In the late 1960’s, Hollywood Boulevard was filled with people carrying flyers that said “Repent or Perish.” These people were members of The Alamo Christian Foundation, a ministry led by husband and wife, Tony and Susan Alamo. The two called themselves prophets and said that God spoke directly to them. What started as a chance meeting in a bar led to the formation of one of the most notorious cults in America. To many onlookers, the “foundation” just appeared to be a strange type of ministry. Little did they know that behind closed doors and away from the cameras, there was rampant physical assaults, child abuse, sexual abuse, and child pornography. The man who stood at the head of the foundation and referred to himself as the “teflon pastor” soon dug his own grave and unraveled in front of America, with no one to blame but himself.
Who were the Alamos?
Tony Alamo was born on September 20, 1934 in Joplin, Missouri. His given name was Bernie Lazar Hoffman. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Romania. There isn’t much information on Tony’s childhood. In his late teen years, Tony left Joplin and headed for the west coast, changing his name to Marcus Abad, then Marcus Hoffman. He had mild success in LA as a big band singer. He told people that he recorded a hit record and was asked to manage several well known bands, including The Beatles, The Doors, and The Rolling Stones. Tony had extreme stories of how in demand he was in the music industry and used these to gain attention.
Susan Alamo was born on January 1st, 1925 in Alma, Arkansas. Her birth name was Edith Opal Horn. Like her husband, not much is known about Susan’s upbringing or early years. She told people that when she was a young girl, she suffered from severe tuberculosis and that God miraculously cured her. She was shown the Book of Revelation and said she was told that “she would be preaching the Gospel in the last days just before Jesus Christ comes back to earth.” Prior to meeting Tony, Susan had been married twice and had a daughter named Christihaon Coie. Chris talks openly about her mother and what life was like growing up with her. She said that Susan wanted to be a movie star and moved the two of them to Los Angeles. Susan got a job as a B-girl. B-girls’ jobs were to sit at the bar while the bartender refilled their alcohol glass with tea. When a man came up and wanted to talk to them, they’d end up paying for her “drinks.” This encouraged men to spend more money while the bar wasn’t actually serving the B-girls alcohol. It was small, but it showed Susan that could easily con people out of money. She had a way of getting attention, especially in churches. She had a knack for being able to walk into a room full of people, and everyone would look at her. Susan knew this could make her money.
Once she realized how powerful of a presence she had at churches, Susan would bring Chris with her to churches in the area, telling her that they were going to “do church tonight.” After a sermon, the pastor would call Susan up front and ask her to spread the word. Chris would sing and then Susan would give her testimony. Chris said that everything her mother would say during these testimonies was fake. She lied and she was very good at it. She told churchgoers how God had touched her when he healed her from her tuberculosis. Chris knew early on that her mother was a con artist. They made money from the donations that churchgoers gave and this is how the two of them survived.
Susan, now going by the name Susan Lipowitz, continued to spread lies and use her engaging personality to get her and Chris what they needed. She was constantly seeking people in the music industry to get her and her daughter a deal. One night, Susan and Chris were at a bar on Hollywood Boulevard when Tony Alamo came inside. Susan asked him if he was in the music industry and Tony, of course, said yes, that he had managed huge names. Susan was dressed lavishly and gave Tony the impression that she was wealthy. Susan in turn, thought that Tony had money. They continued to laugh, talk, and flirt at the bar while Chris watched. At the end of the night, neither of them had any money to pay for the pitchers of beers they’d ordered. Before leaving, Chris said that her mother leaned over to Tony and said, “Did you know that Jesus Christ is coming back to Earth again?” Tony didn’t know the Bible. He was raised in a Jewish family and didn’t know much about Christianity. He also never really seemed interested in women before meeting Susan. In fact, he despised them. But according to him, Susan was different. She and Tony were two of the same person and they both saw that. She began to teach him about the Bible and about being a prophet, and how they should be “saving” people. In 1966, the couple married and Susan took Tony’s last name and the two began their journey together.
