S5 E2 - To Hell And Back

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: American Nightmares – Gardens of Evil: Inside The Zion Society Cult
Network: Gamut Podcast Network
Episode: S5 E2 – To Hell And Back
Date: February 10, 2026
Host/Narrator: Aaron Mason

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Overview

This episode of American Nightmares delves deeper into the haunting story of the Zion Society cult—a group that, behind a suburban façade, enacted unspeakable abuse and control. "To Hell And Back" centers on survivors’ struggles to uncover and process their pasts, the lasting trauma inflicted upon them, and the law enforcement figures who, decades later, are drawn back into the case as survivors seek closure. Through raw survivor accounts and investigative recollections, the podcast shows not only how the cult ensnared its victims but also how deeply the system failed many of them after its demise.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Survivor Trauma and the Search for Answers

• The episode opens by highlighting the pain and ongoing rage of those affected, notably through Aunt Judy's refusal to forgive Arvin Shreve, the cult leader.
  • Aunt Judy (02:21): “I hate that man. I will go to hell for hating that man. Because I'm supposed to forgive and I can't. I can't forgive that he ruined so many lives.”
• Amber and Andrea, survivors of childhood abuse in the cult, recount their confusion, memory loss, and desperate need for validation decades later.
  • Amber’s story (03:10–06:23):
    • Abandoned at three days old; adopted into a family that later joined the Zion Society during a period of destitution.
    • Recalls feelings of disconnection and suicidal thoughts caused by gaps and doubts in her memory:
      • Amber (05:53): “It did make me feel suicidal and wanting to just… just let me just get out of all of this, because it made me feel like I was going crazy at that point. I felt no self. I felt no connection to others that I had been close with.”
• Andrea’s parallel journey illustrates deep psychological scars—chronic anxiety, depression, and inability to trust or love herself (09:35, 11:29).

2. Detective Mike King and the Reopening of Wounds

• Mike King, the investigator who led the case in the early ‘90s, is unexpectedly contacted by Amber and Andrea in 2018—both seeking help to fill in their missing memories.
  • Mike King (08:29): “I sent Amber a note saying, I'm sorry. It was a long time ago and I pray that you might somehow get the professional help that you need to work through this process. Hitting that send button in and of itself was pretty darn painful.”
• At first, Mike declines, fearing he cannot offer the help they seek and that re-engagement will be too emotionally taxing.
• A third prod comes from Reed Richards (former County Attorney), who asks Mike to participate in a 30-year retrospective with a focus on survivor outcomes.
• Mike is compelled by the survivor’s ongoing suffering and the realization that the system failed to provide adequate aftercare for the children. He decides to reconnect and help tell their stories.
  • Mike King (16:23): “Reading these case documents brings back some really vivid memories… I was thinking less of myself, and I started thinking more about the women and what good could be accomplished by helping them.”

3. The Genesis of the Investigation (1991)

• The timeline shifts to the initial collapse of the Zion Society: the chain reaction started by Erin Anderson’s confession in July 1991.
  • Narrator (20:21): “That is when a 23-year-old woman we’re calling Erin Anderson walked into the Ogden municipal building… and Aaron’s confession would be the first step toward bringing down the Zion Society.”
  • Mike King (21:28): “I believed that she believed that what she was telling me was true, but it was just way too overwhelming, too organized, too complicated for me to wrap my mind around.”
• Reed Richards’ initial skepticism is tempered by the gravity and detail of Erin’s allegations, shifting the case from odd rumors to imminent criminal peril for dozens of children.
  • Reed Richards (22:16): “She talked about things that clearly bordered on criminal activity… and if you believed her completely, were criminal activity.”

4. Cult Tactics: Recruitment, Isolation, and Abuse

Aunt Judy and Erin's Recruitment

• Aunt Judy provides a window into the subtle grooming and “love bombing” tactics that led Erin into the cult.
  • Aunt Judy (35:16): “You know, they just something about them from the very get go… there's something strange. And I even said to my mom, something strange about those women and I'm going to find out what it is.”
  • Despite sensing danger, Erin is gradually drawn in through friendship, empathy, and promises of support during a period of life turmoil.
• The cult manipulates vulnerabilities, offering what seems like agency but is, in reality, a false choice born of desperation.
  • Narrator (41:43): “Cults and groomers in general often use tactics that seem supportive and loving… The trick here is the illusion of choice. If a predator knows their victim is desperate, they'll simply offer them another option.”
• Aunt Judy’s attempts to extract Erin and her daughter from the cult result in a physically violent confrontation with Arvin Shreve (49:02) and failures by law enforcement, hinting at possible connections between police and cult leadership.

Life Inside the Cult

• Once inside, Erin experiences increasing control and sexualization, at first shielded and then forcibly exposed.
  • Mike King (56:48): “[Erin] saw inappropriate touching. She was told to teach the children certain kinds of philosophy that would be preemptive to sexual behavior between children and adults. And whenever she tried to pull back, she'd be ostracized by the group.”
• The group’s use of reward withdrawal to enforce compliance is described as “boiling a frog”—gradually raising the stakes until victims accept behaviors they once found repulsive.
  • Mike King (58:18): “And she slowly, like boiling a frog in water, moved through this process... then adopting it as part of our daily routine in the group.”

