Temple of Fear | The FBI Files S3 EP10 | Real Crime

early in the 1980s the charismatic leader arose in Miami he drew the weak the poor of the powers to inside he promised them a better life but they had to follow his commands to burn his temples soon sprouted across the country as thousands were drawn to his gospel and those who questioned his doctrine started turning up dead local police and the FBI had to stop [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] in Miami the discovery of a mutilated body sent investigators on the trail of a deadly cult but agents found a wall of silence around the cults members potential witnesses terrified of reprisals refused to talk I'm Jim Kallstrom former head of the FBI's New York office it would take a massive operation involving 120 agents in seven cities to bring down a deranged fanatic who believed he was God Friday November 13th 1981 Miami Florida [Music] on the outskirts of the city a construction foreman was checking his work site on a dirt road he came upon something wrapped in blankets it was a body he called police detectives from miami-dade responded [Music] the foreman said he hadn't seen the body when he passed by earlier that morning the body must have been laid there recently the detectives inspected the remains it was an african-american male he had been decapitated detectives found only a set of keys on the victim there was no wallet or identification no just four feet away detectives found the victim's head wrapped in sheets his fingerprints were taken in the hopes that they might help identify the man decapitations of rare usually performed to hide in word of victim's identity according to detective John King that wasn't the motive here there was no attempt to hide or prevent identification because they left the head actually on the scene usually if you had tried to prevent an identification from being made you would take other body parts such as the hands or the head also it seems like was more ritualistic than anything else how he was killed the victims face was badly damaged visual identification would be difficult and unless the man's fingerprints were on record investigators would have no way of identifying him from his prints perhaps the autopsy could tell them the medical examiner determined that the victim had been severely beaten before his decapitation his nose was bloodied his teeth were broken and his eyes were swollen shut his wrists showed ligature marks and sneaker tread marks on his body suggested he'd been kicked on the back of his neck the medical examiner found evidence of repeated blows from a dull blade it had been a large weapon perhaps a machete comparing the victims fingerprints wouldn't be easy in 1981 the database wasn't computerized features of the print had to be compared manually against thousands in arrest files eventually one investigator hit the mark the victim's name was Astin Greene age 25 he had been arrested a month earlier for a misdemeanor driving charge in Fort Lauderdale they found no history of violent crime detectives went to Aston Greene's last-known address his mother's house [Music] after informing mrs. green of her son's death detectives asked her about Aston [Music] she said her son had recently turned to religion he seemed very serious about it she'd last seen him two weeks earlier she prepared a vegetarian meal for him in accordance with his new religious beliefs they talked about his conversion he explained he was a Hebrew Israelite a Yahweh she told investigators that his son was committed to his Yahweh beliefs that's when we first heard the word Yahweh I had no idea what the Yahweh was all about I never heard the name before nothing about them Aston Greene's mother didn't know his new address though she did have a phone number she said he had a housemate but didn't know his name from the phone number detectives determined greens new address about 12 miles from downtown Miami due to the violent nature of the murder they called for backup before approaching the house and no one answered perhaps greens housemaid had been harmed two detectives decided to enter the house the key they found in Green's pocket fit the lock we entered the house thinking that hopefully we wouldn't find any other bodies but we went in to check it out we found a number of items of her religious nature textbooks workbooks a lot of literature turned out that it was from the Hebrew Israelite religion there was no sign of the housemate [Music] we also found a machete that was tucked to the side of one of the sofas in the residence we immediately became interested in the machete because that could be a weapon to decapitate somebody the machete appeared to be clean investigators continued their search by the door they found a phone number they traced it to a house two miles away [Music] at the house the detectives talked with a group of Hebrew Israelites [Music] among them was Aston Greene's housemate Carlton Carey all of them new greens through the Yahweh temple they told investigators that green like themselves had grown disillusioned with the rigid social doctrine of the temple to them adherence to the temples leader was a too high a price their colored turbans signified their desire to break away from it we