Hey weirdos, it's Ash here, ready to share a little secret.
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Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And we are here with Rachel O'Brien.
Rachel. Rachel. I love that. I want people to always do that when they say my name.
Everybody take note. I feel like I'm in a club right now.
You are. You're in the morbid club right now.
Yeah, we keep it real weird up in here. If you hear a little like in the background, just go with it.
That's my cat. That's really the only club I want to be in.
Yeah, of course. Well, Rachel O'Brien is, in case you don't know, which you should know.
And if you don't know, now you know. Rachel O'Brien is the host of the Seven Deadly Sinners podcast.
It is... phenomenal. Like ridiculous in the best way.
Thank you. It's, And if you're listening right now, you're definitely a morbid listener and you will.
This is right up your alley. It's so right up, like weirdos will fall all over this.
Yeah, 100%. Just to give you guys a little taste, we wanted you to meet Rachel, we wanted you to kind of hear Hi, Rachel.
Thank you so much for chatting with us. Thank you for having me and talking about the insane people I like to talk about on my podcast.
And you have truly covered. So insane isn't even the word.
Yeah. Some of the strangest cases I've ever heard of were on Seven Deadly Sinners.
Yeah. I think it's like the biggest group of narcissists like and they don't have to they don't even like the crimes they commit are all so varied and different, but the number one thing about them is they're just like overconfident psychos.
Yes. I feel like that's what you need to be like a cult leader or like a religious leader of any kind.
Yeah. Yeah. Totally, totally. You have to believe.
Like, if you can look at people with a straight face and be like, yeah, I talk to God.
Yeah. What's up? And it's like, yeah, confidence is key for that.
Like his message is coming through me right now.
Yeah, I'm the only one that he talks to.
So you should listen to me. Hello. It's like billions of people on this earth, just me.
Yeah, he just chose this average-ass person.
Sometimes totally below average. The most below average.
Most of the time, actually. It's totally subpar human he chose to speak to.
So first, I just wanted to point out, because Rachel hosts this solo, and I just wanted to say...
You are one of the best solo podcasters, hands down.
Thank you so much. Truly, because we were just listening to one of the episodes that actually the episode that we're going to be telling you guys to go listen to.
It's one of the newest ones. And it's about Tony and Susan Alamo.
And your voice and the way that you podcast, because it's you...
Like solo podcasting is a skill. We've done it like once or twice when one of us was on vacation and I was just sitting there like shitting myself. the whole time like it's not good oh no like neither one of us it is hard yeah I feel like Because your guys' isn't like, it's conversational more so than like scripted.
I have a very hard time doing what you guys do solo.
I've written it completely out so it's like a little easier.
You know what I mean? I'm not really improvising anything at that point.
But even that is hard because you don't come off like you're reading.
No, you really don't come off like a script.
It comes off very like conversational. but you never trip up or anything like, and it's just not having someone to bounce off of.
I feel so hard, but you've like mastered it.
Well, thank you. You're welcome. I wonder if you guys feel this way.
The people you're covering are scumbags, obviously.
For sure. But like, where do you, because I always feel like, because I make so much fun of these people.
Oh, yeah. I make fun of their appearance.
I make fun of their personality. I make fun of everything about them.
Oh, yeah. And I feel like you guys do the same thing and like-
I always am, like, nervous that someone's going to get, like, offended.
And I'm like, but why are they getting offended by me making fun of someone that literally, like... Destroyed lives. destroyed people yeah right exactly like yeah oh yeah you guys ever get nervous about that Oh, for sure, because everyone's in their... I mean, it's the smallest of small minority, but you get the people that are like... you know, it really annoys me that you were mean about Ted Bundy and you're like,
You're like, you should self-evaluate a little.
Don't you want to be me? He's like a really bad person.
We can say that his unibrow is bad. Or even like BTK.
I'm like, his name alone we should be like roasting him on.
Yeah. And like all of his crimes, but okay.
Okay, Susan. We, but sometimes you just want to like step back and not go as hard, but like we always just go hard.
I also think it makes it easier to get through it because you have to laugh at them so you can laugh at something.
Exactly. Totally. It's like gallows humor.