The Formation of the “Foundation”
After their marriage, the Alamos took to the streets of Hollywood Boulevard, looking to help people. Tony said that the lord told him and Susie to go out in the streets, get these people, and preach the gospel. By these people, they were referring to young hippies. Many of these people had migrated to CA, looking for a better life or a different experience. Susan saw them in the streets, singing songs about God being dead and burning down churches. The couple made it their mission to preach the gospel to these individuals.
Surprisingly, Tony and Susan were able to attract a lot of these young people. So many of them were lost, vulnerable, and looking for a path in life. The Alamo Christian Foundation gave them that. They had two leaders who gave them the guidance they craved and they were finally a part of something. They began “saving” people and taking them to the beach to baptize them. The couple had created a community. Their followers believed that they had found happiness and God.
Tony was the business of the foundation and Susan was the gospel. They began to generate money and soon Tony saw the potential for the foundation to become even more profitable for him. By 1970, they had over 200 followers living in a 3 bedroom house in the Crescent Heights neighborhood in LA. The LAPD would come often to the home, as there were significant concerns about the unsanitary condition of the home and the violation of many city codes. Susan and Tony quickly grew fed up with authorities and felt they needed to move their church. They found a property in Saugus Canyon, about 45 minutes from Hollywood. They purchased it and moved up there, bringing their converts with them. They wanted to remove the converts from where they were in an attempt to make them even more reliant on the church.
It was reported that the foundation’s main source of income was from their converts selling all of their earthly belongings and turning in the money. Susan denied this to interviewers. She said that most of the people who came to them had nothing. Despite this denial of a source of income for the Alamos, the foundation was still making money. They told the followers that they needed money to “get the gospel out.” The followers worked in fields doing labor around town. They found that they needed to create a non-profit organization to keep the money for themselves.
Who are the Followers?
17-year-old Carey Miller first heard the Alamo name in 1970. His older brother, Bob, told him that he was going to serve the lord at their church in Saugus. The boys hadn’t grown up with religion in their home, so this was a new experience for Bob. Carey went with him to the Saugus Canyon location to check everything out. He noticed that the church had people of all ages, races, and backgrounds. They were all so entranced by the Alamos, particularly Susan. She told the followers that she was a prophet of God and that He spoke to her. Carey watched as the crowd of people sang gospel and knew every word. They were raising their hands in the air and rolling their eyes. He watched his brother do the same thing. Susan spoke about how important it was to lay your life down for the lord. Carey sat down beside Susan and told her that he was going to try the church out for a semester and see if it was real. Susan told him that it’d be the longest semester of his life.
Sue Balsley had graduated from high school in 1969 in Minnesota. She was working full time to pay her bills. On the weekends, she partied with friends, occasionally indulging in the use of LSD. Looking for a new adventure and answers, she and a friend decided to hitchhike to CA. They made it to Hollywood Boulevard and ran into followers from the foundation. They were handing out flyers saying that people needed to “repent or perish.” Sue thought it seemed cool and she decided to join their church.
It’s Only the Beginning
In 1973, the foundation began producing their own television show called “The Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation.” They began broadcasting their television ministry from Hollywood. There would be a sermon, by Susan of course, gospel, testimonies, songs, and a message on each show. It was clear that the church was gaining more notoriety and the Alamos wanted to recruit as many new followers as they could.
Back in Saugus, the followers were working 10+ hours a day. They got paid weekly, and every Friday, one of the foundation workers, instructed by Tony, would go around to everyone and give them a pen to sign their paycheck and hand it in to the foundation. Everybody’s paychecks, ranging from $200-$500 weekly, were going to the Alamos. They were told that they were paying to help spread the gospel and take care of the property.
