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California cult led by 'master manipulator' committed brutal murders, detective says: 'One body after another'
Detective Gary Deckard and his team walked into a real-life nightmare on Elm Street.
Shortly after midnight on May 21, 1990, police entered a house at 5223 Elm Street in Salida, a small farming town in California. Inside were the bodies of Dennis Colwell, Darlene “Emmie” Paris, Franklin Raper and Richard Ritchey. All the victims suffered blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds. Paris had been nearly decapitated.
“When I got to the crime scene, we had two deputies who responded to the first 911 call,” Deckard, the lead investigator, told Fox News Digital. “All these deputies were spooked by what they saw. And these are very big deputies… When I entered the crime scene, I understood why.”
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Members of “The Cause,” led by Gerald Cruz, killed four people. The case is being examined in the true-crime series, “The Real Murders on Elm Street.” (Investigation Discovery)
“When they went to murder these people, they flipped off the electricity,” Deckard explained. “So it was completely dark in there… It was just a horrific crime scene. One of the female deputies told me it felt like Freddy Krueger was going to come out of the closet. It was one body after another in this small house.”
The quadruple homicide is being explored on Investigation Discovery’s true-crime series, “The Real Murders on Elm Street.” It explores chilling cases across the country that all took place on “Elm Street.” It features interviews with loved ones and investigators, among others.
“People have always wanted to know why anyone would go to a house and savagely kill people,” said Deckard. “Was this the act of an individual or a leader of a group?”
Detective Gary Deckard was the lead investigator in the case. (Investigation Discovery)
The police would soon get their answer.
There was one survivor, a woman named Donna, who managed to escape the attack. She described how the murders were committed by several people who had been dressed in camouflage and wore masks.
“I tried to get as much information out of her as possible,” said Deckard. “What I learned was that Donna arrived at the house. She had nowhere to go that particular night. She arrived with another individual who ended up being one of the victims. She was in one of the bedrooms when the murders started taking place. One of the suspects had taken off his mask. That allowed Donna to see his face.”
“As everybody was being murdered, Donna ran to the garage,” Deckard continued. “There were no lights inside, but she found a pile of clothes. She hid underneath the clothes and the suspects didn’t see her… When she had a chance, she ran down Elm Street and knocked on people’s doors, hoping somebody would hear her screams. Someone finally did. That’s how the 911 call came in.”
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Police would later learn that Gerald Cruz ordered everyone in the home to be killed. (Investigation Discovery)
Many in town gathered outside the crime scene. After getting a description from Donna of the suspect she saw – a Caucasian male with Afro hair – one of the locals said, “It sounds like a guy named Jason. He lives off ‘the Camp.’”
Police were familiar with the residential area known to locals as “the Camp.” Those who lived there kept to themselves.
When police headed there, pieces of camouflage clothing were found hanging on a clothesline. Investigators then headed to a nearby trailer that belonged to Gerald Cruz. He denied knowing anything about the murders but gave a few names of members of his commune.
Authorities soon identified Jason LaMarsh from “the Camp.” He matched the description of the suspect that Donna saw that night. As the investigation continued, police learned that Cruz was the leader of “The Cause,” a group that, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, “was supposed to be the advancement of mankind.” LaMarsh was connected to the group.
Richard Vieira, pictured here, claimed Gerald Cruz ordered him to kill Darlene Paris. (Investigation Discovery)
“Gerald Cruz was a dynamic personality,” said Deckard. “He would take people off the street, those who were maybe unemployed, didn’t have any money. He would then become like their father, promising that he would provide for them. They became so emboldened… that they would do almost anything for him.”
Investigators got a search warrant for Cruz’s home. Inside they found masks, bomb-making materials, a receipt for a knife and satanic literature. Court documents revealed that Cruz’s journals had the signatures and fingerprints of those who were recognized as his followers.
There was also the “Wheel of Punishment.” Deckard said the device was used to torture Cruz’s followers if they ever disobeyed. Some of the punishments included eating off the floor, beatings and sodomy in front of the group.