You need it to get through it. Is that like a real term, gallows humor?
It really is. It's gallows. It's like a term.
You hear it a lot with morticians or anything like that.
I know we talk about it as autopsy technicians that you have to have gallows humor and it's like you know way back in the day when they were doing public executions it was like the executioners would be like let's to make fun of this.
That's exactly what they sounded like. And under the black hood.
Yeah, right. Scary execution. LOL. But you gotta make like a joke out of it just to get through it so it's not... eating you alive later, you know?
Totally. But so the first thing I just want to ask you is why, Because your podcast focuses mainly on these like culty, religious...
I think we were talking about it earlier and we said that the requirement is kind of like to be sweaty.
A sweaty, gross human who thinks everybody needs to listen to them.
Yeah, these people that... can really gather an enormous amount of people to believe what they're saying. mostly religious based like what made you want to do an entire podcast about this I think because it bothers me, like it's such a specific, type of person that you're taking people that are in their most vulnerable state, like they need a religion, they need a soft place to land when they're going through a hard time. and you're that much of a scumbag that you're gonna take advantage of that time.
It's like, It's almost like, kind of like the episode you just did with, even though the the counselors weren't like abusing them.
But let's say for example, the counts that like that they set up a camp.
Do you know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely.
Which has happened before. It's like, you're just the worst type of person.
And the hypocrisy of it, I think I just wanted to...
And also I needed to narrow it down, otherwise I'd be like, today I'm doing serial killers, tomorrow I'm doing a ghost story.
Like I'm going crazy. Yeah. So I need it also for my brain to just focus.
It really is such a good idea to do it about this, because like you said, the kind of people that pray... on people who are at their worst and are the most desperate and the most vulnerable are the scariest and also the most fascinating.
Psychologically, you're like, wow, I just need to... And they often... prey on the fact that they're at their lowest.
For example, in the first season, I mostly did televangelist.
They literally say, God really knows you love him when it's your last thousand dollars and you give him. really me, your last thousand dollars.
That's how you really proved your, yeah.
It's so messed up. It's so scary. And you just wonder how these people put their head on the pillow.
At night. Seriously. And they're like, this is okay.
On their silk pillow in their golden bed.
Yeah. Like, it's insane. Huge mansions.
Well, these people are literally like living on the street.
Like, it's so sad. Followers. Seriously.
It truly is terrifying that these people exist.
And that they can... like quickly and easily manipulate people because some of the people they manipulate are very smart people, you know, like people you'd never see it coming.
So it's kind of scary to listen to because you're like, ugh.
Well, and one of the guys, he, spoiler alert, but I mean, whatever.
He got out of prison for already murdering someone. went to this like small town in Michigan, became a pastor there. got engaged to one of the women who was a congregant. but had a crush on her, like, 22-year-old daughter.
Ugh. I think I know that one. I think I'd listen to this one.
Yeah, and murdered her 22-year-old daughter in order I'm not gonna give it all away.
Yeah. That's a gnarly one. But, like, how...
How vulnerable is that poor woman? Like she thinks she's engaged to this man that's just kind of basically trying to get close to her daughter.
It's horrific. It is so messed up. So crazy.
And he's the town pastor. Like, ugh. Oh, so it's like not only just this one woman, it's like an entire town fell for his bullshit.
Yeah. It's insane. It's so crazy. It's that stupid confidence.
It really is. Blind confidence. Oh, and God, he had a face like an elbow.
Like, he was sick. I don't want to track it.
A face only a mother can love. I love that.
A face like an elbow. That's awesome. I love it so much.
So one of the cool things about Seven Deadly Sinners and one that I think like takes it apart from other podcasts. is that you have categorized them into the seven deadly sins.
So your different cases go into a different sin like wrath, lust, greed.
And I love that because I've always been fascinated by the Seven Deadly Sins.
Like Seven, that movie is... phenomenal i love that that's what you thought of because i thought of the america's next top model photo shoot where they had to be the seven deadly sins That is so classic YouTube.
It is. That was so perfect. Wow. That's exactly what I thought.
And you're like, no. No. Like real life.