As the population of the church grew, so did the power of the Alamos. They berated their followers, using verbal and physical abuse, all in the name of God. Sue had given birth to a son, but wasn’t allowed to rest. The mothers were told they were never good enough and couldn’t work hard enough. Sue remembered being so exhausted that she couldn’t hold her baby in her arms. Susan would scream at them about how lazy and awful they were. The mothers were given cloth diapers, but oftentimes, they didn’t have water to clean them. Maggots would get in the dirty diapers and they couldn’t keep their babies clean. No matter what the reason was, Susan would never miss a chance to tell them how they couldn’t raise children, couldn’t even keep their diapers clean. This didn’t dissuade Sue or the other women. She truly believed that Susan and Tony were prophets and heard God’s voice.
As the church grew, so did the sermons that Susan gave. Her stories became more outlandish, but no one would dare question the Alamos. Chris said that she faked cancer for years. She would say that she had terminal cancer for six years, but that God was a healer. He’d chosen her to heal and to send his word through. The followers were told that they must pray for Susan, who was suffering for their sins. She said that their sins were what were making her have cancer. As the followers reflected on their faults and prayed every day and night for Susan, she would go into the city with her daughter and buy herself extravagant things. Chris said that her followers were crying for her, while she took their money and used it on a shopping spree.
Families of followers were growing increasingly concerned. If the family was okay with the church, they were supposedly allowed to visit the church and their loved ones. If they didn’t agree with the church, then they were exiled from their family. They tried to go to the media to get the word out about what they believed was happening to their family members, but it didn’t work and the Alamo’s following just continued to grow.
Their television show continued as they brought people from the church to testify about being saved on the air. The followers would never NOT do what they were told. Followers’ children were also brought on and were so frightened that all they could do was say “yes” when Susan asked them if they were happy living at the foundation. The Alamos were great actors when it came to presenting themselves and their cause to the public.
Carey and his brother Bob were living in Saugus when Tony and Susan began splitting up families. He separated Carey and Bob. Shortly after, Carey fell in love with another follower. Once he met her, he said that he truly became a part of the foundation and stopped thinking for himself.
The Abuse
There were rumors outside of the foundation about what went on inside their walls, but none were aware of the child abuse that had become rampant inside. Susan told parents that when their children became too big to spank, then they needed to start slapping them across the face. At the Saugus property, there was a small room off to the side behind the church. Parents were chosen by Susan and Tony and instructed to bring their children there. They were then told that their child was possessed by the devil and that the parents needed to beat the devil out of them. The parents followed their directions without question. They truly believed that their children were possessed.
It was when Chris found out about the parents being told to beat their children that she knew she had to get out of there. She was 20-years-old and had two daughters. She finally told her mother that she needed to leave. Susan told her daughter that she knew way too much about what went on in the church and she wasn’t going anywhere. She said that she’d kill her before she let her go. Chris panicked and ran out of the room to her room and began packing her children’s belongings to leave. Seconds later, there was banging on her door. It was several boys from the ministry with her mother standing behind them. The boys, directed by Susan, proceeded to beat Chris. Susan would reach out between hits and grab Chris’ hair or scratch her. She finally lost consciousness.
When she came to, her children were gone. Chris called the police who went with her to Susan’s house and got her oldest daughter. Unfortunately, her youngest was with the father, who was still in the foundation. Chris went to the police station to have her injuries photographed and begin the process of pressing charges. While there, she got a phone call. It was a lawyer, who told her that if she didn’t sign anything and didn’t press any charges, she could come get her youngest daughter. Chris agreed and left the police station. When she retrieved her other daughter, Susan said to her, “I warned you. You really blew it.” Chris drove off with her two daughters and didn’t look back.
Another Move
The foundation had gotten so large that Tony and Susan felt they needed a bigger place. More importantly, the police in Saugus were becoming more suspicious of them. Authorities had noticed the ministry’s growing income and suspected that workers were not being paid. The Alamos, who routinely spoke about how law enforcement wanted to prevent them from spreading the gospel, told followers that they needed to relocate to where the gospel had started, to the Bible belt. In 1975, the ministry moved from CA to Arkansas, where Susan had grown up. She told them that Arkansas was the promised land, that she was there when she was nine-years-old and had been touched by God. She said he saved her as she was dying from tuberculosis. Chris said that throughout the years, there had been so many variations of that story from Susan that she couldn’t keep them straight. Chris believed that Susan wanted to return to Arkansas, to the place that had treated her badly, so she could show them what she had done.