5. Systemic Failures and Survivor Resilience

• Aunt Judy’s persistence—a daily vigil, attempts to rally other concerned family members, and ultimately aiding other defectors—is emblematic of the fight to reclaim the victims.
• The episode ends with a tearful recounting of Erin’s escape—and the bittersweet reunion with Aunt Judy after 18 months of estrangement.
  • Aunt Judy (60:56): “And she turned around and went right back out in the kitchen. I thought she just thinks I'm bad or I don't know. And I started to cry. And then after a bit, she comes back out and... I just kind of leaned over her back and whispered in her ear. And all I said was, I love you. I know you don't believe this, but I really love you.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I hate that man. I will go to hell for hating that man." – Aunt Judy (02:21)
• “It did make me feel suicidal and wanting to just… just let me just get out of all of this, because it made me feel like I was going crazy at that point.” – Amber (05:53)
• “His tagline for the sexual way of life was ‘be ready, willing, and able at all times.’” – Andrea (10:02)
• "The system failed them." – Narrator, paraphrasing Mike King's realization (15:56)
• “We got people to, you know, like us, we like them, and we would develop a rapport.” – Dave Lucas, on interview tactics (29:39)
• “You could tell which houses were theirs. There was no question. They were immaculate.... they picked the most vulnerable women they can find." – Aunt Judy (43:24, 41:43)
• “And she slowly, like boiling a frog in water, moved through this process…” – Mike King (58:18)
• “You have messed with the wrong woman, as I went out the door. And he did.” – Aunt Judy (51:12)
• “So myself and a couple of my employees went down to the Tiffin Room for lunch… And all I said was, I love you. I know you don't believe this, but I really love you.” – Aunt Judy (60:37, 60:56)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |------------------ |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:21 | Aunt Judy’s raw intro and the impossibility of forgiveness | | 03:10–06:23 | Amber’s childhood, adoption, and entry into deprivation and cult life | | 09:35–11:29 | Andrea’s story: immediate abuse in the cult and lasting trauma | | 08:29–16:23 | Detective Mike King’s initial reluctance, then decision to help survivors | | 20:21–24:04 | The 1991 origin: Erin Anderson’s first confession and legal skepticism | | 29:11–30:17 | Dave Lucas on rapport-building during sensitive investigations | | 35:16–38:26 | Aunt Judy’s suspicions and Erin’s grooming/“love bombing” recruitment | | 49:02–51:12 | Aunt Judy and daughter’s physical confrontation with Arvin; law enforcement failures | | 56:48–58:18 | Life in the cult: abuse normalized through reward/withdrawal and brainwashing | | 60:56–63:59 | Erin’s escape, reunion with Aunt Judy, and emotional fallout | | 63:59–66:29 | (Episode credits, helpline information, and book recommendation) |

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Tone and Delivery

• The episode is both clinical and compassionate, blending survivor testimony with investigative insight.
• The language is direct but sensitive, avoiding gratuitous detail while not shying away from the horror or heartbreak.
• The inclusion of candid interviews and memoir-like reflection gives the episode both emotional immediacy and broader social context.

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Final Thoughts

"To Hell And Back" presents a harrowing but deeply human portrait of childhood trauma, survivor courage, and the hard lessons learned by investigators who try to catch up with evil in the American heartland. The episode not only chronicles the mechanism by which the Zion Society ensnared and devastated its victims but also the systemic gaps that allowed those wounds to fester for decades. Survivor voices are centered, officers’ regrets are aired, and the never-complete journey toward healing is honored.

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For more on survivor support:
RAINN.org | 1-800-656-HOPE (free, confidential, 24/7)

Based on:
An Investigative Memoir of the Zion Society Cult by Michael R. King

Podcast credits:
Written, narrated, and produced by Aaron Mason. Original music by Alison Layton Brown. Executive producers John Goforth and Jeremy Seinen.
Gardens of Evil is produced by the Gamut Podcast Network.

Transcript

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[Aunt Judy]

I'm here on a job site with Tim, who owns his own electrical contracting business.

[Mike King]

Three employees and two work trucks.

[Aunt Judy]

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[Mike King]

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[Aunt Judy]

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[Mike King]

Shockingly low, huh?

[Aunt Judy]

It's just a little bit of electrician humor. Do you get it? I got it. You know, it feels like we have a real connection.

[Mike King]

All right, I'll stop.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Get a commercial auto insurance quote [e-mail] and see how much you could save. It feels good to Geico. Some of the subject matter in this podcast is difficult, including suicide and sexual abuse of adults and children. While the more graphic details will be left out, the specifics can be triggering. Please take care when listening.

[Aunt Judy]

I hate that man. I will go to hell for hating that man. Because I'm supposed to forgive and I can't. I can't forgive that he ruined so many lives.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Arvin Shreve, the so called prophet and leader of the Zion Society, spent years committing innumerable heinous acts of sexual abuse against women. And children, I would like to introduce you now to one of the children who survived that abuse. Meet Amber. A gifted painter and performer. She is loudly passionate, wears her heart on her sleeve, and has a bohemian aesthetic that mirrors her kaleidoscopic life. A life that has proven Amber's resilience since the very beginning.

[Amber]

My real mother, she dropped me off at a head shop when I was three days old so that she could go and rob a bank to get some money to turn her heat on.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

A head shop, for those who may not be familiar, is a store that sells pot smoking paraphernalia, as well as other counterculture accoutrements. Bongs, incense, black light posters, that kind of thing.

[Amber]

And she was caught and she went to prison. So the people that owned the head shop, they decided to go ahead and keep me because at that time, Mormon missionaries had showed up at the head shop, which I don't know why missionaries are going to a head shop anyway, but they did, and my parents became mainstream Mormons. And at that point, they closed down this head shop, and they moved our whole family to Utah.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

But Amber's adopted father had difficulty staying employed.

[Amber]

He couldn't keep a job because he would fight with everybody over anything, mostly religion. And, you know, he was very racist and was mean to people and would fist fight with people in the streets. So he's not your average Mormon. And he spent all the family money and we. And we ended up just destitute, eating out of trash cans.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

And it was in that vulnerable state, when amber was around 12 or 13, that her family met some friendly folks from a nearby neighborhood called Northwood.

[Amber]

We're homeless. And this group right here said, you know, they'll give our family a house, and, you know, all we have to do is contribute everything we've got, which was nothing except for, you know, a bunch of kids with lice.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

They took in Amber and her adopted family, gave them clean clothes, food, shelter, gave them a home. But the veneer quickly came off, and her life became a nightmare. I can't imagine what it was like for Amber and the dozens of other children who were brainwashed by Arvin and his followers, not only for the time they spent in the cult, but also the decades after, having to move forward through life with the burden of these experiences. And by 2018, Amber hit a breaking point. It was regarding one particular aspect of her childhood. She couldn't remember it. Some experts argue that it's possible for people who've suffered psychological trauma to experience memory loss, a kind of disassociative amnesia that shields a person from remembering and then having to relive their experiences. But for Amber, the torture of not knowing exactly what happened to her and not having anyone to talk to to get answers had become unbearable.

[Amber]

It did make me feel suicidal and wanting to just. Just let me just get out of all of this, because it made me feel like I was going crazy at that point. I felt no self. I felt no connection to others that I had been close with. I just really needed answers because I had so many questions about my own past. And it's almost as if I needed the validation. Did this really happen?

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Not only were there things she couldn't remember, Amber wasn't sure if what she did recall was even real.

[Amber]

Even my therapist said that originally. She had to listen to me and wonder, like, is this all really true?