spoke to them briefly now we've got a little bit of background information on the temple and what it was all about and we asked them to respond to the homicide office so that we could take statements and in-depth interviews with them about what happened and what they knew several suggested that the killers were probably zealous members of the Yahweh temple who wanted to silence those who questioned the doctrine most were afraid to say more especially to police they were already branded dissenters they feared any further disobedience could be punished by death well all the people that we spoke to perceive the great deal of danger because the threats that have been made to them both on the phone and by word of mouth from other members that were still in the organization they were concerned for their safety and the death of Aston Greene certainly confirmed us the next day Green's housemates came to the police station to talk despite the threat Carlton Carey and his wife wanted to help his wife was interviewed in a separate room of the station yeah Kerry said that he and Greene had embraced the temple until recently when his leader Hulan Mitchell started calling himself the true Messiah the charismatic leader of the temple Hulan Mitchell believed that blacks were descended from the Lost Hebrew tribe of Judah as followers of Mitchell members abandoned their given names they took a biblical first name and adopted the last name of Israel Mitchell did not allow dissent among his followers Michell eventually changed his name to Yahweh Ben Yahweh which means God the Son of God in fact during the interview we had with him he referred to healing as not the Messiah but a crook and a swindler which was his characterization of healing Mitchell at that time Kari still had reservations about talking to police detectives offered to escort him home all right he declined opting to leave with his wife ballon when they left the homicide office that night they didn't want to be escorted because any police being with them would be further attraction to anybody that saw them and they were concerned about being seen with anybody they didn't want us to escort than home Carey and his wife took a winding room home to make sure no one had followed [Music] [Music] they never suspected someone to be waiting inside as Miami police investigated the beheading of a dissident member of a religious group two informants were ambushed in their home Carlton Carey had been shot to death his wife Mildred Banks had also been shot and her throat was slashed she barely clung to life like the beheading victim the two were dissident members of the Hebrew Israelites at the scene police found a bloodied machete detective John King believed a similar weapon had been used in the earlier beheading the fact that machete was actually used an attempt on Mildred's life certainly give more credence to the belief that the Hebrew Israelites were involved in it detectives learned that many members of the Hebrew Israelite movement owned machetes [Music] police searched the house nothing found at the scene indicated who was responsible for the assault whoever the killers were they had cut the phone line and left no physical trace of themselves behind detectives only hope was Mildred banks if doctors could save her perhaps she could name her attackers builder was very seriously injured as a result of the attack on her she was shot in the chest the bullet was still in her and she had a deep gash to the left side of her neck she was given a very low probability of surviving those injuries police waited several days to see if she would survive surgery without her description of events investigators had little hope of solving the case [Music] Mildred banks pulled through [Music] when she was conscious investigators visited her in the recovery room though critically wounded she was able to answer questions from the police [Music] she said that she and her husband had driven by their house several times to be sure no one had followed them they saw no one so they went inside [Music] [Music] she was certain that her attackers were Yahweh's sent because they had spoken to police that day she never saw their faces we were concerned that they may actually make an attempt on her at the hospital so we posted two police officers at all times with her throughout her stay at the hospital they were there 24 hours a day seven days a week for approximately one month the message of this most recent attack was clear two dissenting members of the Yahweh Temple those who spoke out or cooperated with police would suffer reprisals after the homicide of Carlton Carey we were not able to locate any of the former members that had split from the temple they had fled in different directions they became scared and they just left detective King needed to learn more about the Yahweh organization he and his partner visited its miami temple we tried interviewing people and we've really got nowhere every time we spoke to summary it was praise Yahweh or you know see the public information office at the temple through a spokesperson Hulan Mitchell the Yahweh leader claimed to know nothing about the murders and offered no help suspecting he knew more investigators began surveillance on the Yahweh