Really gnarly horror movie. But. What is your favorite sin so far?
What are the cases that have fit into your favorite sin so far?
I would say either gluttony or greed and they those ones are usually kind of they they're very similar because it's like both of them are like they can't because gluttony doesn't necessarily just apply to like people think it's just consumption like food yeah it can it can apply to like overconsumption of anything.
So it can also be overconsumption of wealth at the expense of someone else or your normal thrills aren't good enough, meaning like, so that guy was just mentioning the murderous preacher.
Fine, he's a necrophiliac. I just gave it away.
But like, I put him as gluttony. even though that's like obviously not, you know, consumption related, but it's like you're, you're, desires are like unquenchable.
Like you can't, you have to just take it too far.
Right. That makes sense. There you go. Yeah.
So that one and Greek, because they usually can cover like, Yeah, so many different things.
Yeah, it's, like, all-encompassing. Yeah, for sure.
And greed, I feel like, is so dark right now.
Like, greed takes you into a real dark place.
Yeah, I feel like greed would be the best.
And actually, I think... Susan and Tony Alamo are because they were living in like a 13,000 square foot mansion and they're their followers were like 200 people to one bedroom room, like just a room.
That's unbelievable. That is unbelievable.
It truly is. It's insane. Speaking of Tony and Susan Alamo, that's the episode that you have just put out.
It's one in a four-part series? Yeah, it's going to end up being four.
Because there's Tony and Susan Alamo when they're together.
And then there's what Tony Alamo... mutates into after she's gone.
Perfect, Jared. Yeah, he, like, literally does a full psychotic breakdown that I can't even...
I don't think I'll ever get his Buddy Holly attempt of... little Yankee girl out of my psyche.
Which is so creepy because he ends up taking eight-year-olds as child bridesmaids.
Oh my God, I hate it. And if this song is going little Yankee.
He makes the word girl so like, It feels slimy.
It feels disgusting. It stinks like mold.
He makes the word girl like a curse word.
Like he makes it like a dirty word. Like stop that.
Every time he said like it was playing on the speakers and every time it happened, I was like, bull.
I know, I put it on my TV so that we could listen to it louder and I was like, oh my god, oh my god, ew, ew.
Like, no thank you. It's so upsetting. It was real rough.
And you can tell he's trying to do the Buddy Holly thing.
And I'm like, no, no, sir. Nobody, Holly.
You're just not talented. You're not. I also loved when you were like, you're from Missouri.
Like, why are you talking about little Yankee girl?
You're not, like, European. Like, what is wrong with you?
I can't handle it. So why should people go listen to that series in particular?
What is it about? and Susan Alamo? Honestly, because it really encompasses so many crimes that these people get away with.
It encompasses the taking of money from people.
It's a cult. It's mind control. It's I mean, not that we really want to hear about this.
It's abuse of children. It's, you know, it's...
Stealing of a body. You know, a casual stealing of a deceased person.
Just a Tuesday. Yeah. It's got that like sprinkled in it.
There's Bill Clinton in it calling him Roy Orbison on speed.
That's enough to go listen like immediately.
Yeah, guys, that's all you need to know.
So, Rachel, thanks for coming on. That's it.
No, I agree that this, it truly is like, it's like a gumbo of like, bad stuff yeah it's just a moldy slimy gumbo like a casserole of of can we play that can we play that clip really quick so you guys can react to it oh my god yes real time do you want to pull it up on your phone I'm so, it's so horrifying.
But the way, okay, now I want it because I know you've heard it before.
I want to pinpoint... His last yeah at the end.
All right, ready? It was very Yankee girl.
Oh, no. They got so hyped under my promotion.
Because I pumped my ideas into their heads to the point to where they wanted it.
When I eat food people want to eat the same kind of food I eat because I make it look delicious.
No you do not. Sir! Sir! Yes. Yes. He's like, down with the sickness.
Yes. Like, what, Tony? Yes. And no one wants to watch you eat food.
Can you imagine? I make it look delicious.
He could be eating like my favorite food and I would never eat it again.
He could be like going down on some sushi and I'd be like, well, I have to leave.
Yep. I gotta leave. That was such a euphemism too.