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

But there was someone she was sure knew what happened all those years ago. The man who took her abusers down. Former detective Mike King. Mike, around that Same Time in 2018, had recently retired from more than 40 years in and around law enforcement. One day as he was checking his email, he got a message from an address he didn't recognize. He almost deleted it, but the subject

[Mike King]

line in the header really caught my attention.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Of the thousands of cases Mike was involved in throughout his long and distinguished career, there was one from his early days at the county attorney's office that always stood out from the rest. And there it was in the subject line. The Zion Society. So he opened, read something like, Dear Mr. King, I hope you remember me. Would you be willing to help me sort out some of my memories from the Zion Society? I would really appreciate it. And it was signed, Amber. Mike stared at the screen. He and Amber hadn't spoken since the investigation back in the early 90s when she was a young teenager.

[Amber]

It's like you reach out that hand, Mike, help me. Because there still is that 13 year old in me that is connected to all of it. Please help me. I know you were there and you helped everybody. Like, I need to know what happened. Can you fill in the gaps? Can you tell me that I'm okay?

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

He didn't reply right away. He couldn't yet. What would he say? What could he do for her? He wasn't a mental health professional. And honestly, were these memories something he wanted or could even stand to revisit? For days he went back and forth in his mind until finally he politely declined her request.

[Mike King]

I sent Amber a note saying, I'm sorry. It was a long time ago and I pray that you might somehow get the professional help that you need to work through this process. Hitting that send button in and of itself was pretty darn painful.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

And that was that. Until something unbelievable happened. Only a few days later, Mike got another email from another survivor he hadn't talked to in nearly 30 years.

[Andrea]

My name is Andrea, and I lived in the Zion Society cult starting at age 12.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Andrea and I first spoke in the summer of 2024, when she was a few months shy of 50. She's clever, candid, and engaged. She looks you right in the eyes and really listens. She connects. It's frankly a kind of vulnerability I didn't expect from someone who's experienced the level of trauma that she has for five years. Andrea was abused daily by Arvin and his followers.

[Andrea]

Before we joined the cult, I didn't even know what sex was. But sexual things started happening to me immediately, like within the first weekend or first couple weekends.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

It started with the cult's women, but before long, Arvin inevitably entered the picture.

[Andrea]

Arvin probably had sex with me within the first two to four months, like I had just turned 12.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Most of Arvin's pseudo religious teachings revolved around one thing.

[Andrea]

The belief that he brainwashed us toward was just be a sexual being. Like his tagline for the sexual way of life was be ready, willing and able at all times. So it was just be a presentable sexual being. Literally 24 7, I'm. I'm imagining I had some sort of sexual interaction with somebody, at least on a daily basis.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

I can't wrap my head around what it must have felt like to live with that anxiety that at any moment something awful was going to happen to you and often did. Can you speak to that?

[Andrea]

That kind of panic, fear of the world, like something bad could happen any moment, has been like my baseline my entire life up until a few years ago. So it just stays in your psyche of like, the world is a scary place and people are bad and they will do bad things to me. And that's kind of what it's like to live with, like that kind of trauma does, that fear. It stays in your body.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

That's only a tiny glimpse into what day to day life was like in the Zion Society. There's a lot more to tell, and I promise we will get there. But for right now, I want to stay in 2018, where Andrea, just like Amber, was having trouble living with so many unanswered questions about her traumatic childhood.

[Andrea]

I mean, I'd been in therapy for so many years at that point, I was still stuck, still depressed, still wasn't leaving my house. You know, poor interpersonal relationships. No trust, no self, love. All the things.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

So within a matter of days, Andrea, independently and without any coordination with amber, after nearly 30 years of silence, also reached out to Mike, looking to fill in gaps in her memory. Here's what her message said.

[Andrea]

Hello, Mr. King. My name is Andrea, and I was one of Arvin Shreve's victims. As you may imagine, my life has been a series of ups and downs that I have fortunately been able to maneuver through quite a bit of therapy and a lot of introspection and tenacity.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Andrea was planning a trip to Utah in a couple months and would be in the Ogden area, where everything had gone down decades ago and where Mike still lived.

[Andrea]

It would mean the world, she said.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

It would mean the world to her if he would be willing to get together and have a conversation.

[Andrea]

And then I probably said, love, Andrea. I'd thought about wanting to communicate with Mike over the years, but didn't know what to say. Honestly, didn't know how to ask for help or how to start a relationship. So I got on Facebook messenger and sent that message. And send.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

But for Mike, the Zion Society case was something he'd put away long ago, locked in a box, never meant to be opened again.

[Mike King]

I can't even begin to tell you. The memories, the stories that those children told me were flooding back into my mind. And I'll tell you, those things are poisonous, and they impact investigators that have to listen to them.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

He mulled it over for a few days, but eventually gave Andrea the same response he had given Amber. I'm sorry. I don't think I can help you, but I wish you the best.

[Mike King]

And both Amber and Andrea were so kind in their responses back to me, but I'm sure they were also incredibly disappointed.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Here's Amber.

[Amber]

I sent him an email because I just really wanted to fill in some of the gaps of my own past. Even when I was there in the group, there were a lot of things I didn't know about, but what I was truly seeking is just love and connection from somebody that was there.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Have you ever been trying to avoid something, but it seems like everything in your life just keeps pushing you in that direction? Well, not long after he said no to Amber and Andrea, Mike's phone rang. It was former Weber County Attorney Reed Richards, Mike's old boss and the man who prosecuted the Zion Society case.

[Mike King]

And Reed said, hey, Mike, I've received an interesting call from the Utah Victims Rights Council. And they're wondering if you and I would do a 30 year recap training session on how the Zion Society survivors are getting along in their lives. I stuck to my very selfish point of view, and I said, reid, I'm really not interested in doing this or reliving that case ever again.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

The Pandora's box that Mike didn't want to open was a literal box, and it was full of victim interviews and court transcripts and every page containing the absolute worst of humanity in nightmarish detail. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that these women deserved to have someone answer some of their questions. Something. And knowing he was probably the only person who could, really began to eat at him.

[Mike King]

At that point, Reid reminded me that the purpose of the meeting wasn't to just tell a seedy story. It was to really help investigators understand what happened then and what lessons we could learn by interviewing the victims and survivors of this case now, 30 years later. There really is a greater good to be done here.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Mike began to remove his emotional armor.

[Mike King]

Number one, who was I to try not to answer these questions and help these survivors? Number two, if there were mistakes or things that were successful that could be shared with today's investigators, don't we really have an obligation to pass that on in hopes that they don't repeat the same mistakes that we made and build upon the successes that we did have?

