Hughes, Dave. Executive summary: Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Read our Privacy Policy. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. While Alamo was tied up in the courts on federal tax evasion charges, other allegations were levied against him from various quarters. He professed this great love for my mother. After both he and Susan converted to Christianity, they established the Music Square Church and began a Hollywood street ministry, passing out religious tracts and preaching especially to drug addicts, alcoholics, and prostitutes. In return, Jody says, Tony Alamo took away her childhood at the age of 10 by putting her to work eight hours or more a day in the church's denim jacket business. The girls grew up in Fouke, Arkansas, where they lived on a compound of the eponymous religious organization created in the late 1960s by Tony Alamo and his wife, Susan. [11], Seventeen days before her 57th birthday, Susan Alamo died of breast cancer on 8 April 1982 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the City of Faith hospital. And when she was 17, he took her virginity after making her one of the three "wives" he had at the time. "[16] MSC sued and lost in the United States Court of Federal Claims. You are here: Home | Preacher Tony Alamo Told to Return Wifes Remains. I didnt respect anything she ever did in her life but shes still my mother and I loved her completely. Alamo, whose real name is Bernie Lazar . To treat my mother like a bag of garbage? He was walking down the hallway in his black regalia and five-inch elevator shoes, Amrhein recalls. He kept the presses at his print shop running day and night, churning out literature about Satanic conspiracy theories perpetrated against him and the church. There the church grew to several hundred members and it also established printing facilities, a school, and a tabernacle. He served slightly less than four years, was transferred to a Texarkana halfway house, and by Christmas 1998, he was a free man again. Tony Alamo quickly predicted that she would be resurrected and kept her embalmed body on display at the Arkansas compound for approximately six months before placing it in a mausoleum. 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. Church members branched out to begin small businesses within the nearby community of Alma, Arkansas. In November of that year, the judge sentenced him to 175 years in prison. Others said they never got paid. Alamos various marriages were controversial and difficult to number. Anyone can use it regardless of ability, approach, or level of acceptance by recognized authorities in the field. All Rights Reserved. Alamo Christian Foundation zeroed in on street kids, and there were no shortage in 1960s Hollywood. $50,000 reward offered in two-year-old Delaware cold case murder can you help catch a killer? History: In 1993 Misheal Eden Jones-Williams became Tonys wife at 18 years old. All Rights Reserved. In September 1994, the Federal District Court for the Western District of Tennessee sentenced Alamo to six years in federal prison in Texarkana, Texas. She later claimed her husband beat and drugged her and demanded she undergo plastic surgery to make her look like Susan. Their partnership brought in more members than ever. She was born four and a half years before Black Friday, and the Great Depression dealt her already poor family another blow. But Ill get the kids, and theyll be all right. However, he denies he has more than one wife but several victims have escaped and come forward with the truth. Alamo says he married Amrhein in December. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. Online at http://www.religionnewsblog.com/8506 (accessed February 23, 2023). Tony renamed the business and ran the organization as a benevolent and energetic father figure. He called the new entity Music Square Church and filed for tax-exempt status. Alamo to Return Body of Wife after 7 Years. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,July 24, 1998, pp. Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Alamo, who was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman, died Tuesday at the age of 82 while in custody at a federal prison hospital in Butner, N.C., the Bureau of Prisons said, according to the Associated Press. According to Alamo, while he was in a meeting at a Beverly Hills investment firm, Jesus came to him and told him to preach the second coming of Christ. Tucker, Maria Luisa. In their prime during the 1970s and early 80s, the oddly paired Alamoshe a puffy Elvis look-alike and she a platinum-haired matroncommanded hundreds of followers, many of them living in what the government called a commune in Saugus remote Mint Canyon. In 1966, Tony was arrested on a gun charge, a felony for which he served jail time. Preacher Alamo Told to Return Wife's Remains. Additional support provided by the Arkansas General Assembly. [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. Many of the businesses have closed down. 