Wow. It was, and as soon as it came out of my mouth, I was like, that is not what I meant, but that is my favorite food.
I was like, well, damn. It was a poor choice of words.
No, that last, yeah. Threatening. That was real threatening.
I would immediately be like, spell broken.
I have to leave. Exactly. I can't even imagine being in that audience and being like, yeah.
And then he goes, yeah. Yeah. because you can hear them they're all like yeah and he's just like yeah I'll like say I would feel it and you're like They're like, do you realize what we're talking about, buddy?
It's not anything to get that excited about.
She's like, everything is exciting. It's just peanut butter sandwich.
Calm down. Really chill. I hate that so much.
So nasty. I hate it. So I feel like just to wrap this whole thing up, we got to keep it weird at the end.
So out of all the episodes that you've done, excluding the Tony and Susan Alamo or Alamo one.
It's annoying because everyone wants to say Alamo.
Yes, I do. It's spelled like, remember the Alamo.
It is. And I'm like the queen of mispronunciation.
So, you know, but out of all the cases, excluding that one, which one do you think keeps it the most weird?
I would say probably Hosanna Church because it involves like...
I know there's a whole like satanic panic thing that wasn't real.
I'm pretty sure this was kind of a real example of satanic ritual abuse.
I even interviewed a a guy that was a kid in the town at that time.
And he like told me real stories of like, no, this was really happening.
Oh, my God, nuts. That's awesome. That one or. in terms of more of a funny televangelist, Robert Tilton keeps it so weird.
Oh, yeah. When he speaks in tongues. It's like watching The Lion King.
It's like, say no more. It takes you to another galaxy.
It lifts you up. I love it. It actually makes me happy.
If I was in a bad mood, I could just watch Robert Hilton clips and just be like, This guy.
This guy. It's not as bad as I thought. You're like, you know what?
This guy exists. My day would be so much worse. everything's fine I love it well tell us where we can find you yeah Well, OK, so Seven Deadly Sinners podcast is the name on Instagram. or you can follow me personally, Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L-N O'Brien.
And then you can listen to Seven Deadly Sinners on all the podcast apps. on everywhere yeah and go do it because rachel is part of the morbid network family and we love her So happy to be a part of it.
We're so happy to have you. I love, like, everyone, like, on our group chat.
Right? Everyone's so... Freaking funny.
And it really is like just a weird little family.
I love it. It's so fun. I know we have a group text with all the people, all the network shows, all of us.
So we all just randomly will send each other like weird.
Like TikTok sometimes or like all that stuff.
A video of drunk Kathy Hilton. Okay, I wanted to say it, but I was like, is that allowed?
That made my 2020. Like, I love you for that.
We were all dying over that. So funny. I was so annoyed.
It was so good. It was better than I imagined it would be too.
I was like, what am I going to listen to?
And then when I listened to it, I was like, yeah.
Yeah, Kathy, that just exceeded what I wanted.
So guys. make sure you go listen to Rachel O'Brien's seven deadly sinners.
Uh, You can find it anywhere and we are going to have, there's going to be a little teaser of the Tony and Susan Alamo episode after this so you can get a little taste.
And then because you're going to love it.
And, you know, Tony makes you want to eat whatever he's eating.
Delicious. Once you got that little taste, you can head on over to Rachel's page.
And you can go eat the whole thing with him and hear him say, yeah.
I was going to say, can we literally just end this episode with a clip of him going, yeah.
So go check it out guys. And thank you so much, Rachel.
He was a preacher who couldn't resist temptation.
The priest is accused of killing Sister Margaret Ann Paul in the chapel.
The strongest of cases against a powerful preacher. in a town of true believers.
The legal age for marriage is at puberty.
I'm not married to any teenage girls who don't want to be.
I'm 74 years old. I remember reading that in the Bible, sir.
You don't know anything about the Bible.
And he kept stabbing and smiling. 410 wounds, scars upon scars.
You're listening to 7 Deadly Sinners. Thank you.
Susan Alamo died on April 8, 1982, at the age of 56.
