S2/EP8 Founded by Charles Dederich in 1958, Synanon began as an addiction rehab center in Southern California, taking its name from the Greek prefix syn- (meaning “coming together”) and -anon (derived from Alcoholics Anonymous). By 1974, the organization boasted more than 1,700 members and around $22 million in assets, all of which became tax-exempt after the organization registered as a church.

S2/EP8 Cult leader Charles Dederich, who had become paranoid about outside influence, promoted violence and told his Synanon members to protect themselves by any means necessary, specifically against media and attorneys looking to expose them. Dederich later cultivated a private militia of members trained to serve as his “Imperial Marines” that kept order across Synanon’s facilities.

S2/EP8 Charles Dederich broadcasted his teachings to multiple Synanon facilities through “The Wire,” a low-power FM radio station, and the lengthy sermons were often recorded on tape. Dederich promoted violence and told his members to protect themselves, and he formed a private militia dubbed the “Imperial Marines” to serve as protection.

S2/EP7 Nathaniel Chapman, a former member of the Gatekeepers, speaks about his mother joining the religious cult that started out as a Bible study group. As their following grew, the Gatekeepers secluded themselves more and more from the outside world, and its members cut off contact with their family and loved ones.

S2/EP7 Former member of the Gatekeepers cult Blaine Applin discusses the first time he met Christopher Turgeon. The Gatekeepers cult started as a Bible study group in the early 1990s. One day, Turgeon announced to his members that God had spoken directly to him, and he dubbed himself a prophet of the Lord.

S2/EP8 A Los Angeles lawyer is attacked by a poisonous rattlesnake leading police to a bizarre cult veiled as a drug and alcohol rehab facility named Synanon. The cops uncover a group of blind followers willing to do anything at their leader’s urging, even murder.

S2/EP8 Celena Wittman was only 4 years old when her mother took her to join Synanon, a Los Angeles-based cult that began as an addiction rehab center. One of first things that happened when Wittman and her mother arrived was someone took to Wittman to the bathroom and shaved her head.

S2/EP7 As the Gatekeepers cult grew, leader Christopher Turgeon became paranoid that the government was surveilling them. Former cult member Nathaniel Chapman remembers being cut off from his grandparents because Turgeon believed they were keeping tabs on them.

S2/EP6 The investigation into Ervil LeBaron got a boost when his first wife, a Mexican woman named Delphina, contacted authorities. She was treated like a servant at his compound, and she said she was worried that she and her children would be killed. Investigators soon convinced her to become state's evidence.

S2/EP6 Ervil LeBaron, the leader of the Church of the Lamb of God who believed himself to be a prophet, was waging a war against his brother, Joel LeBaron. Ervil wanted Joel dead, and in 1972, several of Ervil’s followers carried out their leader’s wishes, luring Joel to a house, beating him, and shooting him to death.

S2/EP6 Ruth Wariner LeBaron remembers hearing the news that Ervil LeBaron had died. Ervil was tried and convicted of ordering Rulon Allred’s murder, earning him a life sentence. Within a year, he was found dead in his cell. While still behind bars, Ervil sent a hit lists to his followers, which led to the deaths of other people.

S2/EP7 Christopher Turgeon, who led The Gatekeeper cult, began commanding both his male and female followers to carry weapons as his paranoia grew about government surveillance. Turgeon was "preparing for the end times" and believed an apocalypse was coming.

S2/EP7 The Gatekeepers saw themselves as pure participants in a religious quest to cleanse the world. When a member challenges the cult’s radical leader, cops discover how he paid for his disobedience with his life. Now his killers are nowhere to be found.

S2/EP5 Richard Vieira is appealing his conviction on death row, claiming he feared Gerald Cruz would kill him if he didn't kill Darlene Paris. Darlene's mom and a lead investigator on the case say what Richard did was "unforgivable," though.

S2/EP5 Gerald Cruz picked outsiders and people down on their luck for his commune, cult expert Rachel Bernstein says. He mixed occult and White Supremacist ideologies in a toxic brew.

S2/EP5 Jason LaMarsh was using drugs and adrift when Gerald Cruz took him in and gave him a place to stay on his Salido property. Cruz picked out vulnerable people to join his group.