Home
cover of episode The Krugersdorp Cult Killings | Part 2

The Krugersdorp Cult Killings | Part 2

2023/1/11
logo of podcast Crimehub: A True Crime Podcast

Crimehub: A True Crime Podcast

Chapters

Cecilia Stane, a self-proclaimed witch, infiltrated the Electus Burdeus cult, manipulating its members into a murderous spree against those who opposed her, including their leader, Rhea Grunewald.

Shownotes Transcript

In order to pick up where we left off in part 1 of this bizarre story, we need to first revisit a pivotal moment for the fanatical cult, Electus Burdeus.

The members were former followers of Rhea Grunewald, a preacher who believed their community was at war with the occult and sought to convert Satanists to Christianity. The group lived their lives according to the Lord's teachings of unconditional love, forgiveness, and repentance. That all changed after they met Cecilia Stane, the self-proclaimed Bride of Satan, 42nd generational witch and occult survivor.

Cecilia claimed to have renounced the Church of Satan and ran to Rhea for protection from the dark forces that sought revenge. The preacher welcomed her with open arms but quickly became overwhelmed by the witch's never-ending list of needs. Unbeknownst to Rhea, Cecilia had developed a pathological obsession with her, one that soon turned toxic. By the time she realized the truth, it was already too late. Cecilia had Rhea's inner circle wrapped around her devious fingers.

When Rhea openly condemned Cecilia, the group continued to follow the witch. Zack and Michaela Valentine forked out hundreds of thousands of rands to support Cecilia's medical needs and the abandoned orphans of the Church of Satan. Mirinda Stane indoctrinated her own children, Marcel and Leroux, to prove her devotion to their leader.

They were blinded by Cecilia's declarations of divinity and eager to obey. So, she used them to terrorize Rhea in the hopes that the preacher would come running back to her. Of course, she didn't. Rhea kept her distance to protect herself and her ministry from Cecilia's corruption. However, the witch perceived this as a malicious act of betrayal.

Cecilia no longer wanted to be the center of Rhea's universe, nor was she satisfied with turning the preacher's inner circle against her. Cecilia wanted to break Rhea beyond repair, so she orchestrated the sacrifice of her loved ones. The members of Electus Perdeus had previously been peaceful people who adhered to the laws of God and man. However, Cecilia managed to mold them into obedient pawns that were ready to do anything for her, including murder.

They gleefully embarked on a killing spree that the media later christened "The Satanic Murders." Many have since accused them of being complicit in their crimes. Others, including myself, have argued that they were brainwashed beyond the point of being able to rationalize their actions. Aside from two overly eager followers, perhaps, it's up to you to come to your own conclusions. Part 1: A Brutal Birthday Surprise

Cecilia chose Natasha Berger, an attorney and close friend of Ria's, as her first sacrificial lamb. But she had to convince Alectis Perdeus that the 33-year-old needed to die. She cunningly accused Natasha of killing 170 imaginary orphans after praying the dangerous prayer at an Overcomers Through Christ meeting.

Cecilia then selected Michaela, Zach, Mirinda, and Mirinda's 14-year-old daughter, Marcel, as her holy executioners. The foursome planned Natasha's murder in excruciating detail. They decided that little Marcel would knock on the attorney's door and pretend that her cat had found its way inside the apartment. Once Natasha let her in, Marcel would use pepper spray to blind her and render her defenseless.

The team would then alert the others, who would join her inside to finish the job. There was one thing they didn't factor into their plan though: the attorney's perceptiveness. Natasha knew Marcel well, as they'd both attended countless Overcomers Through Christ meetings over the years. Not to mention she, like the rest of the church group, was now convinced that Cecilia and her inner circle were responsible for the bombing, arson, and threats made against them.

Natasha was kind, but by no means naive, which the foursome would only realize once they arrived at her apartment. Marcel did her best to play the innocent, but Natasha became visibly guarded when she saw the teenager. She wisely kept her security gate closed as she listened to Marcel's sloppy cat story. Natasha remained calm and polite, telling the teen that there was definitely no cat inside her apartment, and closed the door before Marcel had a chance to say anything more.

it was no use. Marcel retreated to the car with her tail between her legs and reported back to the others. She told them that their plan would never work. The attorney was simply far too cautious. The following morning, Natasha noticed that an occult symbol had been smeared onto one of her gutters with what she hoped was just red paint.

