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Welcome to Episode One of "Stories From Our Disturbing World" the series where we take a tour of the dark side of reality and in this episode we look at five real life tales dealing in everything from celebrity cult activity all the way to one Redditor's terrifying discovery. As the title suggests, the content of this video can be disturbing to some viewers and as such, viewer discretion is advised. High school is awkward—and I'm not going to pretend that you didn't already know that. In many ways, whether we like to admit it or not, this stage in life is actually terrifying. You're suddenly getting a glimpse of what it'll take to seemingly fit into society while simultaneously dealing with massive changes within yourself. Be it physical changes or just trying to figure out who you really are or what you'd like to do with your life. A lot of this pondering, gossip, self-reflection, and contemplation will all take place within the boundaries of the hallways. Something that was also true for fourteen-year-old Philip Chism in the moments leading up to an event that would change his—and the lives of several others—forever. When a crime is committed, there, unfortunately, isn't always obvious proof of "who did it" and "how" but in the case of tonight's first story, most of it was captured via CCTV at some points in chilling detail. Danvers High School, Danvers, Massachusetts October 22nd, 2013. At 2:54 PM, we see a smiling woman emerge from a classroom and begin heading down the hall towards a bathroom. This would be Colleen Ritzer; Philip Chism's twenty-four-year-old math teacher Just after she leaves, Philip appears from the same classroom, tails her down the hallway, and eventually into the same bathroom. As you can see, Philip managed to wheel in a large trash bin, and now he's removing it from the premises. The thing is Colleen Ritzer—as you probably already guessed—is, unfortunately, in there. Her body was later found in the nearby woods almost entirely nude with slash marks across her throat and a branch that was used to sexually assault her still left in place. Where Colleen actually died is unclear. It's believed that she was knocked out in the bathroom, but remained alive until she was wheeled out to the woods where Philip would carry out the rest of his sick plan before stealing her credit card and casually using it to see a movie and to buy himself dinner. Again, this all in the same day he murdered his teacher, defiled her corpse, then left it in the woods to rot. Before we close this off, I do want to point out a couple of unusual things where Philip's behavior is concerned. First, notice his body language here: He seems to hesitate before checking his left pocket. He hesitates again, briefly dipping back into Colleen's classroom before emerging hooded despite the fact that this does nothing to conceal his identity. Just a few seconds later, we see that he's donning gloves pretty much proving that this was premeditated. despite a clear motive ever truly being offered. According to Philip in later testimony, this had to do with Colleen supposedly insulting him and his taking power back, at least, in his mind. Roughly ten minutes after Philip first entered the woman's restroom, he exits, startling a female student in the process. He keeps his hood up, his head down, and then leaves the building. Upon return, his blue hoodie is gone but Philip returns to the classroom to pick up another change of clothes and several bags. He puts on a red hoodie this time, along with a ski mask, which he just as quickly removes before running down the hallway yet again. Moments later, he returns with a trash bin that would soon contain his teacher. Upon emerging from the bathroom for a second time, Philip's red hoodie is now gone and he's once again donned the ski mask only to switch it up again seconds later; exposing the top of his head and face. By the time he's outside, he seems to take up the opposite configuration, with his mouth and chin exposed as he walks past a bystander. About an hour later, Philip returns to the building; his pants covered in blood, and his shoes missing. Again, half his face is still exposed. Philip soon dips away into a different bathroom, changes into entirely different clothing then goes about his day like I mentioned a second ago. Again, his behavior is extremely bizarre especially when you take into account that he left his bloody clothes at the scene along with a backpack that contained his ID card and a note that said, "I hate you all." On top of this, he decided to keep the bloody box cutter used in the attack and Colleen's ID and underwear, which police later found upon his arrest. In some ways, there did seem to be a calculated, premeditated effort to hide evidence, but—at the same time—it's hard to believe he was unaware of security cameras which, as you saw, had him covered from every angle. It's no surprise that authorities had no trouble pinning this on Philip: who was ultimately tried as an adult and charged with a life sentence. It's probably also no surprise that just a year after Colleen's murder, Philip would try to kill yet again. But instead of a school teacher, this time his intended victim was a youth worker One employed where Phillip was being held pending his trial. Luckily this time, the boy wasn't successful and instead only landed himself another charge. This time, attempted murder. It's hard to say what exactly the story leaves us with. It's hard to imagine that someone at the young age of fourteen—someone barely even a teenager —could be so dangerous and do something so heinous; all seemingly without remorse. Many would love to believe that they'd be able to catch all the warning signs, all the red flags Maybe even help and possibly prevent these sorts of tragedies if only they could and while that's all in good intent, as we know, that's, unfortunately, not how things usually play out. And while it seems like justice was served in this case, the Ritzer family isn't convinced. This, due to the fact that while Philip was given a life sentence as I mentioned, he was also granted a chance at parole. To anyone, myself included, the idea of someone as unhinged as Philip being back on the streets is absolutely terrifying. But for Colleen's family, it's heartbreaking. Keep in mind, Colleen was young herself; only in her mid-twenties when her life was ultimately taken from her. As we all know, online predators are everywhere. Be it Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Discord, TikTok, Instagram; you name it. No matter the platform, there will always be adults using it with the intent to lure an under-aged individual into a relationship. The problem is seemingly never-ending and there, unfortunately, seems to be no real solution in sight. From time to time we'll hear about stories of alleged predators in the news; the most prominent in recent memory has been the story of Onision who, I'm sure you've all heard, is being investigated by none other than "To Catch a Predator" host: Chris Hansen. Not too long ago, we heard a similar case from a youtuber named, "Austin Jones" who has since gone on to become a convicted sex offender. The point is these days were very aware of "the adult with a fan base who lures in underage fans." But what about predators who aren't famous; who don't have the lure of "celebrity" to aid them? What methods do they use, and how can we watch out for them? What if they masquerade as the very people they prey upon? This is the now-defunct Instagram page of a user called, "nora.the.wolf" Notice how this person's bio says they're sixteen and female. Here, we see that the account has over 2.7 K followers, but at one point that number was as high as 7,000. So what happened? Well, Nora made friends. A good amount of them, actually. Specifically within a niche pocket of Instagram's art community. Many of Nora's followers were—as one might expect —young artists looking to connect with other young artists Nora was able to fit right in; quickly engaging in private conversations with many of her colleagues from around the community; usually hailing from around the thirteen to fifteen age bracket. Nora was very forward—not shy at all. In screenshots of her conversations, we see that she very quickly asked some very personal and inappropriate questions, pretty much right off the bat. In this case, for example, Nora issues a list of questions: "What's your full name?" "What school do you go to?" "Are your parents strict or protective?" Nora even asked this person if they've ever done certain explicit acts. The user answers each question. Then Nora asks how old they are. "Thirteen" being the answer. Nora claims to be fourteen, and then asks for a picture of the thirteen-year-old. The thirteen-year-old complies. Nora compliments them on their appearance, asks if they've "ever considered modeling" and then suggests copying poses from pictures This is the image that Nora suggests that, again, a thirteen-year-old should emulate. As you can see from the screenshot, the young girl is obviously uncomfortable, but Nora tries to ease the pressure by saying it would somehow be "funny." Now the thing is, teenagers do this kind of stuff all the time - whether or not parents want to believe it. We've all been young and we've all shared embarrassing conversations with friends be it in person or via text. The thing is though, the thirteen-year-old girl in this case was under the impression that her new friend was someone just like her; only Nora wasn't actually a girl. In conversations with other underage users, Nora admitted to being a male—as you can see here. Oddly enough, in a later conversation Nora gets his story mixed up; once again claiming to be female only to disappear once confronted about it. On another occasion with yet another underage user, Nora sent over a video; one depicting himself fully nude with his genitals exposed. What makes all of this even worse—as if inappropriate prying questions weren't bad enough —Nora wasn't even fourteen or sixteen like the profile says. In fact, this person going by the name "Nora" wasn't even a teenager. After word got around about this person's reputation and behavior, it eventually came to light that they were in their twenties— somewhere between twenty-four to twenty-six. And after enough pressure from the community, Nora confessed to being a twenty-four-year-old man. Of course, this doesn't necessarily guarantee that Nora is, in fact, twenty-four; he could very easily be a number of years older or even younger. But at this point it almost doesn't even matter, because believe it or not this isn't the end of Nora's rap sheet. By the time all of this came to light, There was an estimated count of at least ten underage victims of Nora who were willing to come forward and offer screen shots. But based on Nora's activity in the community—and later taunting of those who called him out the number could actually be much higher. As discussed a second ago, Nora had a habit of asking for pictures and, unfortunately, in many cases he was successful at obtaining them. That's one thing, obviously, and regardless