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Mike assumed the children of the Zion Society had received the help they so desperately needed after the cult's demise. But that's not what happened. Amber and Andrea opened his eyes to the truth. The system failed them. And once he realized that Mike was determined to do whatever he could to make sure it never happened again, including opening up that box.

[Mike King]

Reading these case documents brings back some really vivid memories, and that really led me to think these women were now continuing to experience those same memories and in pieces and parts, not being able to glue them together. And so I think what I discovered is that I was thinking less of myself, and I started thinking more about the women and what good could be accomplished by helping them.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Starting with Amber and Andrea, Mike reached out to a handful of women who all had questions about their time as children in the Zion Society.

[Mike King]

As they walked through what their memories were in comparison to the police reports I'd written 30 years earlier, I was astounded at how these children, who were just 12, 13, 14, 15 years old at the time and now in their 40s, could remember with such detail the horror that they experienced three decades earlier. And because of that, we felt compelled to do what they asked, which was to tell their story.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

The story you're listening to now. This is Gardens of Evil Inside the Zion Society Cult Episode two To Hell and Back.

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[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. On the first episode of this podcast, you heard the story of Ron and Jackie Van Beekum's life in and eventual escape from Arvin Shreve's budding cult in Northwood. But our core timeline of events takes place about a decade after that, in the summer of 1991. That is when a 23 year old woman we're calling Erin Anderson walked into the Ogden municipal building on July 9, 1991, and asked to speak to someone from the Weber County Attorney's office. That someone turned out to be Mike King. And Aaron's confession would be the first step toward brief bringing down the Zion Society. After a shocking and emotional first interview, Mike watched Aaron walk out his office door. His thoughts and feelings swirled around him. He felt so sorry for that young woman, assuming the things that she had told him were true.

[Mike King]

I believed that she believed that what she was telling me was true, but it was just way too overwhelming, too organized, too complicated for me to wrap my mind around.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

This was all way out of his wheelhouse and he knew it. He was a property crimes guy. Remember drug lords, Camaros? This case needed someone else, someone who

[Mike King]

was trained not only in sex abuse investigations, but in cult behaviors.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Mike grabbed all his notes from the interview with Aaron and headed straight to the office of Weber County Attorney Reed Richards. Richards had heard of strange goings on in the neighborhood of Northwood, even about some unconventional ideologies espoused by an Arvin Shreve. But none of those rumors crossed the line into criminal behavior.

[Reed Richards]

Erin was different because the things that she said were happening were not simply religious instruction or religious indoctrination or brainwashing. She talked about things that clearly bordered on criminal activity, and if, if you believed her completely, were criminal activity. And so that then became a much more significant issue because if there were criminal activities taking place in the group, and if it's a closed group where the members don't communicate with family and friends and parents or anyone, you get concerned.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Richards, like Mike, also struggled to wrap his brain around what Aaron had said.

[Reed Richards]

Did I believe her? I didn't not believe her, but I didn't necessarily say, oh, gee, this is, this is. Everything you say is correct.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Erin is telling the truth. It's not that these two men don't believe this woman, though maybe that's how it seems right now. They have a job to do, a responsibility to make sure that what she told them can be proven in a court of law. If they tried to prosecute without enough solid evidence and the abusers were found not guilty, then they could never be tried for those crimes again. They had one shot at this. Mike and Reid both agreed that there was something going on in Northwood that needed to be investigated. And if Aaron's allegations were true, that meant there were children in imminent danger. What they didn't realize was that they had only scratched the surface.

[Reed Richards]

And if I'd have known the full nature of the whole thing, then I'd have probably gotten a hold of the police department and gotten one of their people who specializes in sex crimes and gotten them involved at the very beginning. But we didn't know the dimensions of it at that point.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Reed Richards needed evidence if he hoped to build a successful case and he thought Mike was just the person to get it.

[Mike King]

And I was assigned the case.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Mike would have to work largely in secret because of several things they learned during Aaron's interview. One, there was a possibility that someone from law enforcement could be involved with the cult or its members in some way.

[Mike King]

We couldn't risk any information about the investigation making its way back to any of the leadership within the Zion Society.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Two, though it seemed counterintuitive, they needed the children to stay where they were.

[Mike King]

It's happened before in these kinds of cases, especially in closed societies like polygamy, where we went to look for children only to find that they had been relocated somewhere else.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Three, they didn't want evidence destroyed, which Erin said she had seen them do before.

[Mike King]

They would get rid of things if they felt like the noose was tightening around them.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

And four, the guns.

[Mike King]

The group had been trained with semi automatic weapons and the weapons were stockpiled in the homes with this end of world doomsday belief system that the group was teaching not only to the adult, but but to the children in the group as a way of defending themselves if they were ever approached by law enforcement.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

I was young in the early 90s, but old enough to remember the Doomsday survivalists at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and David Koresh's cult in Waco, Texas. Two cases around the time of our story that proved police standoffs can easily turn deadly. But we're not talking about some remote compound out in the middle of nowhere.

[Mike King]

Remote.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

This was the suburbs. There were innocent people everywhere. An armed confrontation with police could be disastrous. So Mike and Reed came up with a plan.

[Mike King]

We needed to have boots on the ground surveillance that was telling us what was going on in the cult. We needed ex husbands who were willing to talk to us about things they learned from their children. We needed to have other people who had been in the culture group and were now out of the group who wanted to share their stories. But all of them had to be interviewed in a way that you would be able to trust that they wouldn't tell the cult members that they'd been talking to law enforcement.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

And it all needed to happen fast. Every day that went by meant children were continuing to suffer abuse.

[Mike King]

I felt like I was a person with a mission. I knew that I had to gather as much information to validate Aaron's claims as possible and. And if they were provable, continue to build a case that would support a search warrant and the arrest of the predators who were hurting children.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Mike intended to dig into the background of the so called prophet of northwood, the master gardener, Arvin shreve. But first, he hoped to get another crack at interviewing his informant, Aaron Anderson. Mike king got to work not long after dawn on July 10, 1991. As he sat at his desk preparing for what he hoped would be a second interview with Erin, he wondered, would she come back? Erin knew that admitting to her participation in several of the cult's activities meant she could face criminal charges. Mike was worried that if she had some time to think about it, Fear would get the better of her. All he could do was wait. But today, he wasn't alone. Although this investigation would have to be conducted under the radar, the there was no way Mike could do it all himself.