enterprise the surveillance was sort of a constant rolling types of violence work you drive by write down some tag numbers but to actually set off and watch the place it was impossible because at all times there were guards standing outside the temple watching the front door detectives did learn that the Yahweh organization was extensive in Florida and in 13 other states they always owned real estate buses and vehicles that the leader claimed totaled nearly 50 million dollars some said membership top 12,000 in Florida alone most of these people are hardworking professionals that really didn't believe in a lot of what Hill and Mitchell was teaching certainly they were not racist to the level that he was and they were not believing much of what he was telling them about him being a messiah they did however believe much of what the religion is self taught you know surrounding Judaism and the Muslim religion since the Yahweh organization spans several states the FBI began investigating Supervisory Special Agent Herbert cousins was assigned as case agent he believed the organization demonstrated elements of domestic terrorism the basic terrorism investigation are conducted and group of individuals who engage in criminal activities to further their social or political goal local and federal investigators look deeper into the organization why art thou so far from helping me Hulan mitchell invited the homeless the destitute and the ex-con to join his Hebrew Israelites Lord's will swallow them up people with no job or family found a place to belong receiving food shelter and employment this kindness didn't reflect hydros underlying mission he taught that blacks as the true Jewish people had a crucial role he told his followers that their duty was to bring about heaven on earth by destroying the white oppressors to his most avid followers Yahweh Ben Yahweh was the Messiah and everything they had belonged to him including their labor to raise revenue the Yahweh's manufactured and packaged their own hair care products tonics beverages t-shirts wine and more the merchandise was shipped to his network of temples all over the country [Music] Yahweh required his members to reach certain income goals for their temple by selling these wares in turn the temple fed and sheltered them and even educated their children despite the allegations of violence and his thinly veiled message of hate Michels temple continued to prosper and spread according to assistant US attorney Richard Scruggs the general public was unclear about Mitchell's true intentions the Yahweh's in the early 80s had been amassing power and property and they had kind of a dual reputation people saw them as a somewhat scary group that they knew were preaching hatred and violence but at the same time they outwardly appeared to be quiet well-behaved mannered and they would go in and buy these properties in distressed neighborhoods and actually clean them up not everyone welcomed their presence in the neighborhood in May 1986 people in Delray Florida drove them out at around 2 a.m. the same night the neighborhood was firebombed the fire destroyed the entire block and injured one adult and three children including a 9 month old infant police suspected yahweh members were responsible one officer recalled an incident that happened in the area about an hour before the bombing while cruising the neighborhood he spotted some men dressed in black standing near a van the area wreaked of gasoline the men seemed suspicious but they weren't doing anything illegal they claimed they were having engine trouble he took down the license plate number and left police determined that the van was registered to an elder at the Yahweh temple Hulan mitchell denied any involvement in the firebombing attack one of his followers was more cooperative we were able to develop an informant who actually walked into the FBI who provided information regarding the group the informant confirmed investigators suspicions that Mitchell's henchmen were responsible for the fire bombing but he had no direct evidence he then gave agents information about another crime he confessed that he had participated in the slaying of Ashton Greene the man found beheaded on a dirt road he said that the dead man had been considered a threat since he openly questioned Hulan Mitchell's authority [Music] Green was abducted from the temple and severely beaten the informant drove him there and another member carried out Mitchell's order to behead him why the information was crucial but limited investigators still have no physical evidence tying Hulan Mitchell to greens murder authorities would have to carefully build trust among the ex members detective John King we interviewed Mildred banks the woman who had been ambushed in her home in following up from the information with Woodside I made contact with Mildred banks and she turned me on to an individual that was a former member of the organization that might be able to assist me I subsequently made contact with that person who took me around to a number of locations where former members resided as investigators continued their search for a witness courageous enough to come forward Miami police received more disturbing news the murder victim was found in his coat