of Nora's age there could be CP charges involved. But the thing that really bugged people about this was the fact that Nora had a nasty habit of sharing these risque photos. In some cases, posting them publicly to his account and refusing to take them down when asked. There was one infamous scenario where an individual confronted Nora about his actions and, upon being called out, Nora once again resorted to taunting the user by spamming them with the many photos collected from various minors. In case you think it ends here... it still doesn't. Nora was very well known for having certain fantasies, and trying to push them on people. Again, notably minors who weren't comfortable at all with the idea. Many times asking young artists to draw Nora's avatar forcing themselves onto other users' OCs; something that seemed to be fueled by the intent to cause discomfort for the other person depicted. Like I mentioned at the start of all this, Nora's Instagram is now defunct and he's largely believed to be in jail. Something supposedly confirmed by the community which claims that one of his underage victims was able to get the authorities involved. Of course, there is no way to 100% confirm this without doxing the victim, so for now we're just going to have to be happy with the fact that Nora seems to be gone. I do want to note that the Nora rabbit hole does run deep and, while I did touch in the main points here there is still a lot more to look up if you want to know more. Youtubers like Repzilla, Creepshow Art, and Nawnii have some really good coverage of this made closer to when everything was actually unfolding and I'd also like to thank OBIJ_Official for helping me figure out a lot of the details of this case. If you haven't heard of this page, it regularly posts alerts about accounts like Nora's and, in general, does a really good job of upping the awareness about these lesser-known predatory accounts. Even though Nora seems to be gone, it's always a good idea to keep your guard up because while big-name cases get the most attention - as we all know - they're unfortunately far from the only predators out there. Bedrooms are, of course, by far the most personal rooms in any home. A sanctuary away from the world; a guaranteed space for us to retreat to you at the end of each long day. This comes with certain expectations: namely comfort, safety, and privacy. And when those things are violated it can feel like you've had something ripped away—stolen, even. After all, what good is a home without peace of mind? For one redditor, this would become an unfortunate reality. One that wasn't even brought to light until after it happened, but still within the time frame for danger to be looming just around the corner. The story is told in a single photograph. "What is this? My daughter took this image at 11:56 p.m with my wife's iphone. Me and my wife were both asleep and no one else lives here but us. Plus the light is strange because the lights were off. And the image was taken from the room to the living room." Those who commented were disturbed—and rightfully so. They asked the OP questions to gain better context. There, we learned that OP is from the US and, oddly enough, his daughter aged four doesn't actually remember taking the image; the assumption being that she was half asleep while doing so. He and his wife, of course, aren't responsible for the image either. Looking at the figure, it seems almost impossible that it can be anything other than a person: one that seems to be holding a flashlight. When asked if maybe OP or his wife were sleepwalkers, he points out that these silhouettes fit none of their body types. Of course, the next logical conclusion would be that this midnight intruder was some kind of burglar. But what makes that theory seemingly go out the window is the fact that nothing was stolen. And to make matters worse, there wasn't any obvious signs of forced entry or anything left unlocked; so this person—whoever they are—found a much more inconspicuous path into the home. While it may seem impossible for someone to gain access to a home in such a stealthy manner, other accounts online will tell us it's actually not as uncommon as one might think. A user posited the theory that maybe what we had on our hands was a squatter: someone, a complete stranger, living in their home, right under their noses. They linked this famous clip as an example. One that most of you have probably already seen. The family decided to go to police while also opting to up their home security, but, unfortunately, we haven't received any updates. This could be a red flag to some that maybe think that this is all a hoax, but based on OP's history there really isn't anything to suggest a pattern of that behavior. On top of that, this post was from months ago. One would assume that if this was fake they'd be coming back to take advantage of it to some degree. But, either way, the image is still chilling and something that we very much know to be a terrifying reality in the world we live in. And it goes without saying that if this picture really is genuine, then this family is really quite lucky, because for many others who've experienced this the results have unfortunately turned grim. In late 2014, an unknown individual hopped on a cab in Fiji. Upon leaving, this person—as most of us do from time to time—forgot their cell phone. The cab driver later notices this, and naturally begins to comb through it. For most people there's an expectation that at worst you find nothing, but at best you may be able to find the owner if you're so inclined to