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. 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. [1][2] He was 82 years old. Hed lost his best friend, business partner and favorite wife and she was only 56. A chancery court judge ordered Alamo to return the body in 1995 in response to a suit filed by Christhiaon Coie, Susan Alamos estranged daughter. Online at https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/05/13/the-barely-legal-empire-of-tony-alamo/ (accessed February 23, 2023). Susan Alamo died in April 1982. Picture taken in 1993. The smaller compound was now in Fouke, Arkansas, but there were two extant branches in Ft. Smith and Los Angeles. Williams, John. I knew how he thinks, and what he might do, she said. [17][18][19][1][2], In June 2013, the federal government filed forfeiture and collection actions in federal court on 27 properties which were owned by members of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, in an attempt to collect $2.5 million in restitution that Alamo was ordered to pay to his victims. At one time, Alamo owned as many as twenty-nine businesses in nearby Alma, including Alamo Western Wear, as well as Alamo Restaurant and Alamo Discount Grocery. Special Trial Judge Larry L. Nameroff ruled, however, that the organization was essentially operated for Tonys and Susans private benefit, and the IRS seized some of the church property for an auction. In 1966, after serving jail time for a weapons charge, Alamo married Edith Opal Horn from Alma (Crawford County), also of Jewish descent. He accused me of having an ungodly statue of a man and a woman. Saying he appreciated the articles about Alamo, Amrhein insisted, Ill keep the kids. Also he owned the Little Mark, Alamo, and Talamo Records record labels. The Only Limits Are the Ones You Place on Yourself. Meet the First U.S. Amputee to Scale Mount Everest, The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election. As young girls, Amy Eddy and her best friend, Pebbles Rodriguez, did not have any control of their lives. His skin is very white and clammy. 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. The full weight of the crimes hed committed was finally coming to light, and in 2014, a judge from Miller County, Arkansas, ruled in a case brought by seven ex-cult members. Gyllenhammar, who moved to California from Sweden 15 years ago, talked of a romance that had gone sour. When it became clear she wouldnt survive, she told church members she believed she would rise from the dead. Meanwhile, lawsuits filed by former church members accused the couple of controlling their flock with intimidation and beatings. Amy E. Unofficial wife of Tony Alamo Alamos church also lives, if in a far smaller and less organized fashion, said several sources including Alamos own lawyer. This is so perverse.. Theme Ported to Wordpress by Kaushal Sheth . Asked about his wealth, Gyllenhammar said she is not entitled to any of his property because all of it belongs to the foundation. In July 1998, he was transferred to a Texarkana halfway house, from which he was released on December 8 of the same year. She is seeking a sizeable monthly alimony so she can take care of the bills she claims he hasnt paid. The church quickly expanded its holdings, buying several businesses and establishing a compound in nearby Saugus. Bowden, Bill. Her name was Brigitta Gyllenhammer, and she lasted two years before divorcing him. Some days are easier than others.. 1416, 18. History: In Arkansas in January 1994, Elizabeth Mercado (aka Lizzy Gutierrez) became Tonys wife. Bernard was born in 1934 and took a bus to Hollywood before graduating high school. The IRS and the labor board will take it all away from him, she said, referring to court rulings that have ordered Alamo to pay his followers minimum wage, as well as taxes on his businesses. At one time she had to go to a Van Buren chiropractor because of the pain she suffered from the beatings. In the official record, Tony Alamo is listed as a pastor. Tony Alamo (19342017) was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman to a Jewish family. Tony Alamos second wife says they have never divorced and insists that his third marriage to Elizabeth Amrhein is invalid. 25-Apr-1925, m. 1966, d. 8-Apr-1982 cancer) Wife: Birgetta Oyllenhammer (m . On December 2, 2010, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld his conviction and sentence. As the government painstakingly made its case for tax evasion, Tony was fighting legal battles on multiple fronts. Alamo claimed that he and his followers had no assets and were living hand to mouth; he also apparently issued a death threat against Arnold, though he was later acquitted of that charge. Shown here pregnant with Alamos son, Tabor. It was her second marriage. Hes not paying his bills at his stores. 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. Tonys behavior after Susans death became troubling, but it turned out he had a long history of shady dealings and violent confrontations dating back to his days in Los Angeles. In 1976, a few unhappy followers reported him to the U.S. Department of Labor, who investigated. Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. Christian communities were good business in Hollywood, and The Alamo Christian foundation grew steadily over the next decade. [9], Tony and Susan Alamo founded the Alamo Christian Foundation in 1969 in Hollywood, California. He still hasnt paid me for the clothes he bought from my store in December 1984. Convicted a year later, he died in federal prison in 2017 at 82. Were free! Angela Marie Morales Unofficial wife of Tony Alamo . Amrhein is involved in a custody fight over her two children from a previous marriage but her marriage to the Alama-based minister is being called into question because Alamo's second wife, Birgitta Gyllenhammar, 43, says she is still waiting for him to sign the divorce papers. He left me with all the bills, she said. They charged him with several counts related to his tax issues. The 61-year-old Alamonow serving a six-year sentence in Colorado for failing to file tax returns and submitting a false onemust also arrange for her proper and legal entombment, Spears ruled. She sings better than he does. In this paragraph, we have covered all details of his relationship and wife in this article. Magazines, Digital Offers may be subject to change without notice. Updated. They complained of long shifts, and some revealed the organization required absolute loyalty. It would turn out this marriage would be forever for only one of them. That is one reason why we can provide this research service free of charge. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Like a cheap carnival act, Coie recalled last week, he kept it on display in an open casket, telling church followers that Susan Alamo would rise from the dead. Whispering in the Daylight: The Children of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries and Their Journey to Freedom. The main campus continued to grow, adding gas stations, a restaurant and a hog farm, according to The New York Times. 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 came to me nose to nose and pulled a Muhammad Ali on me. 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. Our website includes affiliate links, which means we get a small commission -- at no additional cost to you -- for each qualifying purpose. She and her son are mistreated more than the others and are both referred to as "nigger" by Alamo. Families Torn by Their Loved Ones Faith in Tony Alamo. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,June 11, 2000, pp. . 1A, 11A. [21], The church was Protestant and Pentecostal in nature and it was frequently referred to as a sect of the Jesus movement. Sensing that a panicky Alamo might move the body, Coie had obtained a restraining order, taped to the tomb, that forbade anyone from disturbing it. Lydia and Tabor are no longer in associated with the group or Tony Alamo. 72201. 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. They scooped up runaways and drug users off the streets of Hollywood, giving them food, shelter and fundamentalist religion tinged with anti-Catholic and anti-government messages. Susan died in the early Spring of 1982. "They did not leave a paper trail," said Tampa police Detective Grady Snyder. The Alamo Christian Foundation was an American cult founded in 1969 by Christian evangelist Tony Alamo and one of his wives, Susan Alamo. Encyclopedia of Arkansas [8] Converting from Judaism to Christianity, she became an itinerant evangelist before she met Hoffman. Siege of the Alamos. People Weekly, June 13, 1983, pp. 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. Her name was Brigitta Gyllenhammer, and she lasted two years before divorcing him. This is how he shows his gratitude? July 11, 1993. The housing complex in Muldrow appears to be vacant. [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. Jordan (Kenyas son) was born in Alamos house and Alamo currently refers to him as the bastard and the nigger. Theyd been tipped off by three former members, all men whose sons had been taken to California after their ex-wives married other Alamo Church members. Now Tony Alamo is also a grave robber-at least in the eyes of an Arkansas judge, who has . One business was particularly successful airbrushing denim jackets to produce beautiful pop art. Probably the strangest incident surrounding Tony Alamo Christian Ministries had to do with the body of Susan Alamo, who died of cancer on April 8, 1982. 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. Susan became ill with breast cancer in the late 1970s, just as shed reached the height of her business success. In return, their own needs would be met and their children would receive basic education through high school. The bastard and the Alamo Christian Foundation was an American cult founded in 1969 Christian... I knew how he thinks, and the Alamo Christian Foundation in 1969 in Hollywood, California Little,. 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