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On May 20, 1990, Gerald Cruz gathered James Beck, pictured here, Richard Vieira and Jason LaMarsh. He gave them assignments and had them wear camouflage. (Investigation Discovery)
“When we found it at the property, we didn’t know what that wheel was about,” said Deckard. “I interviewed other people who were part of the group that Gerald Cruz oversaw. They described to me that the ‘Wheel of Punishment’ was used if you got in trouble for anything. And Gerald ruled with an iron fist. If you got in trouble, you had to toss up the wheel. Wherever your thumb landed on the wheel, that’s the punishment you got.”
“There were all sorts of punishments,” said Deckard. “But the most bizarre punishment would be having sex with somebody else of the same gender. But it could be a beating, it could be several things.”
According to court documents, Cruz was arrested for possession of explosives. Other followers were taken in.
Ronald Willey, pictured here, was among those ordered to storm Franklin Raper’s home. (Investigation Discovery)
“What we learned was that they had a meeting at ‘the Camp’ where they all mostly resided,” Deckard explained. “During that meeting, they were getting psyched up in preparation to go over and kill Franklin Raper. That was the motive. They did not know anybody else was going to be at the house. But Gerald Cruz’s instructions were to make sure there were no witnesses.”
Court documents revealed that in January 1990, Raper, who was about 50 years old, moved his trailer into “the Camp.” He would go on to have “an acrimonious relationship” with Cruz.
Cruz later told an acquaintance before the murders that he would “like to get his hands on” Raper. Following one dispute, Raper’s car was set on fire.
The episode revealed that Raper was never afraid of Cruz and would not think twice about standing up to him.
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According to court documents, Michelle Evans entered a plea agreement. She was sentenced to one year in prison in exchange for her testimony. (Investigation Discovery)
The series also revealed that Raper was known for bringing people in who had no place to go.
Deckard said Raper was targeted by Cruz and his group. The other victims were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
According to the episode, Cruz and his followers ambushed Raper in his home. There, they gathered all the victims in the living room. Raper was beaten with a bat so badly that his head and face were “distorted,” said court documents. He had also been stabbed, and his arm was broken.
From left to right, James David Beck, Ronald Wayne Willey, Gerald Dean Cruz, Michelle Lee Evans and Richard John Vieira are seen here in the Stanislaus County courtroom. (Investigation Discovery)
Deckard said that when Paris was screaming and pleading for her life, Cruz told Vieira to “shut her up.”
“Gerald Cruz had so much power over him,” said Deckard.
The episode shared that LaMarsh and Ronald Willey were convicted of four counts of second-degree murder. Both were sentenced to 62 years in prison. Vieira is on death row at San Quentin, along with Cruz and James Beck. Michelle Evans pleaded guilty as an accessory to murder. She was sentenced to one year in prison in exchange for her testimony at trial. She served six months.
Detective Gary Deckard admitted that the case still haunts him decades later. (Investigation Discovery)
To this day, Deckard still has questions.
“Why would somebody forfeit their lives to please one individual, a master manipulator?” he said. “How could someone have so much authority and rule a whole camp as a father and provider for everybody? Why would people just sacrifice their whole lives and kill people they don’t even know? People who have never done anything to them? It was just appalling. I have no answers.”
“The Real Murders on Elm Street” airs Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. on ID. It will be available to stream on Max.
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A night removed from winning their series opener, two uncharacteristic fielding errors and a roughshod thirteen hits doomed Oregon State against the Air Force Falcons, 9-6.
The full box score can be viewed at this link, and our game recap can be read below.
The elder statesman of Oregon State’s pitching rotation, junior righty Eric Segura, forced a pair of groundouts to keep the top of the first scoreless. His strong start was followed by an Oregon State run in the bottom of the first. The Beavers’ opening run started with gold glover AJ Singer, who flashed his batting prowess by pinging a double to the warning track. Singer scored on a Paul Vasquez slash through 5.5 hole, and Oregon State led 1-0.
Air Force batters went down in order to begin the second inning. Their short stint at the plate was followed by another successful Oregon State frame. With one out and no one on, Josh Procter swung at the first pitch he saw. After his ball landed 399 feet away, Oregon State doubled their advantage.