Tony and Susan chose the city of Alma in Arkansas. This city was close to a major interstate and not far from Texas and Oklahoma. Police believe they chose this city for those reasons. If they needed to move again because of law enforcement, they could move quickly. The ministry built business in the area with followers staffing them as “volunteers.”
Carey was tasked with establishing accounting for the ministry. Tony basically told him that he wanted the IRS to have a big mess if they investigated. There were so many different holdings and offshore accounts that it would’ve been difficult to make much sense of it. Since their church was listed as a non-profit, they were not subject to taxes. In 1970, the foundation’s revenue was approximately 46K and by 1975, it was over a million dollars. Despite these numbers, Tony told interviewers that they showed a loss each year. He said the foundation was not intended to make a profit, it was intended to meet the needs of the volunteers. The volunteers that Tony said didn’t believe they needed to be paid to serve the lord.
Georgia Ridge
The Alamos had their followers construct a new facility nearby in Dyer, Arkansas called Georgia Ridge. It was a 243 acre compound far from prying eyes. There were two entrances and the entire compound was gated. Both entrances had vehicles and watchmen at them 24/7. Everything was monitored and no one had time to themselves. If they found themselves without something to do, they were to read the Bible or listen to tapes of Susan preaching. The compound had a nursery, as followers were not permitted to use birth control. By forcing their followers to reproduce, it ensured that members couldn’t leave.
There were many children at the compound, all of whom referred to Tony as “Papa Tony.” Rebecca, who was born into the foundation, said there were 24 children in her “group.” They were all born within days, weeks, and months of each other. To the children, Tony and Susan were the people that provided for them. They were their gods.
The Alamos lived in a house in the Georgia Ridge compound that was referred to as the “spec house.” This is also where the reports happened. Reports were when a follower saw someone doing something wrong and reported it to Susan. These would often end in punishment, sometimes physical, sometimes being separated from their family, and occasionally in exile from the church. These reports were very frequent. Children reported their parents, parents reported their children. Some even reported themselves because they were petrified that they would go to hell. The children believed that other children deserved to be beaten because God was trying to save them.
Karma Sucks
People were attracted to the foundation by Susan. She was truly the brains behind the ministry and the mind control. Ironically enough, as often as Susan claimed that God had helped heal her from terminal cancer that never existed, she found that she actually had cancer. She stopped attending church and grew very sick very quickly. When they took her in for surgery, they immediately saw that her body was consumed by the disease. There was nothing that doctors could do for her. The followers were instructed to pray for their sick leader, while Tony stood by, his concern being that people might not follow him if Susan was gone.
On April 8, 1982, at 56-years-old Susan Alamo died. Sue remembered the sickening guilt that she’d felt after Susan’s death. Sue said that she fell asleep the night before and couldn’t stay up throughout the night and continue praying for Susan. She felt it was her fault. Tony was heartbroken. Susan was the only woman who he’d ever loved and he was unsure of how to continue the foundation without her. He decided not to bury his wife. He put her in an open casket in the spec house and told followers that the Bible said she was going to rise from the dead. The house turned into a prayer chapel with a prayer chain. Followers took two hour shifts to pray that Susan would wake up.
A year passed, and Susan’s body remained in the open casket in the spec house. Tony blamed the followers for her not coming back from the dead. He said that they hadn’t prayed hard enough and hadn’t fasted long enough. Someone finally came to Tony and told him that he needed to bury her, that the body was starting to rot. He had a mausoleum built on the property and finally buried his wife. Rebecca’s father was one of the followers who had been in the room with Susan and Tony as she was dying. He said that Susan grabbed Tony, pulled him close, and said “You’re going to destroy this place. Let these people go. Don’t continue this, it’s wrong.”
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