return the device. Instead, however, the cab driver uncovers something unspeakable and most likely heavily traumatizing. Per the natural course of these things, what the cab driver found leaked onto YouTube, and would draw the attention of thousands of horrified online users. The ten-minute video titled, "Fishing Vessel: Fijian Crew Getting Shot Outside Fiji" was inaccurate in its detail aside from one point; the video did in fact feature a small group of men at sea being systematically murdered. The low-quality clip opens to the color blue, and the sound of multiple voices overstepping one another in a foreign language - one of which is being broadcast via a speaker system. A slight pan reveals several other large vessels in the surrounding waters. Following this, the cameraman focuses in on the waters once again, and it becomes apparent that there's a man overboard. And while most would expect a rescue to begin, instead we start to hear gunshots as explosions of water begin appearing around the man until he's ultimately struck. A small, wooden boat is also present. It's tipped over and around three or four other men can be seen hanging on. They, too, are being picked off one by one. As stated earlier - and if the description of this hasn't already made it clear - this video is incredibly graphic and shocking; something that I definitely would not recommend that you google unless you're absolutely sure about it. But the thing is, there's one more piece of the story that adds to its horror. After the events unfold and a handful of men were executed in cold blood, the killers don't only show their faces but actually get together and pose for photos. Immediately following this video's publication the Fijian authorities began investigating, but it would soon become clear that this case didn't involve them as much as initially believed. One of the ships surrounding the scene was quickly identified as Taiwanese, and its owner told the New York Times in 2014 that the ships left the scene as soon as possible; presumably as to not get involved. He also refused to release any further details, but he did say that he's of the opinion that the footage was from 2013 and took place in the Indian Ocean - this based on the ship's schedules. As for the offending ship and its crew, many of the comments point to the men speaking a mixture of Chinese, Indonesian, and Vietnamese. Although, some others dispute this. At the time of the story breaking, the generally accepted theory was that these victims were pirates who were executed for self-defense. The men in the waters in the video don't appear to be armed, but by the time the camera finds them their boat had already been tipped over; their weapons now gone if any had been present earlier. Unfortunately, this case was never solved and once the Fijian government realized that it really didn't take place in their waters, or involve their citizens they dropped it. Given the murky reality of jurisdiction, this case has been left to individuals. One such person is author Ian Urbina who spent years at sea in order to write his 2019 book, "Outlaw Ocean." According to an article by the Guardian, in it Urbina claims of the men who were murdered weren't pirates at all, but actually Pakistani fishermen. If true, this makes this case even more chilling and incomprehensible. It's unclear if any more info could be gathered on the cellphone, where the clip was found, or even its owner. The men even having shown their faces have not been identified, and videos and images taken at the scene by others present seemingly have never made their way to the internet. In theory, an alternative angle of the shot should be out there somewhere or maybe even the image these two can be seen taking here. Unfortunately, however, at the end of the day, no government body or organization is interested in pursuing this; Again, mainly due to the complicated issue of jurisdiction. Any of you recognize these men? Which someone has to. At the end of the day, sadly, there simply is no one to report it to. Cults are seen as an extremely hot topic these days, and it's safe to say that most of us probably never see ourselves ever falling victim to cult brainwashing - especially those of us who are non-religious. It comes with a sense of invincibility and immunity where cults are concerned; after all, if you aren't even into your common religions, how could you ever end up in a cult? What a lot of people miss however, is that while in terms of structure, they may remain the same, not all cults are about gods or doomsday. And non-religious cults can be just as dangerous as Jonestown or Heaven's Gate. Cults as a subject come with a lot of mystique despite how long they've been at the forefront of popular culture. We still wonder to ourselves what it is they do behind closed doors; how much they get away with before they ultimately fall in what always seems to be a stereotypically horrible fashion. Sometimes we even wonder if, lowkey, people of power or fame could be involved, before brushing it off as a mere conspiracy theory. In the case of NXIVM ["Nexium"] however, this was all reality. They were a modern-day, non-religious cult that preyed on the affluent famous and socially powerful, all under the guise of self-improvement; something that basically all of us are looking for no matter your religion race or how you identify. NXIVM, on the surface, was a company dedicated to wellness and healing; something they claimed to help you work towards with their transformational workshops hosted by other companies that operated within the NXIVM