According to her father, it was rumored that those unlucky enough to have such a sign painted on their home would never see the sunset again. While Natasha did get to enjoy one final sunset, the ominous premonition would eventually come true. Electus Brudeus had a new plan in mind.

Cecilia knew that the only way they could outwit Natasha was by using someone she trusted against her, and the witch was more than willing to use force. She settled on Joy Buhnseier, a kindly old woman who lived next door to Natasha. Joy had nothing to do with Cecilia's vendetta against Rhea and the Overcomers through Christ. However, she was vulnerable, trusting, and had a close relationship with Natasha.

Simply put, the pensioner was an easy target. Cecilia decided that Zach and Michaela Valentine would be the ones to execute her new plan. The witch had a very good reason for sending the couple alone. Aside from being worried that a second appearance for Marcel might arouse too much suspicion from neighbors, she also wanted to test Michaela's loyalty. The pastor in training had become quite vocal about her discomfort with the dark path, Ilectus Perdeus was walking.

making her a potential threat to Cecilia's leadership. It was time for her to prove where her allegiance lay. So the witch declared that Michaela would be the one to kill Joy. The group spent days watching Natasha and Joy to familiarize themselves with the women's schedules. They needed to get the old woman alone. Joy, a retiree who lived on her own, was at home for most of the week. Natasha was always at work, giving them ample time to set their plan in motion.

On July 26th, 2012, Zach and Michaela made the 40-minute drive to the women's apartment complex in Centurion Pretoria. The members of Electus Pradeus had previously agreed that they could abandon the plan at any stage. However, when Michaela started to change her mind, Zach ignored her. She cried that what they were about to do was wrong and begged her husband to turn around, but he kept driving.

Natasha was already at work when they arrived. They'd timed their journey perfectly. The couple knocked on Joy's door and explained that they'd come to surprise Natasha, their close friend, for her upcoming birthday. They even brought a present with them to make their story seem more believable. Joy had no reason to doubt the seemingly sweet couple. After all, why would they lie?

When they asked if they could wait at her home until Natasha arrived, the 63-year-old let them in without hesitation. She was thrilled to help them with their thoughtful plan, if only she knew. Part 2: The Start of the Satanic Murders Later that same day, a neighbor who happened to be passing by Joy's apartment noticed that all of her doors were wide open.

After taking a closer look, they stumbled upon a gruesome discovery: Natasha Berger's bloodied corpse. The neighbor called the police in a panic, too scared to venture further into the flat in case the killer was still lurking inside. The police arrived within minutes and cordoned off the unit as a crime scene. As they searched the flat, they came across another body. It was Joy Bunzire. The responding officers were stunned. Homicides were scarce in this neck of Centurion.

Double homicides were all but unheard of, especially ones as brutal as this. Natasha had clearly fought for her life. Her body was riddled with stab wounds, though her chest and head took most of the damage. In fact, the attorney had been stabbed so violently that her skull was cracked. Even so, she'd put up a good fight. Natasha managed to fend off her attacker, or attackers, for long enough to call 10-111, South Africa's version of 911.

She was found stabbed to death in Joy's living room, clutching a note that read, "Natasha, come see me urgently, please. Auntie Jay." It had clearly been written under duress. Joy didn't stand a chance. The pensioner was found in her bedroom lying in a pool of her own blood. Her throat slashed wide open. Curiously, her dog was found alive but locked in her bedroom cupboard.

There were no defensive wounds on the old woman's body, nor signs of a struggle in her room. However, Joy's death had not been quick and painless. The trail of blood behind her corpse led the investigators to believe that she'd survived the attack long enough to crawl towards her bedroom door in a tragic attempt to get help. Obviously, she never made it. The police became increasingly puzzled as more evidence came to light.