with both ears cut off police wondered if this ritualistic killing could be related to the machete attacks in September of 1986 as FBI and Miami police investigated the leader of the Yahweh's Hulan Mitchell police responded to another bizarre murder 61 year old Raymond Kelly was found stabbed to death in his vehicle both ears have been severed one was recovered at the scene police believe the killer took the other Metro Dade homicide lieutenant rex Remley squad worked the case in the Dade County area we had experienced a number of cases in which victims had been murdered and there was a near missing in several of those cases he had appeared that it may be the same perpetrator that had committed the crime to investigators it looked as if Kelly had been drinking just prior to his death detectives collected several sets of prints from the vehicle but what investigators found missing from the car held greater importance [Music] according to the victim's wife he always kept a 38 revolver in his glove compartment now it was gone the guns serial number was entered into the National Crime Information computer if the gun turned up anywhere in the country miami-dade police would be notified weeks later police in opa-locka a suburb of Miami responded to emergency calls from residents of an apartment complex there was an apartment complex that had recently been taken under siege for lack of a better term by the yahweh's tenants who lived there called it the dirt road apartments a low-income housing project some local residents considered it an eyesore many were delighted the Yahweh leader Hulan mitchell bought the property dirt road residents were not unfortunately for the residents their idea of taking the building over was to actually move the residents out and sometimes according to the residents that was by force where the yahweh's would actually come into their apartments and remove furniture and belongings while the people objected but had no real way to stop these individuals the yahweh's strong-armed eviction efforts made the TV news one resident Anthony Brown was particularly outspoken I would say I got a big him nose I don't care what they say he cursed the always leader human Mitchell investigators knew that Mitchell didn't tolerate public criticism witnesses told police the tensions of the apartments continued after night fell [Music] that evening violence erupted in two men were killed police responded to the double murder they chased one of two suspects the k-9 unit tracked the Automator the suspect carried nothing in his pockets except to book nearby police recovered a 38 caliber revolver it was not the murder weapon police cross-check did serial number in the crime computer but found no match the suspect was arrested and taken to the opa-locka police station Metro Dade lieutenant rex Remley interviewed him there I was just trying to get his basic information was that he had told me that he was neo Raya Israel and when I asked him about his age he told me that he was over 400 years old so that that's the type of individual that I was dealing with the name he gave was a Yahweh name and police found Yahweh clothing in the car he had used to flee police suspected that he had been sent to silence those who had spoken out against the Yahweh's the fingerprint match revealed that the suspects real name was Robert Rozier he had spent time in prison for burglary and car theft lieutenant Remley also learned that he was a former football player in the National Football League he then began to have problems after he had left his football career he had a history that went from crimes in Maryland to crimes in San Francisco area to crimes in Dade County so he had an extensive past Rosa Diaz arrest marked the first time an active member of Hulan Mitchell's group was caught at a crime scene though they could only charge Rozier with loitering and prowling authorities suspected he was guilty of much more [Music] Miami police looked for more information from residents who live nearby the complex most residents were reluctant but several came forward we were able to determine that mr. Rozier had in fact been involved in chasing mr. Brown across the field he was present who was our feeling when the shots were fired where mr. Brown was killed and that he had also attempted to flee from the scene he was charged that morning with the murder of mr. brown lieutenant Remley still wondered about the handgun found at the time of Rosie's arrest it was a 38 revolver the same type missing from the car of murder victim Raymond Kelly though a computer check failed to match the guns lieutenant Remley pulled Raymond Kelly's file just to be sure there had to be more of a story to this gun and I finally found the documents that have been provided by the family that showed the serial number of this gun when I checked it I was amazed to see that it was the exact same gun that we had him pounded at opa-locka that night unfortunately when the gun had been entered into the computer the one of the digits had been displaced in some way and therefore when we ran the gun found at the scene of the murder in opa-locka it did not show as being Raymond Kelly stolen weapon Robert Rozier was now connected to the murder of Raymond Kelly prints