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Essay / Children of Thunder - 642
In the summer of 2000, five people were murdered by the Helzer brothers (Glenn and Justin) and Justin's girlfriend, Dawn Godman. The three members named their cult the Children of Thunder and committed these murders because they believed the killings would mark the return of Christ. The victims were Selina Bishop, 22, daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop, Jennifer Villarin and her partner James Gamble, as well as a couple married for 55 years, Ivan and Annette Stineman. Their bodies were cut into pieces, placed in black bags and thrown into the Mokelumne River. The leader of the cult was older brother Glenn, also known as Taylor. The Helzer brothers grew up Mormon and lived the lives they were supposed to live according to their beliefs. Then one day, Taylor and Glenn make a life-changing decision that will ultimately change the lives of his brothers and friends forever. Taylor wanted to change his lifestyle, so he stopped following Mormon ways, got divorced, started drinking, smoking and wearing black clothing. Because of the way Taylor began acting, he was eventually excommunicated from the Mormon Church. This was the beginning of Taylor's formation of his own belief system. Taylor believed: “There was good and evil, right and wrong. » Taylor began to believe that he was a prophet from God and that he could receive messages from him. He also believed that these murders he planned were part of God's master plan to defeat Satan. He convinced his brother Justin and Dawn to trust and follow his plans because God told him what to do. Justin and Dawn believed and did everything Taylor told them because they were warned that if people weren't loyal to Taylor, then he would kill them. Brother Helzer...... middle of paper ...... and him too. God doesn't tell people to murder others, we assume we love each other like we're family. Works Cited Demian, B. (nd). MARTINEZ / Guilty verdict for the murders of 5 / Last of 3 members of a sectarian group to be sentenced. San Francisco Chronicle (CA). Scheeres, J. (nd). Children of Thunder: The Helzer Brothers. Murderers Glenn Helzer and Justin Helzer called their cult the Children of Thunder. Accessed November 5, 2013, from http://www.icyte.com/system/snapshots/fs1/6/2/5/c/625c8b189427717d7b803311a7d14d5fbd9c07e5/index.htmlTv. (nd). Children of Thunder: The Helzer Brothers. Murderers Glenn Helzer and Justin Helzer called their cult The Children of Thunder – Bags of Bodies – Crime Library on truTV.com. Accessed November 5, 2013, from http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/classics/helzer_brothers/index.html