There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing had been stolen from either women's apartment. Yet, it seemed to investigators that the victims had no enemies who sought to harm them, until they found Natasha's Know Your Enemy training manual and the supposed occult symbol on her gutter. Initially, they thought it was a hitman who forced Joy to write the note that lured Natasha to her home. Now, they blamed Satanists. Their first instincts were correct, though they'd only find out years later.

Natasha's murder was a hit of sorts. Joy was just collateral damage. The moment Zach and Michaela stepped foot inside the pensioner's apartment hours earlier, their warm smiles vanished. Zach pulled a knife on her and sneered that they weren't there for tea and cookies. He demanded that Joy write the letter that would ultimately end both women's lives. The terrified old woman had no choice but to comply.

Michaela reluctantly slipped the note under Natasha's apartment door and returned to Joy's unit, only to find that Zack had already overpowered her. He dragged the 63-year-old into her bedroom but was interrupted by Bubbles, her little poodle. The poor thing was yapping furiously at the intruders, most likely trying to protect its owner. Zack scooped Bubbles up, shoved it into a cupboard, and closed the door. Perhaps he couldn't bring himself to kill an animal,

He had no trouble disposing of an innocent old woman though. Zack turned to Joy and slit her throat without mercy. He then joined his wife in the living room, leaving his victim choking on her own blood. Michaela was visibly shaken. As they sat on Joy's couch waiting for Natasha to arrive, she could hear the pensioner gurgling as she died. Her resolution crumbled with every pained gasp. Natasha found Joy's note as soon as she arrived home and rushed over to the old woman's apartment.

She knocked on the door several times, but no one answered. Worried that something might be wrong, she let herself in and called out to Joy, but stopped dead in her tracks the moment she saw Zach and Michaela. Maybe she instinctively knew that they were there to hurt her, or perhaps Zach was covered in blood. Whatever the case, Natasha immediately went on the offensive.

After years of karate training, the attorney knew how to defend herself. However, she was no match for Zack's knife. He flew into a frenzy and began savagely stabbing her in the head and chest. The attack was over in what seemed like seconds. A neighbor heard the thump of the attorney's body. When she peeked outside into the alley that separated their apartments, she saw a blonde woman running toward the parking area. The neighbor assumed that the noise came from her and went back inside.

The woman she saw was Michaela Valentine. The pastor in training had fled to their car in a state. She couldn't bear to watch the man she loved stab another innocent woman to death. Once Zach was satisfied that Natasha and Joy were both dead, he sealed his knife in a plastic bag, crept out the back door, and walked outside as if nothing had happened. An investigative officer who specialized in occult-related crimes was later called to the scene.

After going through Natasha's Know Your Enemy study materials and finding an array of used candles in Joy's home, he immediately assumed that the murders were a satanic ritual gone wrong. Apparently, the investigator had never heard of load shedding because he actually believed that these findings meant the women were part of a cult.

He eventually reached a dead end in the case and decided to enlist the help of an expert on the matter, F.H. Havinga, the spiritual psychologist who originally trained Rhea in counseling satanic abuse survivors. Havinga examined the crime scene photographs and was adamant that there was no clear evidence that the homicides were linked to the occult in any way. Unconvinced, the investigator asked Havinga where he should start.

"I would advise you to start with Cecilia Stain," Avenga replied. Unfortunately, the investigators working on the case would only be able to connect Electus Perdeus to the crimes far too late. Cecilia was on a mission to destroy Rhea and everything she held dear. Natasha was simply the appetizer. Still, her death was enough to break the preacher.

Ria was devastated at the news of her friend's horrific murder. She felt responsible. She also felt that Cecilia had something to do with it. Eventually, Ria mustered up the courage to go to the Kasana apartment building and confront her. Of course, Cecilia feigned shock and denied having any knowledge about the grisly killings. Her followers played along.

Rhea was at a loss. She and the other religious leaders in Kruger's Dorp decided to stop preaching altogether, hoping that it would end the bloodshed. And it did, for a while. One month later, Rhea received another threatening text message. The contents were more macabre than ever. "Hi Rhea, have you said goodbye to Reg? I hope you have," it read.

The message referred to Pastor Reginald Ben Dixon. To Ria, he was a friend and mentor. To Cecilia, he was the reason Ria abandoned her. She loathed everything about the man, but in truth, she was simply jealous.