[Mike King]

Absolutely not. This was such a massive investigation that no police officer, regardless of the level of skill that they had, could have handled the Zion society case on their own. And every question that I asked Aaron led to 15 more questions that I had. As a result of the answers that came, I had to really dig deep into who do I trust enough in this organization to know that they would be above and beyond any reproach that also had the experience of investigations in areas where I was lacking.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

The night before, Mike wrote down the names of experienced officers, People he trusted implicitly who could potentially help with the case. At the top of that list was an Ogden city police detective named Dave Lucas.

[Dave Lucas]

Well, I spent 25 years as a

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

police officer, and for 23 of those years, Dave was in the major crimes division. He investigated things like murder, rape, assault, and all manner of violence against persons.

[Dave Lucas]

So I think he could see that this was a case that was going to be quite involved and very sensitive. And due to that, he would want an Investigator that has very good interview skills.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

When it came to good interview skills, Dave Lucas was Ogden PD's best.

[Dave Lucas]

I had some investigators that after they talked to an individual and they couldn't get a confession, they'd come out and say, dave, will you give it a stab? And then when I went in, I would talk to them. And, you know, I don't want to boast or anything, but usually nine times out of ten, I'd get a confession.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Before Mike made the move to the county attorney's office, he spent much of his eight and a half years at the Ogden Police Department working with Dave.

[Dave Lucas]

We never did the good cop, bad cop because neither one of us was a bad cop, so to speak, or could we yell or swear at somebody. We just didn't use that type of language. And it really actually worked out very well because we got people to, you know, like us, we like them, and we would develop a rapport.

[Mike King]

It's really easy to go in and just say, tell me why you did it. But if people don't feel like they're being listened to or understood, they might tell you they did it, but they may not tell you why they did it.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

At a few minutes past 8am after catching Detective Lucas up on the previous day's events, Mike walked over to a small reception area there on the seventh floor.

[Mike King]

I didn't know whether she would show or not. And frankly, I breathed a deep sigh of relief when I walked into that waiting area and saw her sitting there.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Sitting in a chair waiting for him was Aaron.

[Mike King]

I saw someone who looked much more resolved, much more appealing. Peace.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Mike saw a young woman who had begun to cleanse her soul and free herself of the horrifying secrets she'd been holding in for a year and a half.

[Mike King]

And for me, that also changed my entire approach with her, that there would be less direction needed in the interview and more just opportunity for her to continue to unload the burden that she'd been carrying. Now, I didn't know it to think about the guest that she had with her.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Erin had brought someone else along, too. A woman in her 40s she introduced as her Aunt Judy.

[Aunt Judy]

I did more for her than her own mother did. Her mother didn't want anything to do with her. And if it had been up to her mother, and I'm going to say this very plainly, if it had been up to her mother, she'd still be in the group and Arvin would still be out there.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Aunt Judy, if you can't tell, is not afraid to speak. Her mind and she had some things she wanted to say about Arvin and his group. So they headed down the hall to Mike's office, where the four of them sat around a small table as the two men listened to the story of how it all started, how Aaron came to be a member of the Zion Society.

[Aunt Judy]

Culture.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Erin Anderson began to tell the detectives about how she first got involved with the Zion Society.

[Mike King]

She talked about the process of having members from the cult come out to the tanning salon where she was working.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

For a little background, Erin's aunt Judy owned a salon in Ogden called Beauty Haven that she started after her husband's business did well enough, she didn't have to work anymore.

[Aunt Judy]

I was 36. Yeah, pretty bored. The kids were all in school and I got tired of playing video games down at the arcade. You didn't have them in your house back then. So I'd always wanted to do hair, so I went to beauty school.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Aunt Judy is related to Erin because her brother was married to Aaron's mom for a while, but they eventually divorced. When Aaron's mom remarried, her new husband had three sons. Aunt Judy told me there were some major problems between Erin and her new stepbrothers. And when Erin's mom had to choose between Erin and her new husband, she chose her new husband and kicked 15 year old Aaron out of the house. Aaron had a boyfriend at the time and went to live with him and his mom when which she did for a few years. During that time, Erin started coming around Beauty Haven to hang with her aunt Judy and the two of them became very close. Eventually, Erin got married and had her first child, a daughter. Erin also went to beauty school and started working at the salon, which she did for about six years until she met a group of women from the Zion Society.

[Aunt Judy]

You're gonna think this is the craziest thing ever happened. We started to do what was called body wraps in the salon. This kind of elderly lady sold the products and she'd come into the salon and tell us about this cream. And if you rubbed it on bodies and wrapped it in Saran Wrap and let them lay for a certain amount of time, it would melt cellulite. We had the toning tables downstairs, so we'd lay them on there and let them cook whatever they did. And she came in one day and I told her that I was just having a really hard time with getting cream everywhere I needed to get it. And she said, well, I know where you can get some G strings which will help the buttocks. Okay. So she Gave me a number. I called and ordered probably a dozen. And they were delivered by Carla.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Carla, as we're calling her, arrived with three or four other women. And Aunt Judy was a bit taken aback by what they were wearing.

[Aunt Judy]

To me, they looked like pioneer dresses.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Pioneer dresses are what many women wore in the American west in the mid to late 1800s. Long, loose sleeves, puffy shoulders, maybe a bonnet. Think Little House on the Prairie.

[Aunt Judy]

Think.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Not exactly the outfit you'd expect from people delivering G strings.

[Aunt Judy]

You know, they just something about them from the very get go. But they decided that they liked the salon. So they had one of my girls give one of them a haircut and gave her a $50 tip. Now then I knew it was strange. There's something strange. And I even said to my mom, something strange about those women and I'm going to find out what it is.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Carla and a rotating assortment of women began coming to Aunt Judy's salon two to three times a week for beauty treatments and almost immediately tried to strike up a friendship with Judy, which isn't in itself unusual. She'd become good friends with many of her regular clients.

[Aunt Judy]

They kept asking me out to dinner and I wouldn't go.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Why did you say no?

[Aunt Judy]

Because they're weird. I don't do weird. I'm sorry.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

They were weird, but they were also persistent. They even asked her to come to an hour long presentation about their way of life, as Judy put it. Another invitation she declined.

[Aunt Judy]

And one day they come in and they asked me to come out to their place and have a movie night. They'd serve nachos and salsa and I said no. That's when they asked her because she was sitting there.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Her meaning Erin.