As one might expect, the Air Force cadets showed perseverance against adversity and calmness under pressure. In the third inning, they seized the lead. Their four run rally started with a pair of singles. Then facing one out and runners at the corners, Falcons’ senior Ben Niednagel drew a walk to load the bases. The next man up, 2026 Preseason All-Mountain West catcher Walker Zapp slugged a bases-clearing double. With Oregon State suddenly trailing, pitching coach Rich Dorman met his starter Segura at the mound. After the meeting, a fielding error by first baseman Ethan Porter returned runners to the corners, and then Air Force senior Tripp Garrish reached on a fielder’s choice, inching Zapp home from third.
Singer answered with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning. His shot traveled 407 feet, and landed a few yards to the left of Goss Stadium’s batter’s eye. As if they were awoken by the blast, Oregon State roared back to life: with Porter on base after getting hit by a pitch, Vasquez singled, and then Bryce Hubbard rolled a tough groundout to short, moving both runners into scoring position. Following an Air Force pitching change, Adam Haight sent a one-hopper into the grass beyond second base. While the sophomore outfielder was thrown out trying to reach first, his effort scored Porter from third, tying the game 4-4.
Again, the Falcons responded. After Air Force loaded the bases, their senior two-batter Niednagel forced a fielding error on a sharply hit grounder to Singer at second. When the dust settled, two runs scored. In the ensuing moments, Oregon State pulled Segura off the mound, replacing him with 6’2″ righty Zach Edwards.
Segura, a key factor in Oregon State’s sweep of Long Beach State last weekend, struggled mightily tonight. When his shift ended after 3 and 1/3 innings, he had allowed 7 hits and 4 earned runs. The top of the fourth finished with his successor Edwards stranding two runners, while Oregon State clawed closer in the bottom frame thanks to a pair of wild pitches moving Tyler Inge across the bases.
However, the one-run margin wouldn’t last for long. Facing a 2-2 count with no outs in the top of the fifth inning, Air Force’s senior Garrish smoked a high, middle fastball. Once his strike returned to Earth, the cadets led 7-5.
Scoring stalled until the top of the seventh. Oregon State’s reliever Edwards cruised for 2 and 2/3, until a pair of singles invited his pitching coach to the mound, who called for another change. Out went Edwards, and in came Washington transfer Isaac Yeager. The consistently reliable 6’6″ right hander – with 40 strikeouts and just 22 hits allowed across 33 innings – couldn’t stop the bleeding tonight. His first batter faced, Tripp, delivered another Air Force run home on a slow roller up the middle.
Oregon State climbed closer in the bottom of the seventh, after Bryson Glassco singled up the middle, delivering the Huntington Beach native Porter home from second base. The base hit also placed Vasquez in a threatening position at third base, but a Haight groundout stranded Oregon State’s runner ninety feet away from the promised land.
Air Force denied the Beavers once again in the bottom of the eighth. Tying runner Easton Talt faced a 1-2 count with 2 outs and a teammate on first base. In one of the game’s biggest moments, Falcons’ reliever Gaines Estridge offered a sky-high outside fastball. Talt swung tight, striking out, and stranding the runner at first.
The cadets tacked on one more run in the top of the ninth, when center fielder Christian Taylor beat out a throw across the diamond, helping Walker Zapp race from third. Entering the bottom of the ninth, the Beavers needed three runs to tie. Unfortunately, Falcons’ closer Patrick Davidson struck out the side.
The loss snapped Oregon State’s eight game win streak, and moved their overall record to 42-12. More importantly, their postseason fate is now in jeopardy. The three-time national champions entered the weekend needing a sweep to solidify their RPI before the regular season ends. Tonight’s defeat – following a pattern of upset losses to Portland, UTRGV, Cal State Fullerton, and CSUN – puts a hypothetical Corvallis Regional host site at the mercy of the selection committee.
Oregon State concludes its regular season tomorrow afternoon against Air Force, with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 PM PST at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. The game broadcast will be televised on Portland’s CW, and radio play-by-play can be heard across the state on Beavers Sports Network affiliate stations.
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An adolescent owl that was found stuck in a concrete mixer in southwestern Utah is finally on the mend, flying free and maybe a bit wiser from the ordeal.