Rhea trusted him, respected him, and relied on his guidance, everything Cecilia craved from her. Worse, Reginald had been the most critical of the witch's strange obsession with Rhea and openly encouraged her to distance herself from the inner circle. This was no secret, which made it easy to convince the members of Electus Perdeus that he was to blame for Rhea losing her way.

When Cecilia announced that Reginald had to die to set Rhea on the path that God had chosen for her, her followers nodded in agreement. More specifically, Zack Valentine and Mirinda Stain. Zack had solidified his position as Cecilia's right hand after murdering Natasha and Joy. To Mirinda's dismay, he was the first to be chosen to get rid of Reginald. Mirinda was desperate to prove herself as Cecilia's most dedicated follower.

she volunteered to slaughter the pastor herself and even offered to take her teenage daughter with her to show her the ropes. Cecilia no longer trusted Michaela after she disobeyed her orders. So, the witch agreed. On the evening of August 13th, 2012, Reginald Ben Dixon heard a knock at his door.

It was two South African police officers, also known as SAPS. They explained that they were investigating the murders of Natasha Berger and Joy Boonsire and wanted to ask him a few questions. The pastor was happy to help. He stepped outside and began telling the female officer everything he knew. Sadly, he failed to notice Marcel Steyn hovering by the car or the policeman coming up behind him with an axe.

Reginald wasn't being interviewed by the police. He was being stalked by Zack and Marinda wearing wigs and official Saps uniforms. While Marinda was distracting the pastor, Zack brought the axe down on his head and keeled over onto his back, groaning in pain and disoriented from what was likely a massive brain injury. Marinda pounced on him in a flash and stabbed the old man over and over again in his stomach. Mad with bloodlust, Zack went berserk.

He simply couldn't stop himself. The insurance broker began hacking at the 75-year-old pastor even after he stopped moving. Miranda slit the throat of Reginald's corpse to make absolutely sure he was dead. Poor Reginald's murder was a bloodbath, and 14-year-old Marcel was forced to watch. One wonders how a girl so young could ever get over the trauma of witnessing such carnage at the hands of her own mother and friend. Spoiler alert, she didn't.

Marcel's mind gradually became corrupted by the suffering she saw and the lies that were fed to her. Both she and her brother, Leroux, were well aware of what would become of them should they ever disobey Cecilia or, God forbid, attempt to leave Alectus Perdeus. However, Marcel was the only sibling that truly believed Cecilia's lies.

Even so, after being forced to spend their formative years trapped within a fanatical cult, the brother and sister became a product of their murderous upbringing. The same, however, cannot be said for Zack and their mother. While the Stain siblings were raised on violence, the bloodthirsty pair chose to relish it. Zack and Mirinda didn't kill simply to please Cecilia. They murdered and mutilated their victims for the sheer thrill of it.

The pair were unbothered by the gore that stained their hands and more than willing to continue getting them dirty. Officers later arrived at the scene and found the pastor almost unrecognizable. His body was left lying face up in his garden, riddled with deep gashes and caked and congealed blood. Captain Johan van Veeck, the detective on the case, said that the extent of the violence Reginald suffered would stay with him forever. This was no home invasion.

This was a crime motivated by hate. An officer from the provincial head office, who can't be named due to an ongoing court case, arrived shortly afterward. We'll call him Colonel X. He claimed to be responsible for occult-related crimes and suspected that Reginald had been slaughtered by Satanists. Apparently, he was investigating a similar incident that happened a month earlier, the murder of Natasha and Joy.

Colonel X insisted that the homicides were connected. He was right about that. Both Natasha and Reginald had ties to Rhea and Overcomers through Christ. However, by pushing the idea that the Slangs were satanic, he effectively distanced Cecilia from the crimes, as she claimed to be devoted to God and was open about her hatred of the occult. Thankfully, Von Vake ignored Colonel X's allegations.

