San Diego -- Former members of an
international evangelical sect rocked by the murder-suicide of two
leading members said Sunday that more violence may be in the offing for
the troubled Children of God.
Many young people who say they suffered years of
physical, sexual and spiritual abuse growing up in the sect say that the
latest deaths are part of a series of suicides by former members.
"We're dropping like flies," said one former member
of the sect, Daniel Roselle. "There is a lot of anger out there. I'm not
worried about more violence against others. But I am worried about more
suicides."
Roselle gave The Chronicle a list of 25
second-generation members of the Family International/Children of God
who have allegedly committed suicide during the past 10 years. Leaders
of the sect deny that all of the people listed have committed suicide --
or are dead.
Dozens of these second-generation cult members -- who
have demanded that their parents and movement leaders take
responsibility for the abuse -- gathered in a hotel ballroom in San
Diego on Saturday night to pay tribute to their fallen brethren.
They no longer belong to Family International, a
freewheeling Christian sect formerly known as the Children of God, but
many of these defectors still see themselves as part of an extended
family of spiritual survivors.
They came together over the weekend to memorialize
Abe Braaten, 27, a second-generation Children of God member who died
Dec. 14 after falling from the roof of a building in Kobe, Japan.
His siblings -- including one who saw him moments
before the fall -- say his death was yet another suicide among a
survivor of the abuse.
Nine days ago, on Jan. 8, another second-generation
member, Ricky Rodriguez, 29, shot himself after stabbing a former nanny
to death in his Tucson apartment.
Rodriguez, the only son of sect leader Karen "Maria
David" Zerby, grew up in the Children of God as "Davidito," the revered
prince and future prophet of the self-styled Christian cult.
In a video shoot hours before the murder-suicide,
Rodriguez confessed to the slaying of his nanny, 51-year-old Angela
Smith, which he said was revenge for years of sexual abuse he suffered
growing up in the Children of God.
The video tape, which shows Rodriguez loading his gun
and admiring the edge of his knife, ends with a call for other defectors
to get justice from their childhood abusers.
The raging, profanity-laced video has sent fear
rippling through the families of former and current members of the sect.
"It's a war now between ourselves and our parents,"
said John La Mattery, 27, a friend of Braaten's, who said they met in
Japan when both boys were 14 years old. "This is the cream of the crop
coming back to get them."
Braaten's Japanese-born mother, Yumiko "Phoenix"
Taniguchi, is one of the top leaders in the Family International today.
Braaten's sister, China (pronounced "Cheena')
Taniguchi, said her brother's death, followed so closely by Rodriguez's
suicide, has been a wake- up call for second-generation defectors.
"Ricky was the poster child for us kids," Taniguchi
said in an interview Sunday.
Leaders of the Family International and the Family
Care Foundation -- a not-for-profit charity located in Dulzura (San
Diego County) with close ties to the sect -- have declined repeated
attempts for interviews during the past week.
But in a prepared statement e-mailed to The
Chronicle, Family spokeswoman Claire Borowik said, "We have examined the
list posted of supposed suicides and have found several instances where
the deaths were definitely not suicides, or were unconfirmed as police
could not ascertain if the death was accidental or not."
Borowik said Braaten "was at a party and had gotten
very drunk," adding that "it wasn't possible to ascertain as to what
actually happened, whether he fell or jumped."
Nonsense, said Sam McNair, 25, who was with Braaten
just moments before his death.
McNair said Braaten suffered a sudden nervous
breakdown and was babbling about the founder of the Children of God, the
late David "Moses" Berg, before he fled McNair's Kobe apartment, ran to
a nearby building and leapt to his death.
E-mail Don Lattin at
dlattin@sfchronicle.com.
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URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/17/BAGMCARHP81.DTL