Ricky Rodriguez
Son of cult leader who committed murder-suicide / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Richard P. Rodriguez (born David Moses Zerby; January 25, 1975 – January 9, 2005) was an American member of a religious cult called The Family, formerly known as the Children of God (COG), who murdered one of his childhood sexual abusers, Angela M. Smith, and then died by suicide.
Ricky Rodriguez | |
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![]() Rodriguez, circa 2000 | |
Born | David Moses Zerby (1975-01-25)January 25, 1975 Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain |
Died | January 9, 2005(2005-01-09) (aged 29) Blythe, California, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Davidito |
Occupation(s) | Fisherman, electrician |
Known for | Son of cult leader, perpetrator in murder–suicide |
Spouse |
Elixcia Munumel (m. 1999) |
Parents |
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During Rodriguez's childhood, he and his mother Karen Zerby and adoptive father David Berg, both of whom were leaders of The Family, traveled across the world to convert followers. Berg believed Rodriguez was called upon to become a prophet during biblical End Times. From a young age Rodriguez was brought up in a heavily sexually abusive environment and was sexually abused and raped by numerous people, including a cohort of adult "nannies", as described in the Family-published document titled "The Davidito Book".
Despite leaving The Family and finding marriage, Rodriguez struggled to adjust to life outside the cult and sought revenge for his abuse. He left his wife in Tacoma, Washington, and traveled across the U.S. in an attempt to find Zerby. After learning his former nanny Angela M. Smith was in Tucson, Arizona, he stayed with people he knew there until he settled in an apartment. On January 7, 2005, he recorded a video, saying he needed to take retribution for abuse in The Family—including his own—alluding to murder. The next day, Rodriguez invited Smith to his home for dinner, where he stabbed her to death before driving to Blythe, California, and killing himself.
The Family urged its members to disregard media reports about Rodriguez and Smith, and a spokesperson for the group said reports neglected to show Smith as a victim. Another former member considered it, out of other suicides in the group, to be one of the worst moments in The Family's history, and noted that it corroborated other stories of abuse within the group. Experts on cults noted that while murder was unjustifiable, Rodriguez's anger towards members of The Family was understandable, and cult specialist Rick Alan Ross described his suicide as an outcome from one of many individuals who suffered in "one of the most horrifically abusive and destructive cults in American history".[1]