Her followers were so guilt-ridden, felt so accountable that one young girl, later as an adult in the Ministry of Evil documentary, would remember the moment she found out Susan had passed like this.
I remember the night we got the message, pray for Susie.
And so I tried to stay up all night praying, but I'd already been up the night before praying.
For about three o'clock in the morning, I fell asleep.
I woke up and they told us Susie died. And I remember the guilt I felt.
I was crying, oh, my God, when Susie needed me the most.
I sleep. Bean. The brains behind the cult was gone, and what Tony would become was even worse than anyone could have imagined.
The hell brought upon the foundation in Tony's next move was a Christian cult level up we haven't seen in any season of Seven Deadly Sinners yet.
He tries to resurrect the dead. Oh, you thought this false prophecy would end when their leader passed to the great beyond?
Oh no, folks, this was Susan's curtain call, and Tony wasn't going to lead the faithful's solo while her body was still fresh.
Opportunity knocks, my friends. Susan had a hold on their Christian cattle.
She knew how to leave their followers in a fear of God paralysis.
But would her message possess its grasp even from the grave?
Tony wasn't willing to find out. He was worried the congregation might not follow him.
He needed a solution. He needed a con. I'm praying that God will heal her, raise her from the dead, so that it'll show the power of the Almighty God.
The plan was underway. He's not burying Susie.
He and his followers will resurrect her from the dead.
He decided to place Susan's body in an open casket in the spec house of his Arkansas mansion. a large room the followers could access.
Then he behaved like he was Susie's housebroken pet, who was now heartbroken, scared, and power hungry.
That spotlight had been shining a bit too bright on Susie all this time.
And he would have you know, he was born for the spotlight.
Just not with the name for it. So he ordered prayer trains to Susan's casket.
Two-hour shifts. 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Followers would surround Susan Alamo's decaying body.
Praying. They worshipped her as she wrought away, hoping their savior would sit up and release them from Tony's pledge.
I would have to imagine this was the edge for some of the Alamo followers.
This woman is dead. We can smell her rotting flesh.
And this bozo Tony says, We will be condemned to hell if we don't figure out some witchcraft to bring this woman back from the dead. because all this praying ain't taking that smell away.
But in many cases, I was wrong. After Susan died, many followers were desperately begging God to please not take Tony from them too.
They needed him. Then someone saw Susie breathe.
The rumors spread like wildfire. Was it just a follower hallucinating from sleep deprivation or sheer emotional exhaustion?
Or did Rigamortis finally set in and someone saw a muscle seize up?
Whatever the cause, the rumor turned into a living, breathing prophecy. and ignited this shred of hope Tony needed to keep his con going.
He claimed he was receiving messages from Susie in the afterlife. the washed-up music promoter was hell-bent on addressing the media for a new type of eternal gig.
And he kept that gig up much longer than I realized you could keep a dead body from burial.
And I know the very specific stench of death.
Tragically, I had a neighbor die in a former apartment I lived in in Los Angeles, but no one knew they had passed away.
And I remember within the week of their death, I smelt a smell so distinct in the hallway that I'll never forget it.
It wasn't until I watched the coroners bring this person out that I realized what that smell was.
And guys, that was just a week. Imagine a year.
The people who followed Susan in life believe in her still in death.
One year later, she has not been buried, and members of the cult are still praying for her resurrection.
Yes, you heard that correctly. Brainwashed members sat with Susan's body for over a year.
And when she didn't resurrect, Tony screamed it was their fault.
But one brave soul finally pleaded to Toni that her flesh was rotting.
This was not okay. Something had to be done.
So Tony's response was to place her in a crypt in their heart-shaped pool, one less gaudy reminder of their opulent scam.
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The town of Agde in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex.
But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn.
The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption.
His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant.
Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.
I am the Archangel Michael. The whole town has been thrown into chaos.
Mr Mayor. As the mayor is unable to carry out his duties I would like to address you all Legal proceedings have been initiated Join me, Anna Richardson, and journalist Leo Schick for The Mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption, and magic.
Binge all episodes of The Mystic and the Mayor exclusively and ad-free right now on Wondery+.
Start your free trial in Apple Podcasts Spotify or the Wondery app