The great horned owl somehow made his way into the truck-mounted mixer in late October and was discovered by workers pouring concrete at a resort construction site.
Lucky for him, a series of people gave a hoot about his predicament. Workers hosed the bird down before it was wrapped in a towel.
It took days for employees at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab to pick the concrete from the bird’s face, chest and right wing, using forceps to carefully crack the dried debris and cleaning the feathers with toothbrushes and dish soap.
The owl started its long recovery at an aviary run by the organization, and employees anxiously waited for it to grow new feathers. But the bird didn’t molt as predicted.
In early May, he underwent a procedure called imping, which uses adhesive to graft donor feathers onto existing shafts.
“The first few feathers were extremely nerve-wracking, but as we got into the groove, the imping became more comfortable, and everything went smoothly,” said Bart Richwalski, a supervisor at the sanctuary.
Great horned owls typically have tufting on the edges of some of their feathers that allows them to fly quietly as they hunt.
But the concrete frayed the rescued owl’s feathers and caused it to make a whooshing sound while flying.
To prepare for the imping procedure, sanctuary staff examined the owl’s feather patterns every few weeks and snipped damaged shafts in advance.
The owl was anesthetized and the donor feathers from a similarly sized owl that had died were laid out nearby to replicate each wing.
The staff then cut the feathers to the necessary length, lined them up and adhered them to the bird.
By the end of the 90-minute procedure, the owl had 10 new primary feathers and a secondary feather on his right wing. But then came the real test: could he fly silently?
The bird was placed in a large aviary to recover from the anesthesia and quickly took flight after awakening.
Richwalski used a decibel meter to measure the sound of the owl’s wingbeat and determined its flight was quiet enough for it to safely be released.
The owl hovered for a moment while the aviary roof was retracted, gained speed and then flew out into the wild.
“It feels so, so good. I think my heart finally started beating again. The nervousness was starting to overtake the excitement, but once I saw him fly out that opening in the roof, it just was, it was a sight to see. It was so fun,” said Richwalski, who has cared for the owl since picking him up at the construction site.
Karla Bloem, executive director of the Minnesota-based International Owl Center, said imping has been practiced by falconers “for eons” and is a very effective treatment.
“I’ve never heard of it not lasting, because you use some pretty good stuff when you’re doing imping,” said Bloem, who has studied great horned owls for nearly three decades.
She added that it would be OK if a couple of the grafted feathers fell out. The bulk of them just need to stay put until the owl can grow new ones in the coming summer months.
“And now it just needs to figure out, ‘whoa, I’m back in the big world again, hunting,’” she said. “Find a territory … you know, find one of the opposite sex and settle down and have kids.”
The Washington Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 15, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from May 15 drawing
17-23-25-52-61, Mega Ball: 03
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from May 15 drawing
07
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 15 drawing
1-9-7
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Match 4 numbers from May 15 drawing
05-14-19-23
Check Match 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Hit 5 numbers from May 15 drawing
14-20-28-40-42
Check Hit 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Keno numbers from May 15 drawing
02-06-07-17-23-24-26-38-39-40-44-51-54-57-63-64-65-74-77-78
Check Keno payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Washington Lottery retailers can redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners have the option to submit their claim by mail or in person at one of Washington Lottery’s regional offices.
To claim by mail, complete a winner claim form and the information on the back of the ticket, making sure you have signed it, and mail it to:
Washington Lottery Headquarters
PO Box 43050
Olympia, WA 98504-3050
For in-person claims, visit a Washington Lottery regional office and bring a winning ticket, photo ID, Social Security card and a voided check (optional).
Olympia Headquarters
Everett Regional Office
Federal Way Office
Spokane Department of Imagination
Vancouver Office
Tri-Cities Regional Office
For additional instructions or to download the claim form, visit the Washington Lottery prize claim page.
When are the Washington Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 7:59 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 8 p.m. PT Tuesday and Friday.
- Cash Pop: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Pick 3: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Match 4: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Hit 5: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Daily Keno: 8 p.m. PT daily.
- Lotto: 8 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:30 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Washington editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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