Ricky Rodriguez

Richard Peter Rodriguez (born David Moses Zerby; January 25, 1975 – January 9, 2005) was the son of David Berg, the leader of a religious cult called The Family, formerly known as the Children of God (COG), who murdered one of his childhood sexual abusers, Angela M. Smith, and then died by suicide.

During Rodriguez's childhood, he and his biological mother Karen Zerby and father David Berg, the leaders of The Family, traveled across the world to convert followers. Berg believed Rodriguez was called upon to become a prophet during biblical End Times. From a young age Rodriguez was brought up in a heavily sexually abusive environment and was sexually abused and raped by numerous people, including a cohort of adult "nannies", as described in the Family-published document titled "The Davidito Book".

Despite leaving The Family and finding marriage, Rodriguez struggled to adjust to life outside the cult and sought revenge for his abuse. He left his wife in Tacoma, Washington, and traveled across the U.S. in an attempt to find Zerby. After learning his former nanny Angela M. Smith was in Tucson, Arizona, he stayed with people he knew there until he settled in an apartment. On January 7, 2005, he recorded a video, saying he needed to take retribution for abuse in The Family—including his own—alluding to murder. The next day, Rodriguez invited Smith to his apartment, where he murdered her by slitting her throat and stabbing her, before driving to Blythe, California, where he shot himself.

The Family urged its members to disregard media reports about Rodriguez and Smith, and a spokesperson for the group said reports neglected to show Smith as a victim. Another former member considered it, out of other suicides in the group, to be one of the worst moments in The Family's history, and noted that Rodriguez's accounts were corroborated with other victims' stories of abuse. Cult specialist Rick Alan Ross described his suicide as reflective of the cult's many individuals who suffered in "one of the most horrifically abusive and destructive cults in American history". was born on January 25, 1975, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, as David Moses Zerby. His mother was Karen Zerby, the spiritual leader of the religious cult Children of God (COG), and his father was a Spanish hotel waiter named Carlos whom Zerby had "Flirty Fished", a practice in which female cult members would have sex with men to draw in potential converts. Rodriguez was unofficially adopted by David Berg, the group's founder and Zerby's husband, and was given the nickname "Davidito" and often referred to as "the prince".

On May 2, 1978, Berg declared in a publication that Rodriguez and Zerby would one day have the power to "call down fire from Heaven and devour their enemies". He also predicted they would both be killed and raised from the dead "3 days" later, and Rodriguez would go on to guide followers as a prophet during biblical End Times.

The 762-page document included photos of Rodriguez with naked teenage girls and being present during the group's orgies. One of his nannies, Angela M. Smith, who was also Zerby's personal secretary, The material also contained captions and text written by Berg commenting on the situation in a sexual manner. A British court, headed by Lord Justice Ward, issued a verdict during an investigation related to a 1995 trial, stating that the Davidito book was an example of Berg's promotion of pedophilia within the group, and that the leadership considered it a guidebook for adult–child relationships. Amsterdam, as ordered by Ward, distanced The Family from Berg's writings on child upbringing.

Adult life Departure from The Family In 1996, at 21 years old, Rodriguez moved to a Family-owned home in Budapest, Hungary, where he met his girlfriend Elixcia Munumel, who returned with him to Zerby's home in Porto, Portugal, and lived with him there. In 1999, the couple told Zerby they were going to The Family's compound in Mexico, but instead Munumel went to England and Rodriguez went to the United States. He sold a car Zerby had given him so Munumel could meet him in Tacoma, Washington. According to Munumel, however, when they first met in Budapest, Rodriguez began having reservations about Berg's teachings, which noticeably contradicted the Bible, and expressed his frustrations to her about the group as a whole. Rodriguez' friend Celeste Jones also said he felt angry because there was no justice to apprehend abusers in The Family and that he pretended that he was not angry around members of the group; according to the Tucson Citizen, however, Rodriguez became more vocal around the time he started talking to former members. He also mentioned his teen training in most of his posts on the site. Ex-member Sarah Martin, who corresponded with Rodriguez through the site, said that because he felt responsible for preventing the abuse of others in the cult, he was carrying a large burden, never got over the Davidito prophecy, and felt he had a need to put an end to Zerby's abuse. On January 7, of that year, Rodriguez recorded a videotape in which he discussed his thoughts of suicide and his desire for revenge, describing himself as a vigilante. called Munumel, told her he had killed Smith, and asked her to call the police. He also told Munumel he had killed Smith to avenge his sister Techi and those still in The Family rather than himself. He said Smith "didn't understand what she had done wrong" as she was dying.

Investigation and memorial At 8 a.m., a Palo Verde Irrigation District employee discovered Rodriguez' body in his car and contacted local police. The investigating detective thought Rodriguez had simply died by suicide, but answered Munumel's call to Rodriguez' cell phone and learned of the murder from her. Tucson police spokesman Sgt. Carlos Valdez said Smith died shortly before her body was recovered

Response to murder–suicide Researchers, ex-members, and outsiders alt=A middle-aged man with balding dirty-blond hair, a white beard, and glasses stands beside a microphone in his grey suit and pattern tie. Canadian Professor of Sociology Stephen A. Kent considered why Rodriguez was led to murder Smith, which he believed was exacerbated by his lack of justice for his abuse. Stephen A. Kent, a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta, said while Rodriguez was unjustifiable in the murder, one "can understand his frustration and rage" because "he and others from that generation" had never seen justice or resolve "from all the abuse they suffered". Rick Alan Ross, a cult researcher who had interviewed numerous former members of The Family, noted that Rodriguez reflected the many suicides of those who suffered a "tremendous amount of pain" from being in "one of the most horrifically abusive and destructive cults in American history".

Roselle was in mourning after Rodriguez's death, and regretted that the murder-suicide took place. He expressed his frustration with the lack of support for sexual abuse victims of the cult prior to the murder, and believed that "the only way anybody's listening" to the stories of abuse "is that Rick and Angela died". but that he considered Rodriguez' abuse to be one of the worst cases from The Family. For example, Juliana Buhring, sister of Celeste Jones and co-author of the book Not Without My Sister (which details their family's experiences within the cult), mentioned that most of the children she and people like Rodriguez grew up with in the cult were sexually abused. She empathized with the rage he felt, especially when he had "no closure" and "no restitution" for it.

The Family In an internal memo, Zerby told followers of The Family that reporters were trying to "make Ricky look like a hero and role model" rather than a perpetrator of a crime. Borowik also compared Rodriguez' upbringing to one in "a nudist colony" and cited scholars who argue sexual practices similar to those of The Family do not harm children. She criticized Lattin's book for "inaccuracies, misconceptions and erroneous conclusions", and "sketchy research". Lattin's book Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge recounts the events of Rodriguez' life in a story-like setting. HBO's documentary Children of God: Lost and Found, which is about The Family and was directed by former member Noah Thomson, includes footage from Rodriguez' video. "Sects", the 19th episode of Law & Orders 15th season, is loosely based on Ricky Rodriguez and The Children of God.