Roch Thériault
Canadian cult leader and murderer (1947–2011) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Roch Thériault ([ʁɔk te.ʁjo]; May 16, 1947 – February 26, 2011) was a Canadian cult leader and convicted murderer. Thériault, a self-proclaimed prophet under the name Moïse [mɔ.iz], founded the Ant Hill Kids in 1977. They were a doomsday cult whose beliefs were based on Seventh-day Adventist Church beliefs. In April 1978, Thériault was removed from the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[1] He maintained multiple wives and concubines, impregnating all female members as a religious requirement, and fathering 26 children.[2] Thériault's followers, including 12 adults and 22 children, lived under his totalitarian rule in a commune and were subject to severe physical and sexual abuse.
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Roch Thériault | |
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Born | (1947-05-16)May 16, 1947 |
Died | February 26, 2011(2011-02-26) (aged 63) |
Cause of death | Stabbed in neck with a shiv in Dorchester Penitentiary by his cellmate, Matthew Gerrard MacDonald |
Occupation | Cult leader |
Children | 26 |
Thériault was arrested for assault in 1989, dissolving the cult, and in 1993 was convicted for the murder of follower Solange Boilard. He had previously killed an infant named Samuel Giguère, while two of his disciples, Geraldine Gagné Auclair and Gabrielle Nadeau, died following homeopathic treatments administered to them by Thériault. Thériault received a life sentence, which he was serving when he was murdered at Dorchester Penitentiary in 2011. Thériault, along with Robert Pickton, Clifford Olson and Paul Bernardo, has been considered one of Canada's most notorious criminals since the 1980s.[3]