[Aunt Judy]

Their target was never her. Until then.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

The women befriended Erin. They asked her about her life and invited her out to their houses for dinner or to watch movies, which she did. Erin enjoyed the camaraderie and it was an escape from her tumultuous life at home. A week or so later, Carla offered to give Erin a ride to take her daughter to school. And on the way back, Erin shared that she'd been having some serious problems with her husband and she was considering divorce.

[Aunt Judy]

I mean, they were in the middle of this massive fighting all the time and she had moved out. She. She didn't want to be with him. But then she wasn't making a lot of money at the salon, so she didn't have the finances she needed or a place to live.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Erin had also recently found out that she was pregnant with her second child. She was in a really tough spot, which is one of the reasons the love bombing worked so well. A psychologist might define love bombing as an emotional manipulation technique. It involves bombarding someone with affection, compliments, flattery, and lots and lots of attention. And it can be very effective. I mean, who doesn't like compliments, right? But all of that positivity and adoration instills a false sense of trust. It lowers the victim's defenses. They'll think. They won't hurt me. They're so nice. Carla made Aaron an. Come over to my place Friday night. We can have nachos and you can pick out fabrics and we'll all make you some maternity dresses. We'll. Which Erin had previously told her she couldn't afford.

[Aunt Judy]

She said yes, but I didn't know she said yes.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

She didn't tell you?

[Aunt Judy]

No. And she went. This was a Friday night. The next day was Saturday. And she came in and she was like a totally different person. Totally different, and it wasn't good.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Can you describe how?

[Aunt Judy]

Well, she was kind of withdrawn, not very talkative. That was not like her. She was very outgoing and giggly. We laughed a lot. We did a lot of fun things together. She was just different. But maybe other people wouldn't have noticed, but I knew her, you know, she was. She was like my daughter.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

As he listened to Aunt Judy, Mike King understood that these seemingly innocuous visits to the women's homes in Northwood were, in reality, part of a much more sinister strategy to lure Erin in, that

[Mike King]

she would go there and meet with folks and go inside their beautiful homes and look at their beautiful gardens. As they walked around, she felt a sense of belonging.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Erin felt a powerful connection to her new friends. She had taken their bait. Now it was time to reel her in. They offered Erin a place to stay,

[Mike King]

a place where, if she'd like, she could go through the separation and. And divorce process where she could be safe.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Erin had found connection, belonging, safety, the promise of a way out of hardship to a better life with a group of women who knew what she was going through. Many of them told Aaron they too had left troubled relationships.

[Aunt Judy]

And Monday morning I got a phone call from Carla and she said Erin would like a couple of weeks off work because she's going to move in with this and she needs the time to get settled. And the red flags flew blue.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

But Aaron didn't see them. Cults and groomers in general often use tactics that seem supportive and loving in a way that feels very natural, not unlike how a magician uses Misdirection to keep you focused on their left hand so you won't notice you're being manipulated with their right. It's intentionally misleading and it's often very subtle. The trick here is the illusion of choice. If a predator knows their victim is desperate, they'll simply offer them another option. That way it seems like the victim's choice no one is technically forcing anyone to do anything. I don't know if Erin thought her only options were either to stay in an unhappy marriage or to trust Carla and this group of women, but what I do know is that she was in a vulnerable place. These women knew it and they took full advantage.

[Aunt Judy]

They offered her money, security, home, everything you can imagine. They offered it to her and it was such a relief to her because she had nothing. She. They didn't know where to go. They picked the most vulnerable women they can find. And there you go.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

No sooner did Aunt Judy hang up the phone with Carla that she got another call. It was Aaron's estranged husband who we're going to call Mark.

[Aunt Judy]

And he said, is Aaron there? And I said no. And I didn't want to say anything to him because he has such a temper. And he said, I know you know where she is and I want to know if she's with them women. And I said yes. And he came right up to the salon. He knew all along what they were like. And she was pregnant with his kid, you know, and he didn't like the way she had become after being with them. None of us did.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

So she came up with a plan. Since Aunt Judy was denied access to Aaron via the phone, well, then she would just have to talk to her in person. She and her 18 year old daughter got in Mark's car and he drove them to Northwood.

[Aunt Judy]

He was so angry.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Judy was concerned Mark would get violent.

[Aunt Judy]

I just knew he was going to go in there and blow a fuse. I just knew it. So I asked him to park about two blocks away.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Mark begrudgingly agreed, but said if they took too long to get Aaron and his daughter, then he would do it.

[Aunt Judy]

You could tell which houses were theirs. There was no question. They were immaculate. Their yards were pristine. I mean, it was like picture perfect. You could pick out all 10 of them.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Judy and her daughter knocked on the door of a home they could tell wasn't part of the group and asked them where Arvin Shreve lived.

[Aunt Judy]

And they shook me. They thought he was weird. You know, most of the neighbors didn't want him there.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

They just didn't Aunt Judy had crossed

[Aunt Judy]

paths with Arvin before when he worked for the city. My brother did too. My brother did the rock walls while he did the landscaping.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Judy and her daughter walked over to Arvin's house. They knocked, rang the bell, and Arvin opened the door. Carla was there too. They asked Arvin if Erin was around. He said no, but she should be back soon.

[Aunt Judy]

So we said we were going to wait for her and we went out and sat on the curb and it started to get kind of cold, but I was determined to talk to her.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

It was February. They had left in such a rush that neither of them thought to bring a coat. But they weren't going anywhere.

[Aunt Judy]

And out of the house comes Arvin. And he said, you two look so uncomfortable and it's cold. Don't you want to come in the house? Well, I just got this horrible feeling that I didn't want to be in his house.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

So she asked Arvin about Erin's five year old daughter.

[Aunt Judy]

Is she here? And he said, yeah. And he pointed to another house and he said, she's over there having lunch. And I said, can we go see her? And he said, sure.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

They went across the street to the house Arvin had pointed out and knocked on the door. A woman answered and invited them inside.

[Aunt Judy]

We sat down. Even knowing where I sat, the house was immaculate, clean, perfect, everything in its place. A Book of Mormon on the coffee table, picture of Joseph Smith on the wall, and about 10 children in the kitchen eating lunch. And you couldn't even hear the fork flick on the plate. They were so quiet. I finally stood up and went over to the doorway. I see it as vivid as it was yesterday.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

As Aunt Judy told me her story. She used Erin's daughter's name, which we're not including in this podcast. As you can hear, recalling these events is very emotional for Judy. It's still raw all these years later. And I didn't want to. To interrupt her or make her say it again, so I'm just gonna censor the name.

