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iHeartPodcasts and Novel

In the 1940s, a group of Mormon dreamers started a town in the Mexican desert. But what began as a utopian vision quickly turned sour when the founding family’s son, Ervil LeBaron, struggled for control of the community and unleashed a multi-generational crimewave – the ripples of which are still being felt today.

From bank robbery to drug smuggling, auto theft rings to multiple murders, a deadly cult evolved into a sophisticated organized crime family. In Deliver Us From Ervil, journalist Jesse Hyde tells the story of Ervil LeBaron and the unlikely ensemble of reporters, cops, survivors and family insiders trying to halt his bloody legacy.

Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.

Deliver Us From Ervil

In the 1940s, a group of Mormon dreamers started a town in the Mexican desert. But what began as a utopian vision quickly turned sour when the founding family’s son, Ervil LeBaron’s struggle for control of the community unleashed a multi-generational crimewave – the ripples of which are still being felt today.
 
From bank robbery to drug smuggling, auto theft rings to multiple murders, a deadly cult evolved into a sophisticated organised crime family. In Deliver Us From Ervil, journalist Jesse Hyde tells the story of Ervil LeBaron and the unlikely ensemble of reporters, cops, survivors and family insiders trying to halt his bloody legacy.
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 
For more from Novel, visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Introducing Deliver Us From Ervil

It’s 2022, and journalist Jesse Hyde arrives in Colonia LeBaron. It’s a strange but thriving Mormon town, deep in the Mexican desert. While investigating a cartel massacre, Jesse uncovers the story of the LeBarons – a family whose dreams of founding a utopian community swiftly turned into a dystopian nightmare, as a faction of their town transformed into a murderous cult. Jesse traces the origins of this place, from the 1940s to the present day, its founding family and the feud between Joel LeBaron and his fanatic brother Ervil that started it all.
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 
For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1: The One Mighty and Strong

Ostracised from his family and his home, Ervil continues to build his cult from across the border in the US. When he starts threatening Colonia LeBaron with an attack, the townsfolk prepare their defences and brace themselves for the worst. But when Ervil LeBaron’s followers eventually do act, they manage to catch their victims unaware. Jesse returns to the scene of a 1974 massacre, only to find some survivors with surprising loyalties, despite the devastation.
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 

For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2: The Massacre in Los Molinos

How was Ervil LeBaron able to instill such devotion among his followers? Devotion that allowed him to commit untold violence and terror. In this episode, Jesse explores how key members of Ervil’s cult were recruited, and how they morphed into a sophisticated organized crime family. In 1977, when the group failed to extort money from a high profile target, Ervil sets his most audacious attack into motion: a double murder intended to take out his biggest rivals. But you can’t organise an assassination without attracting some attention and soon, the press are on Ervil’s trail.
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 
For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3: Welcome to the Family

Journalists on Ervil’s trail hear about an imminent murder in Utah and alert the cops. They arrive too late but decide to team up in the hunt for Ervil. As the press investigate, the astonishing scale of his crimes are revealed – but, as new murders come to light, the journalists become targets of Ervil and his deadly cult. Meanwhile, the cops start to identify suspects, though without an informant they’re yet to make any arrests. As the summer of 1977 passes, the police are about to be given an eye-opening inside account of Ervil LeBaron’s cult.
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 
For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4: The Hunt

We hear the astonishing confessions of one of Ervil LeBaron’s most influential cult members, who was groomed from childhood as both his wife and assassin. Over the course of an interrogation that lasts days, we listen in as the inner workings of this cult and organised crime family are revealed, murder-by-murder. As her interrogator continues to push, a strangely intimate picture of cult life emerges and builds to a startling conclusion. 
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 

For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5: Rena’s Confession

Police try to gain information from new insiders in Ervil’s cult. As more members of the cult break away to talk to the police the cops swoop in to make arrests. By 1978 Ervil remains on the run but prosectors now have enough evidence for a murder trial on his most high profile killings. As the trial leads to an unexpected conclusion, Ervil’s reputation causes further woes for the cops. 
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 
For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6: The Betrayal

Cops and prosecutors try for another conviction against the cult of Ervil LeBaron. Difficulties arise when their key witness suddenly dies but events finally swing round in their favor when Ervil is arrested and, finally, locked behind bars. Jesse Hyde hears how in 1979 the spell seemed finally to have been broken. But if the law thought Ervil’s reign was over they were about to be disappointed.
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 

For more from Novel visit novel.audio 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7: Ervil Comes Home

Ervil LeBaron spent two years in a Utah State Prison before his death in 1981. It left him with plenty of time to write a 500-page-long manifesto on his enemies. The Book of the New Covenant would go on to become a sacred text to Ervil’s many children, who had been raised in poverty, neglect and violence. Jesse Hyde sits down with one of Ervil’s daughters, Gabriela, to get an unprecedented look inside the lives of Ervil’s indoctrinated children who, after his death, would be led by Ervil’s eldest son Arthur. To them, the Book of the New Covenant was more than just scripture: it was a hit list. 
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 

For more from Novel visit novel.audio 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

8: The Reign of Arthur

In the aftermath of Arthur’s death, Ervil’s son Heber LeBaron takes over the mantle of the “One Mighty and Strong”. 19-years-old, and raised in an extremist and violent faith, Heber’s leadership evolves the Kingdom of God into a kind of organised crime family: drug smuggling, auto-theft and of course, violent retribution against their father’s enemies.
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 
For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

9: Who Wears The Crown?

In the aftermath of the 4 O’Clock Murders, the Kingdom of God is facing a crisis. For Gabriela and her siblings, the early 90s marked a turning point for the cult. Meanwhile, investigators from across the country have formed a team named after the youngest victim: the Jenny Task Force. Their progress is slow, until a chance auto theft arrest in Phoenix, Arizona seems to snare several of the cops’ main suspects: some of Ervil LeBaron’s eldest children, using fake aliases. But there’s one influential cult leader who is still on the run. 
 
Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.
 

For more from Novel visit novel.audio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12: The Tide Turns

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