountable. They made a record together, and they cant sing. On July 23, 1998, after a three-year legal battle, his followers brought the body to a funeral home in Van Buren (Crawford County). This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. But last month Spears concluded after a weeklong trial that Mr. Troubles continue to mount for Tony Alamo Christian Foundation. This is so perverse.. The smaller compound was now in Fouke, Arkansas, but there were two extant branches in Ft. Smith and Los Angeles. The monthly gross went from $50,000 to $120,000.. Amy E. Unofficial wife of Tony Alamo Jordan (Kenyas son) was born in Alamos house and Alamo currently refers to him as the bastard and the nigger. The Alamo Christian Foundation. Arkansas Historical Quarterly 76 (Autumn 2017): 218247. Preacher Alamo Told to Return Wife's Remains. He keeps his life private but we will mention it as we found. Offers may be subject to change without notice. They legally changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo. While they live states apart Pebbles, a stay-at-home mom who is in the process of getting a divorce, is in the Phoenix area with her two young sons; and Amy is studying to get into college in Oklahoma City, where she is also raising two boys with her boyfriend they are forever linked and speak with each other daily. Susan was the love of Alamos life, and by the time he met her, hed already dropped Bernie and begun calling himself Mark. Hed tried out a few stage namesBernie was a singersuch as Mark Hoffman and Marcus Abad.. The Ravening Wolf. Intelligence Report, Fall 2007. They have a son, Tabor, together. Tony Alamo kept Mrs. Marston's phone and utilities in her name. History: Alys went to Tony Alamos house in Fouke, Ark at 11 yrs old to become Alamos wife. What were they doing in New Orleans?. He has written and spoken favorably about polygamy over the years. The ministry has buildings in Moffett and Muldrow. As young girls, Amy Eddy and her best friend, Pebbles Rodriguez, did not have any control of their lives. A hearing was held the day after her arrest. Tony Alamo was a well-known evangelist who, after a radical conversion to Christianity, founded what is now called Tony Alamo Christian Ministries with his wife, Susan, later establishing its headquarters in Dyer (Crawford County). Saying he appreciated the articles about Alamo, Amrhein insisted, Ill keep the kids. Spears also rejected Alamos $3.5-million counterclaim that Coie had slandered and defamed him. Tony renamed the business and ran the organization as a benevolent and energetic father figure. In six months, when she didnt rise from the dead, Tony finally buried her. Gyllenhammar and Alamo were married in June 1984 in Los Angeles by Rev. She bore a child to Tony, a girl, Antoinette, in June of 2001. 2833. For more on former child brides Amy Eddy and Pebbles Rodriguez, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this weeks issue, on newsstands now. The various publications his ministry offered, such as The Vatican Moscow Washington Alliance, detailed his conspiracy theories. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Said Hutchinson: We get their literature on our windshields about every Sunday morning.. For every Chris Coie out there, there are hundreds of people who would say just the opposite with regard to her allegations about the church and about Tony, James said. You know, what gets me about this is [my mother] made him a multimillionaire many times over, Coie said. Born Bernie Hoffman, the boy from Missouri wasnt an average preacher. She was born four and a half years before Black Friday, and the Great Depression dealt her already poor family another blow. She married Solomon Lipowitz, and together, they had a daughter. When Bernie LaZar Hoffman was born on Sept. 30, 1934, in Joplin, Missouri, he wasn't born into a particularly religious household. The U.S. Attorney's Office argued that the owners were "owners in name only" because the properties were still under Alamo's control. Among the businesses which Alamo started was decorating denim jackets and airbrushing them with bright, colorful designs. He apparently adopted the name Marcus Abad for some time and achieved some modicum of success as a big band crooner in Los Angeles, California. Both members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, they were forced to follow countless rules and required permission to go outside. Amy and Pebbles were finally freed from their torture in 2008 when Alamo was arrested and charged with 10 counts of interstate transportation of minors for illicit sexual purposes. She was arrested as she went to pick up her passport. 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