Kruger's Dorp's religious communities were rife with rumors about Cecilia's hatred of Rhea and the overcomers through Christ. More so, they blamed the sudden upsurge in violent crimes on Alectus Brideus. Captain von Wege decided to interview Rhea and her ministry to separate the gossip from the gospel truth. Once again, all fingers were pointed at Cecilia Stane and her followers. Part 4: Till Death Do Us Part

Shortly after the pastor's murder, Captain Von Vaik went to the Gossena apartments to question Cecilia. He found her behavior deeply unsettling. Instead of joining him on the couch, she crawled onto the backrest and perched like a baboon. It seemed as though she was attempting to intimidate him by acting unstable. Curiously, during their conversation, Cecilia made her hostility towards Ria known.

Von Vake was sure that she was involved in the murders, but had no physical evidence to prove it. Then, on the day of Reginald Ben Dixon's funeral, he got a call from Ria. She was hysterical. She cried that she'd just found a parcel on her doorstep that contained what looked like part of a brain. It came wrapped in a bloody piece of paper that read, Sorry, this is all the doggies left you. Now you can have your own little piece of reg'.

Fortunately, the police determined that it was just a piece of pork. That came as no comfort to Ria though. The parcel was a cruel attempt at torturing her psychologically, and it worked. Though the incident had clearly pushed Ria over the edge, Captain Von Veik was determined to remain neutral. Who knows, perhaps Ria had placed the parcel there herself to get revenge on Cecilia. Maybe it was someone else entirely.

Von Waich later obtained a search warrant from the properties and vehicles of Cecilia, Mirinda, and Ria. The officers seized various items of interest, including laptops, cell phones, an axe, and Cecilia's extensive collection of knives. The items were sent to their forensic department in Pretoria, but there was no evidence that the weapons were linked to the recent murders.

Digital forensic experts were able to determine that all of the threatening text messages Ria received had come from the area the three women lived in. However, as they all lived on the same street, the discovery proved nothing. Several incriminating photographs were also uncovered. Some were pictures of petrol bombs that were suspiciously similar to those thrown in the parking lot during Ria's meeting.

Others depicted the elder Electus Pradeus members donning black clothing, white contact lenses, fake blood, and vampire teeth. At this stage, Captain Von Vake considered Cecilia, Marinda, Zack, and Michaela as suspects. Rhea wasn't off the hook yet either, as she had a long history with the group. However, after speaking with Michaela's parents, he quickly honed in on the Valentines.

Michaela and her mother, Ilse van Dijk, had been butting heads about her involvement with Cecilia long before Electus Brudeus was formed. However, Ilse had grown increasingly concerned about her daughter's mental health since Reginald's murder.

That same month, Michaela called her in a panic. Mommy, something happened. People were murdered. She whimpered. She broke down in tears and asked her mother if she knew a good lawyer. Shocked, Ilsa asked why she needed legal advice if she hadn't done anything wrong. Michaela explained that the police were going to come, and she was scared. Captain van Vijk was convinced that this proved Michaela knew more than she was letting on.

Once he'd finished questioning her parents, he obtained a warrant to search the Valentines' property, but it came too late. Two days later, on October 4th, 2012, van Wyk was called to investigate a homicide at a familiar address, Zach and Michaela's house. The pastor-in-training had been brutally murdered. He rushed to the scene and was met by a traumatized estate agent and Zach, who was oddly calm for someone who'd just lost the love of his life.

According to Zach, the couple had been planning to sell their home. He had organized for the estate agent to view the house that afternoon and told her that his wife would be there, but no one answered when she showed up. When Zach finally arrived home from work, he let her in through the garage. Ominously, none of the lights were on inside the house. Zach called out to Michaela as he walked to their bedroom and suddenly let out a pained howl. She was lying in their blood-soaked bed and obviously dead.

Every inch of her body was covered in deep gashes and stab wounds, especially her hands. The attack had been so frenzied that her blood was splattered across the ceiling. Though Zach seemed upset, the estate agent noted that he was more worried about whether she could still sell the house. Years later, the police would find out why. In the weeks leading up to her murder, Michaela had been preparing to leave Electus Perdeus, and Zach knew it.