[Aunt Judy]

And I said to one of the ladies can come out here. And she says, sure. Got up from the table and we. I went over and sat down and came out the kitchen door and she looked behind her twice. To see if anybody was watching. Before she came over to me. She was in a little Sunday dress with patent leather shoes. I picked her up and I put her on my lap. She said, grandma, I don't have to go to school anymore. Oh Lordy, this gets me all worked up. She said, I don't have to go to school anymore. And I said, no, honey, why not? And she said, because they teach us here.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

After a few minutes with Judy, who she called Grandma, Erin's daughter was told she had to go back and finish her lunch.

[Aunt Judy]

And I started to feel like I was in a tunnel, a dark black tunnel. And something was just squeezing my chest as hard as it could. And I looked over at my daughter and I said, I gotta get out of here. I can't breathe.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

She turned to one of the women in the house.

[Aunt Judy]

I said, do you have a phone? And she said, no, but there's one in Arvin's home across the street.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Judy got up and went to the kitchen where Erin's daughter was and asked her, how would you like to go get some ice cream?

[Aunt Judy]

I was Grandma. So I just took a hold of her hand. I was going to go over and use the phone. I wasn't going anywhere with her. Walked outside and a lady came running out of the house screaming at us. And I just went over and knocked on Arvin's door and they invited us in. My daughter came in with sat on the couch and the phone was just around the corner in the kitchen so that when I dialed the phone I could still see my daughter. And I called my husband and he knew we were going out there. I told him and I said, I think you need to come and get us. He said, are you in danger? And I said, yes, very much so. And he said, I'll be right there.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

While she was on the phone, one of the women in Arvin's house attempted to pry Aaron's daughter away from Aunt

[Aunt Judy]

Judy's daughter and she wouldn't let go. So Arvin went over.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Arvin stood right in front of the 18 year old, grabbed her by the arms and forcefully pinned her down into the couch. She put her foot up on one of his legs and pushed. Arvin fell back, but Aaron's daughter had been snatched away. As Judy's daughter stood up, so did Arvin.

[Aunt Judy]

And he slapped her across the face so hard you could see see his handprint on her face. They got her from my daughter and the lady took off out of the house across the street. And my daughter was right behind her.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Aunt Judy was still on the phone, but her daughter wasn't about to let them take the little girl. So she bolted toward the door.

[Aunt Judy]

My daughter started down the stairs and as she went past me, she said, he hit me and they've got her. So I started down the stairs behind her and she kept trying to Open the door. The door wouldn't open. I got down about maybe three steps and Arvin pushed me.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

It was a split level home, the kind with a flight of stairs just inside the front door that goes up to the main level. Come inside, you. You look cold. Arvin just pushed a woman down those stairs.

[Aunt Judy]

And I caught myself and I turned around and I said, you better not push me again. And how dare you hit my daughter. Don't you dare hit her again. Ever turned back around to go back down the stairs. And he pushed me again and I whirled around and I slapped his face so hard his glasses flew across the room.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Call 911. Arvin shouted. All the while, Judy's daughter was struggling to get out the front door to follow Erin's daughter. She flipped all the locks and latches. It shouldn't have been difficult, but no matter what she tried, the door just wouldn't open. She could only watch through the glass. Aaron's daughter being taken back to the house across the street. The woman glanced back over her shoulder as she ushered the little girl inside.

[Aunt Judy]

And the door opened just like that. And I said, you have messed with the wrong woman, as I went out the door. And he did.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

For the next year and a half, for the duration of Aaron's time in the cult, Aunt Judy never let them forget it.

[Aunt Judy]

And I drove him crazy.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

What happened in those 18 months?

[Aunt Judy]

Well, my daughter called them every day. And of course they tell them they don't have a family and their family doesn't love them. So no, you can't talk to Erin. She doesn't want to talk to you. But I drove through there every day in my little white truck, had a little Toyota, and they would scatter like ants and run in their houses and Judy's coming. Oh, that part was funny.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

One day as she was on one of her nuisance cruises, she saw Arvin about to cross the street.

[Aunt Judy]

And I was coming around the corner and he stepped down off the curb and I says, keep coming, buddy, because I'm gonna run you over. He stepped back up on the curb pretty quick. Dang. Had my chance and it was over.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

She laughs about it now, but make no mistake, Aunt Judy was livid. She was angry at this group of people who took her loved ones away, her pregnant niece and her five year old daughter, and kept them completely isolated from their family, not allowing so much as a phone call between them. But back before her reign of terror began, the moment after she and her daughter finally escaped Arvin's house, Judy ran to those first Neighbors who initially told her where Arvin lived and used their phone to call 91 1. She then walked to where Aaron's husband was sitting in his car watching all of this unfold. She told him the cops were coming and he should leave, which he did.

[Aunt Judy]

We were standing there waiting for the police to come and my husband to get there. And here come Aaron with two other ladies. And they went into a house that was. It wasn't Arvin's. It was the one next to them. And they whisked her right into that house. And I hollered at her, and she never made any attempt to stop, turn around, acknowledge that I even existed.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

This was not the errand that Aunt Judy knew and loved. Law enforcement eventually arrived and went into the house Erin had entered. When they came back out, they told Judy, she doesn't want to talk to you, and if you ever come back here, she wants you arrested. But Erin would later tell detectives that she never said that to the police. She never mentioned arresting her aunt. In fact, they never even asked her about it. When Aunt Judy said she wanted to press assault charges against Arvin, she said an officer told her she didn't have a prayer in hell.

[Aunt Judy]

The cop told us that we were the trespassers, we were the guilty party, and they sent us home.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Remember? Aaron would later tell Mike King something that led him and Reed Richards to believe someone in law enforcement could have a connection to the cult. No one can say for sure, but the officer's response in this situation clearly raises a red flag.

[Aunt Judy]

So I just had this dread in my heart that there was something going on, but I didn't piece any of that together. I knew enough to know they were strange as strange could be. But in my mind, I never thought Colt. I never put two and two together. I, in my gut, knew what I saw out there was not right,

[Mike King]

but

[Aunt Judy]

that's all I knew at the time. But what I found out was.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Detectives Mike King and Dave Lucas listened as Erin and her Aunt Judy told them about Aaron's initial contact with the Zion Society and some of their experiences during the 18 months she spent in the cult.