lifted from Kelly's vehicle matched rose ears his fingerprint was found at another slashed year murder as well investigators had enough evidence to charge him with two /dr murders and the double murder at the dirt road apartments Rozier found himself facing for first-degree murder charges and very likely the death penalty [Music] as Miami investigators tried to close in on Yahweh leader Hulan Mitchell they arrested a man suspected of being one of Mitchell's and forces Robert Rozier sat behind bars facing four capital murder charges investigators hoped Rozier would turn on the leader the Yahweh's in their organization became the target of public scrutiny Hulan Mitchell their leader refused to Meet the Press he stayed hidden behind his followers who passed out pamphlets explaining that Rozier had been framed the bad publicity could destroy all that Mitchell had built he hired a high-priced attorney and public relations expert it was Mitchell's first step in creating a new image for his organization Mitchell offered the attorneys legal help to Rozier Rozier quickly realized that the attorney was there to protect the interests of Hulan Mitchell not ROS ears but Rozier still refused to turn on the leader of the Yahweh's lieutenant Rex Remley recalls that the media attention prompted other insiders to talk the media brought out different stories about people that had been inside the organization who wanted to speak about what it occurred and it also brought other people to law enforcement who for maybe the first time realized that there was a significant reason at this point that people were being killed and it was time to come forward and tell what you knew investigators got a call from Oklahoma one of Hulan Mitchell's relatives wanted to talk she told them she'd witnessed a martial-arts expert from New Orleans beaten to death by Yahweh's in 1983 she said Mitchell had ordered the beating the young man's name was Leonard Dupree Dupree was killed because Hulan Mitchell believed the man had been disrespectful detectives tracked down Duprees mother in New Orleans she confirmed that Leonard was a martial arts expert and had left home in 1983 to join the Yahweh's but without a body or other evidence investigators couldn't arrest Mitchell while investigators were learning about Hulan Mitchell's dark secrets he was opening his temple to the public to improve its image Mitchell encouraged the most avid followers to take work in the community at large [Music] but one avid member was beginning to change his mind about the leader he had followed so closely for weeks Robert Rozier sat behind bars watching Huell on Mitchell distance himself further and further from the murder suspect then in June of 1987 Mitchell formally excommunicated Robert Rozier on live TV with the symbolic stroke of a marker Mitchell had separated himself from Rozier permanently [Music] Rozier had no one left to protect but himself he decided to begin working with the FBI it was the break agents were hoping for just after his transfer to federal prison Rozier told investigators that he knew of at least 20 murders across the country that had been ordered by the yahweh' leader Hulan Mitchell to agents it was clear that Mitchell hid behind organized religion as a front for organized crime [Music] Rozier also explained why he and another man killed Anthony Brown and Ruby Broussard of the apartments in opa-locka for Special Agent Herbert cousins it confirmed what he already suspected Brown and Broussard were executed that's pretty much what happened they resisted being evicted from their homes and they spoke out on TV against the Yahweh's and we were told that was the reason why they were murdered Rozier also confessed to the murder of Raymond Kelly and another man whose ears had been cut off Rozier told agents that the Yahweh leader directed him to kill as many white Devils as possible and to return with an ear as proof [Applause] with Rozier the FBI had a witness who could connect Hulan Mitchell to deadly violence but because he was a killer himself Rozier wasn't an ideal prosecution witness US Attorney Richard Scruggs needed to find others willing to corroborate Rozier stories we just started traveling all over the country tracking down these individuals trying to convince them to testify and to cooperate one of the questions that we would get early on from the witnesses or from the prospective witnesses was will I be at risk if I testify well something happened to me am I likely to get killed it's the only time in my 22 years of experience that I have told people because I felt like I had to tell them is that yes there is a chance that you will suffer retribution Hulan Mitchell fought the investigation by continuing to polish his public image like everybody to give a nice warm while we continued to turn distressed buildings into gleaming properties as Yahweh Ben Yahweh he toned down his anti-white message and made large contributions to popular causes watching Yahweh become stronger and stronger and watching him become more and more accepted by the community I as well as all of the investigators felt he had to be stopped heal on Mitch Harry came at a bigger-than-life public figure hope enjoying all the legitimacy money could buy he seemed