He told the group that she was no longer an ally. Now, she was a threat. They decided that Michaela needed to be silenced before she exposed them. And Zach wholeheartedly agreed. Cecilia was his main priority now. The morning of her murder, Zach got up early, made Michaela a cup of coffee, and dropped a few sleeping pills in it. He made sure that she drank it before kissing her goodbye and leaving for work. As her husband, he knew he'd need a good alibi.

Soon after Zach left, Marinda and Marcel took the set of keys he'd given them and let themselves into the Valentine's home. They found Michaela passed out in bed. This time, it was Marcel's turn to prove herself. Marinda wanted to make it easy for her, so she smashed Michaela over the head a few times with a hammer to make sure she wouldn't wake up. It did the exact opposite. Michaela stirred and began moaning as she held her hands above her head in a groggy attempt to protect herself.

Whether panicked or high on the thrill of it, Marinda plunged a knife into her body over and over and over again. Marcel stood motionless in the doorway as she watched her mother slaughter another innocent person. This time, though, it hit different. Michaela was like the older sister she never had. She'd taught Marcel how to cook and bake over the years they spent at Cecilia's apartment. Now, the teenager was expected to help murder her.

Marinda turned to her daughter and held out the knife still dripping in Michaela's blood. Marcel's hand shook as she took it. She could only stomach stabbing her friend once before it became too much for her to bear. So she pretended that the blade was too blunt to carry on. Marinda grabbed the knife from her daughter and ordered her to get back before continuing the carnage. In the end, the high school teacher stabbed Michaela 65 times. She was only 25.

Part 5: A Confession, a Crooked Cop, and a Case Gone Cold Though the police disagreed about the motives of the three homicides, reporters quickly caught wind of Colonel X's supernatural speculations. Newspapers across the city were plastered with sensationalized headlines about devil worshippers and deadly satanic rituals. The focus was dragged to the supposed cult elements of what the media dubbed "the satanic murders" rather than the criminal investigation itself.

Captain van Vijk became suspicious of the Colonel and suspected that his accusations were an attempt to mislead investigators. Thankfully, Colonel X was eventually taken off the case and ordered to leave it up to van Vijk and his team. Even so, the investigation remained at a standstill. No new leads turned up, the murder weapons were still unaccounted for, and the detectives had no concrete evidence to tie their suspects to the homicides.

Captain Von Vake was sure that Cecilia and her followers were the killers, but he had to prove it first. He spent every waking hour poring over the case files, desperate to stop the bloodshed. He became consumed by it, so much so that he sacrificed his marriage in the process. Incredulously, despite his dogged detective work, Von Vake was abruptly taken off the case without reason. Even to this day, no one knows why.

That said, I have a sneaking suspicion that it might have had something to do with a certain Colonel, and you'll soon understand why. Colonel X's shady behavior was partially exposed by a mutual friend of Rhea and Cecilia, who attended their Know Your Enemy course. As he's currently living under witness protection, he also cannot be named, so I'll refer to him as Mr. X. Mr. X was horrified by the news of Michaela's sadistic murder. More so, he was suspicious.

Those close to Ria were dropping like flies. Now, a long-time member of Cecilia's inner circle had perished under similarly gory circumstances. It couldn't have been a coincidence. Mr. X became determined to find out who or what was killing his friends. So he moved to Kruger's door and began renting a room from Zack.

Curiously, the insurance broker didn't seem the least bit bothered by his wife's grisly demise. After earning Cecilia's trust and a place in her inner circle, Mr. X started to realize why. One day at the Cosanna flats, Cecilia asked him if he thought Zach was capable of murder. He shook his head in earnest. She laughed hysterically at his response and called Zach into her bedroom, who appeared to share her amusement.

To Mr. X's disbelief, Zach proceeded to brag about how he murdered Pastor Reginald Ben Dixon with an axe and almost hit Miranda in the process. It quickly became clear to Mr. X that Satanists weren't responsible for his friend's deaths. The true culprits were closer to home than he'd originally thought, and the rampage wasn't over yet. Mr. X heard a new name being thrown around at the flat. It was Joshua Grunewald, Ria's adult son.