[Mike King]

One of the real tricky parts about interviews like this is that we're criminal investigators. And while her story's intriguing and tragic at times, I really needed to better understand what possibly could be violations of the law. And so, as our discussion continued, she talked about how this beautiful, serene place that she was becoming involved in started to show a darker side.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

The affection that Aaron had gotten hooked on from some of the adult women in the group evolved into touching. That was more in line with Arvin's sexual way of life philosophy and more intimate than Aaron was really comfortable with. Her daughter was moved in with the other Zion Society children who all lived separated from their parents in what was called the children's dormitories, one of the cult's 10 houses. They could go months, maybe even years without seeing their mom or dad, even if they lived next door. Erin told Mike she was denied access to the children's dormitory initially, but eventually was assigned teaching duties and allowed to go inside.

[Mike King]

In there, she started to see some pretty weird things happening. She saw inappropriate touching. She was told to teach the children certain kinds of philosophy that would be preemptive to sexual behavior between children and adults. And whenever she tried to pull back, she'd be ostracized by the group. The people would withdraw their love bombing and they would distance themselves from her.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

The UK's National center for Domestic Violence says, quote, when we feel flattered and validated, our brain produces a hit of dopamine. It's a feel good hormone, the same chemical that's released when we have sex or eat a chocolate cookie. It's also the chemical that makes drugs like heroin, nicotine, and cocaine highly addictive. End quote. Humans get real used to dopamine hits real fast, and when they're taken away, it feels real bad. So Erin started to go along with whatever the women said. When she did that, the love bombing returned, and so did the dopamine. And that is how people go from disgusted to compliant to this is normal. Gradually, things that used to make Erin uncomfortable became associated over and over with positive reward until her brain no longer reacted negatively to them and she could get the feelings of love and security she so desperately wanted.

[Mike King]

And she slowly, like boiling a frog in water, moved through this process of seeing little things that initially troubled her and accepting those things, and then seeing greater things like inappropriate sexual touching or physical abuse or sexual abuse occurring, and then adopting it as part of our daily routine in the group.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

The idea that if a frog is suddenly placed in boiling water, it will jump out to save itself, but if you gradually increase the heat, it won't realize it's boiling until it's too late is a great metaphor for how a lot of people get caught up in cults and other abusive situations. We'll get into more specifics about Eren's experiences in the next episode, but it's important to understand that Eren had the temporary temperature turned up little by little until she was actually Participating in things that once repelled her and that she now, talking to Mike King, felt incredible guilt over. After her experience trying to get a pregnant Erin and her daughter out of Northwood, Aunt Judy sought out people who might know what was going on behind those closed doors.

[Aunt Judy]

I met with mothers and fathers of people that had women out there, their daughters. One poor mother had two daughters out there. I kept asking for help, but nobody wanted to. Nobody wanted to get involved.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Until after about a year and a half, she met Jeff Peterson and his wife, Kate.

[Aunt Judy]

They were trying to get their son out of there.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Jeff and Kate Peterson are not their real names. And you'll hear from Jeff later. He plays a major role in this story. But for now, all you need to know is that Jeff's marriage to Kate is his second. His first wife took their kids and ran off to join the Zion Society. He's trying to get them back.

[Aunt Judy]

Anyway, they wanted me to give a deposition. Would I be willing to so they could get their boy out. And I told them that I would.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Soon after, she agreed to give the Petersons a statement under oath. Aunt Judy heard that Erin was working as a hostess at a restaurant in nearby Salt Lake City, and I hadn't

[Aunt Judy]

been able to get anywhere near her. So myself and a couple of my employees went down to the Tiffin Room for lunch.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Erin came out of the kitchen and saw her Aunt Judy for the first time in 18 months.

[Aunt Judy]

And she turned around and went right back out in the kitchen. I thought she just thinks I'm bad or I don't know. And I started to cry. And then after a bit, she comes back out and she goes over and cleans off one of the tables. And I saw her come out. So I got up to walk over there, and she had kind of leaned over the table, and I just kind of leaned over her back and whispered in her ear. And all I said was, I love you. I know you don't believe this, but I really love you. And I went back to my table. Three weeks later, my daughter called me. It was kind of late at night. And she said, I have somebody here, Mama, Who wants to talk to you. Heck, I didn't know who it could be, but I said, okay. And she said, hi, Aunt Judy. Oh, God, I just burst out bawling. She said, I'm out. Wanted to hold her, and she came with her baby. She didn't have out of there yet, but she had the baby. And I remember her and I sitting in a doorway, changing his pants on the floor, just loving him. And her couldn't get enough. Oh, you'd think after all these years I could quit crying. So that was the night she came to my house. The next night she wanted me to do her nails. So she come up to the shop after I closed up and we sat there for like three, four hours talking about everything she had experienced in there. She told me a lot of things that were hard to hear, but I was grateful when she got through and we decided we needed to go home. I said, well, you're going to be really mad at me when I tell you this, but I have to go do a deposition tomorrow for the Petersons. And she looked in my eyes and she said, can I go with you? And I said, absolutely.

[Narrator / Aaron Mason]

Aunt Judy also offered Erin a suggestion. Everything she had just told her about Arvin's crooked beliefs, the systematic abuse, and all the horrific things happening inside the cult. Maybe she should go down to the Weber County Attorney's office and talk to someone that you've already heard. On the morning of July 9, 1991, Erin will introduce herself to Mike King and her confession will be the first step toward bringing down the Zion Society. If you or someone you know is experiencing sexual violence, contact the Rape, Abuse and Incest national [e-mail] that's R A I N N. O R G or call the National Sexual Assault High Hotline at 800-656-HOPE. Both services are free, confidential and available 247 gardens of inside the Zion Society Cult was written, narrated, and audio produced by me, Aaron Mason. Original music by Alison Layton Brown. No generative AI was used in the writing or production of this podcast. My sincere, sincere thanks to the entire Gardens of Evil editorial team. Your feedback was invaluable. Gardens of Evil is based on the book An Investigative Memoir of the Zion Society Cult by Michael R. King. Available at profilingevil.com on Amazon or IngramSpark. Mike donates all of his proceeds from the book and this podcast to fund child advocacy efforts and criminal justice scholarships. Check out Mike's podcast Profiling Evil, where he explores unsolved criminal cases from around the world and dives deep into the minds of predators. Find profiling evil on YouTube or wherever you get podcasts Executive producers John Goforth and Jeremy Seinen. Gardens of Evil is a production of the Gamut Podcast Network

[Aunt Judy]

Foreign.

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