unstoppable after almost a decade of investigation the FBI still lacked enough evidence to arrest self-proclaimed Messiah Hulan Mitchell [Music] intimidation and murder had silenced most who dared to speak out against him assistant US attorney Richard Scruggs had a difficult time persuading members to overcome their fear I prayed with people I begged people I cajoled people I urged him to do tomorrow thing are urged them to do the ethical thing I urged them to fight a false religion and basically used every means I had available to me to convince people to cooperate those bold enough to stand up against Hulan Mitchell the man who called himself the Son of God he placed under witness protection as Mitchell continued to thwart the investigation privately public his legitimacy grew as Yahweh Ben Yahweh he's having photo op sessions with the mayor the mayor proclaimed Yahweh Ben Yahweh day and their banners on the streets saying you know proclaiming Yahweh Ben Yahweh day in October 1990 despite his public successes the FBI filed sealed arrest warrants for him and a dozen of his followers they were kept secret to allow the FBI a month to plan the arrests agents dumped the plan operation Jericho special agent Herbert cousins now it would be dangerous to take Yahweh Ben Yahweh in Miami since he was at the height of his popularity there the main issue for law enforcement was safety the safety of the individuals the law enforcement members involved in the arrest and also the safety of innocent individuals and the safety of Yahweh members including Yahweh Ben Yahweh fortunately Mitchell and others named in the indictment were scheduled to embark on a multi-city tool Yahweh Ben Yahweh's first stop would be in New Orleans the main arrest team which sees him at his hotel once he was in custody teams in six other cities would capture his henchmen across the south there were a number of arrest teams in different cities several cities Atlanta North Carolina New Orleans Miami I was sent to New Orleans to assist in New Orleans division with the arrest of Yahweh Ben Yahweh on November 6 1990 Yulin Mitchell arrived at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans the FBI was already there reading to track Mitchell's movements undercover agents were posted on every floor coming up now throughout the south teens took their positions outside Yahweh temples and waited for orders from Miami success depended on an unbroken flow of communication the agents in Miami coordinated the entire operation at 3:00 a.m. everyone was in place they gave me Moreland's the go-ahead agents in the hotel called Mitchell's room the first instruction was that he instruct his bodyguard to turn himself in to the agents who were waiting down the hall here comes the bodyguard the second instruction was that he come out with his hands up and that he walked slowly down the hall agents didn't know if Mitchell or his bodyguards would carrying wet hands finally what our main suspect emerged they sent word to Miami Mitchell was captured go the other team swarmed in arresting the criminal members of Mitchell's temple in a matter of minutes scores of agents mobilized to capture a dozen suspects across hundreds of miles no one was hurt we accomplished our goal were arrested as many individuals as we could identify during the operation and that's why I believe it was very successful Newland Mitchell was charged with extortion conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering prosecutors Scruggs believed he was still dangerous we found out that there was actually a hit team of five individuals who were stalking us trying to find out where we were so that they could kill us upon the orders of Yahweh Ben Yahweh at trial his intimidation even penetrated the jury we knew there were serious problems we knew people were scared several jurors actually got dismissed prior to deliberations because they were scared to go back and deliberate perhaps it was fear that caused what prosecutors considered only a partial victory [Music] in May 1992 Hulan Mitchell and six of his more violent followers were found guilty of conspiracy but Mitchell himself received only 18 years in a maximum-security federal prison it had been a difficult case for investigators he found a successful philosophy that people would flock to and actually start joining and pledged their allegiance to him and I think the more power he obtained the more influence he he obtained over his followers that he ultimately lost control of himself and he believed in his own mind he could do anything even ordered life in death [Music] Ilan Mitchell is locked away his murderous actions halted by those who saw through his false gospel [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Real Crime

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Keywords: The fbi files temple of fear, the FBI files, real crime, crime documentary, true crime, fbi, fbi files, fbi documentary, documentary, crime, crime patrol, true crime daily, unsolved, crime stories, crime documentaries full episodes, full episode, unsolved true crime, fbi files full episodes, we got him, mystery, solved, investigation, police, the fbi files

Id: xVg2lGBibZc

Length: 50min 5sec (3005 seconds)

Published: Sat May 16 2020