umbrella. On official terms, NXIVM was technically a multi-level marketing company that began operations in 1998. Its founder, a man by the name of Keith Raniere, who would later be convicted of sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor amongst others. NXIVM was free to run rampant for years and while there were allegations of the company being a cult from as early as the mid 2000s, the story didn't reach its peak until 2017 when the New York Post [Times*] released this article: "Inside a Selective Group Where Women Are Branded." This is literally something that happened to what were basically the elite within NXIVM; an invite-only sect called D.O.S., "dos," or "The Vow"; a group that unknowingly served as Keith Raniere's personal harem. According to the women of DOS, they were recruited from the wider body of NXIVM members - lured in with promises of exclusivity, sisterhood, and proximity to leader Keith Raniere: the man they were brainwashed into believing held the key to their personal improvement and well being. A man they were to refer to as "Vanguard" when he conducted his seminars. Keith surrounded himself with wild and outlandish claims; he was a self-identified prodigy, a judo champion, philosopher, scientist, and just about everything else you could think of that would beef up your personal resume. The man even claimed to be enlightened and, in 2009, secured a visit from the Dalai Lama himself - something that definitely helped push the image of NXIVM's credibility. Again, a number of rich and powerful people were involved with this group to some degree. Sara Bronfman is one example. A daughter of a billionaire businessman. Her sister, Claire, was also involved and ultimately arrested in connection to NXIVM. At one point, it's said that the billionaire heiresses aided NXIVM in trying to recruit fellow billionaire, Richard Branson, although, according to Branson's management, they were ultimately unsuccessful. Former Hawaii Five-0 actress, Grace Park, can be seen on camera having conversations with Keith Raniere. This format with interchanging individuals was once a hallmark of NXIVM's social media presence. It should be noted that according to Park's management there was no way for her to know of the extent of NXIVM's actions, since she wasn't specifically involved in DOS. Perhaps the most famous example of celebrity involvement with NXIVM is actress Allison Mack; seen by many as Keith Raniere's right-hand woman. Some might even argue that she was a top dog in the DOS food chain. Upon the FBI crackdown, Mack was convicted of many of the same crimes as Keith Raniere. The list goes on and on and it's scary to think just how much influence these people had - both financially and socially. Just how easy it is for a public figure to lure their audience into a cult - where, in some cases, you're referred to as a slave and tasked with recruiting your own so-called slaves. This was language mandated for members of the DOS circle and how the group would slowly grow. Again, not realizing that all they really were was Keith Raniere's personal harem. The branding that would become the center of the media's focus and subsequently public outrage - and rightfully so - was part of dos's initiation ceremony. "What was that like?" "It was worse than childbirth. Imagine a hot laser dragged across your flesh for 30 minutes without anesthetic." Survivors later revealed that they were told they would receive a small tattoo - not a branding. And to make this even worse, they weren't told what image will be permanently etched into their skin. What it ended up being was something most would consider Esoteric. At first, no one really noticed but upon further inspection members began to speculate that the bizarre symbol was actually made up of Keith Raniere's initials The NXIVM rabbit hole is deep and seemingly never-ending; the story has been covered by a number of different entities in a number of different venues, and while we all wish that what happened to these women will never happen again to anyone else the sobering reality of cults is that they very much still exist even in 2020. And they're evolving; in some ways even getting sneakier using new methods and media to trap and manipulate their victims. For the rest of us, the best we can do is keep an eye out - both for ourselves and for our loved ones. Understanding that there should never be any obligation to serve any person or organization to the point of discomfort or worse: physical or mental injury. Okay, so that's the video I hope you guys liked it! I'm gonna apologize right now for the way that I've sounded throughout this video and the way that I sound now I've actually been kind of under the weather for a little bit; it's it's nothing serious No need to worry, but I just I don't sound very good. But anyway, I'm delusional I don't even know if I already thanked you guys for watching But thank you for watching and now it is time to thank the patrons! T Gorman, Connor H, Andrew L, Danielle G, Basobshadow, Jay, VHS Squid, Shelby S, Joel H, Zarai, Guilherme M Eric H, Lantz, Espurr Nyx, Rafael C, Nick B, Krista S Keith Z, Inda Graves—I think I pronounced that right—Benjamin M, Scorien S, Amelia J Richard R, Bloody the Elf, Shawn the CHB Luc B, Anthony M, Isaish C, Borealis Knight—I don't know if I pronounced that right, forgive me Jeremy R, S. Estrada, Brief Bloom, and Mohamad S. Again, thank you guys so much and I also want to say thank you to the $5 patrons who all of you can see on screen right now as well, and with that all said I'll see you guys all again next time!
