num_pages: 324
description: This is the sensational inside story of a frightening Canandian cult leader and his eight wives- the first full account of a staggering reign of terror at Rock Theriault's two communes in Quebec and Ontario. A three-year publication ban on evidence was lifted only after Theriault pleaded guilty in January 1993 to a charge of second-degree murder. But even then much horrific material was never released. This book makes it clear that when Canadians read of a Charles Manson or a David Koresh they cannot look complacently southwards and say it can never happen here.How did Theriault who called himself Moses maintain control over his eight wives and twenty-six children? How could someone once described as a renaissance man be so sadistic? How is it conceivable that the women he married stuck with him through torture drunken orgies and the removal of their children by an appalled Children's Aid Society?What sort of prophetic charisma led Rock Theriault's followers to work tirelessly for him in remote bush country and become unquestioning witnesses to -and victims of- his atrocities? How was Theriault able to charm his way past so many psychiatrists and social workers? Finally what if anything can relatives or the police do to intervene in such a cult unless or until crimes are brought to light?No one who absorbs this shocking story can take lightly the date on which Rock Theriault can apply for parole. No one who reads this remarkable piece of investigative reporting can fail to be compelled by the amazing narrative it unfolds.
language: English
title: SAVAGE MESSIAH
publisher: Doubleday Canada