When he asked Cecilia about her sudden interest in Joshua, she smiled and explained that he was their next target. Mr. X immediately realized that Electus Brudeus wasn't founded to do God's work. It was formed to destroy Rhea. At this stage, Mr. X was through with playing detective. He wanted out, but was in far too deep.

Now that he knew Cecilia's secrets, the group kept him within arm's reach at all times. One day, he summoned the courage to call a close friend and confided in her about the danger that surrounded him. She had connections in the force and urged him to speak with one officer in particular, Colonel X. Mr. X was wary of the policeman. The colonel often spent time at Cecilia's flat and always gifted her with knives when he visited.

However, Mr. X was in no position to be picky. He ignored his better judgment and met with Colonel X. After telling the officer everything he knew about Alectus Brudeus and their crimes, he was handed a tape recorder and told to record the group confessing to the murders in secret. Colonel X assured Mr. X that he and several other policemen would be waiting outside Cecilia's flat to keep him safe.

The officer even promised to arrest the group on sight. Once Mr. X returned with the tape, elated to have found a way out of his waking nightmare, Mr. X hatched a cunning plan. He hid the tape recorder in the sleeve of his jacket and got the group to describe the murders in excruciating detail under the guise of helping them improve their tactics. Mr. X even managed to get them to identify who did what to which victim.

That's not all. Disturbingly, Cecilia then tasked him with the Joshua Grunewald's murder. She instructed Mr. X to visit Joshua and ask him to help grab some beers from the car. Once outside, Cecilia ordered that Mr. X stab him in the neck and stuff his body in the trunk. He was speechless but kept his cool. He calmly asked Cecilia how Joshua's death would help their cause. Her reasoning was so far-fetched, it was almost laughable.

Apparently, one of her friends needed Joshua's kidneys to survive. Though Cecilia's request sent shivers down his spine, Mr. X was confident he'd managed to trick the witch into trusting him. However, during their conversation, he noticed Zach quietly slip out of Cecilia's bedroom. Mr. X felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something wasn't right. He quickly excused himself and hurried out of the flat. He thought that Colonel X would be waiting outside with backup as promised.

but the officer was nowhere to be seen. Mr. X was completely alone. He ran to his motorbike and suddenly stopped, frozen with fear. The red light of a tracker was flashing on his tailgate. Now he knew where Zack had disappeared to. Mr. X wanted to kick himself for ignoring Cecilia's connections with the police. More so, he felt stupid for ever believing he could escape Electus Berdeus alive. He took cover in a nearby bush and called his friend in a panic, begging her to fetch him.

Moments later, three cars pulled up outside the Kosana apartments. Zack was in one of them. It was clear that they hadn't come for a friendly visit. They'd come for him. Thankfully, Mr. X's friend arrived after the men had already left. He dove into her car and they sped away to safety. When Mr. X explained that Colonel X had failed him, his friend was shocked.

She was certain there had been some kind of misunderstanding and promised to hand the tape over to the officer herself. She kept her promise but, once again, Colonel X didn't. He never submitted the tape as evidence, nor did he play it for his fellow officers. Mr. X risked his life for that recording, only to be betrayed by a man who swore to protect and serve.

Though nothing has been proven yet, it's pretty obvious what happened here. Colonel X was likely protecting Cecilia, which bolstered her claims of being untouchable. Those who wanted to expose her now had nowhere to turn for help. The followers who hoped to escape Electus Brudeus knew that she could have them killed without retribution. In a sense, Cecilia had become the omnipotent deity she pretended to be, and she knew it.

confident that not even the police would get in her way. The cult leader abandoned all caution and unleashed her underlings on Kruger's Dorb. The results were deadly. In part three, we'll see how Alectus Prudeus managed to devise a murderous insurance fraud scam, slaughter at least seven more innocents, and evade capture for another four years.

Hey guys, thanks for listening. I want to give you all a quick heads up regarding some upcoming political ads you may start hearing leading up to this year's presidential election.

These ads do not represent my own political viewpoint. So if you hear a political ad play on the podcast and it's not in my own voice, then it has absolutely nothing to do with me personally as a podcaster. Thank you again for being a dedicated listener of mine, and I can't wait to have another amazing year with you guys. I'll see you in the next episode.