West
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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Text messages about marriage, money and a “fresh start” took center stage in the murder trial of Utah author Kouri Richins, as prosecutors laid out what they say was her plan to move on from her husband and profit from his death.
Richins, 35, is charged with aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and multiple financial crimes in the March 3, 2022, death of her husband, Eric Richins. Prosecutors allege she poisoned him with a fentanyl-laced Moscow mule so she could collect life insurance money and begin a new life with her boyfriend. She has pleaded not guilty.
During opening statements, Summit County Deputy Attorney Brad Bloodworth read aloud a series of text messages he said were exchanged between Richins and a man identified in court as her boyfriend.
In one message sent the day before Eric’s death, Richins allegedly wrote: “If I was divorced right now and asked you to marry me tomorrow, you would?”
Internet searches recovered from the phone of Kouri Richins, a Utah mother accused of fatally poisoning her husband, are displayed on a screen during her murder trial at the Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
Weeks earlier, prosecutors said she sent another message: “If he could just go away, and you could just be there, life would be so perfect.”
Jurors also heard that 16 days after Eric’s death, Richins allegedly sent her boyfriend a link to a Caribbean resort and wrote, “Are we there yet?” About a month after the death, prosecutors said she texted him, “I think I want you to be my husband one day.”
Bloodworth argued the messages reveal Richins’ desire to start over and pointed to what he described as mounting financial pressure.
According to prosecutors, Richins was facing substantial debt and believed she would inherit millions from Eric’s estate if he died. Bloodworth told jurors a prenuptial agreement would have limited what she received in the event of a divorce.
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Body camera video is displayed on a screen during the murder trial of Kouri Richins at the Summit County Courthouse, in Park City, Utah, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
“Kouri Richins murdered Eric for his money and to get a fresh start at life,” Bloodworth said in court.
Prosecutors also highlighted phone activity from the early morning hours of March 4, 2022.
Bloodworth told jurors Richins first accessed her phone at 3:06 a.m. but did not call 911 until 3:21 a.m.
The state further referenced internet searches conducted after Eric’s death, including: “Can cops uncover deleted messages iPhone?”
Jurors were also told that three money-themed memes — including one that read “I’m rich!” — were accessed on Richins’ phone the morning Eric died.
Prosecutors allege the killing was tied to life insurance proceeds.
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Defense attorney Kathy Nester shows the jury an image of a pill bottle while delivering her opening statement in Kouri Richins’ murder trial, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
Court documents state Richins purchased multiple life insurance policies totaling nearly $2 million and later changed the beneficiary designation to herself without Eric Richins’ authorization. Authorities say Eric discovered the change and switched the beneficiary back to his business partner.
Investigators also allege Richins intended to use insurance money to complete and flip a roughly $2 million Wasatch County mansion, an investment Eric’s family has said he did not approve of.
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester told jurors Eric struggled with chronic pain and substance use and died from an accidental overdose. In pretrial filings, Richins’ legal team has argued that a key prosecution witness changed their story and that the evidence against her is largely circumstantial.
“No family ever wants to believe that behind closed doors someone you loved is using drugs,” Nester said during opening statements.
The defense played Richins’ 911 call in court, in which she can be heard crying and telling a dispatcher her husband was not breathing.
“Those are the sounds of a wife becoming a widow,” Nester told jurors.
The third day of testimony ended unexpectedly after roughly an hour on the stand from the state’s lead crime scene technician.
Kouri Richins looks on during her murder trial at the Summit County Courthouse, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
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Chelsea Gipson, the CSI technician who processed the Richins home, faced cross-examination focused on the evidence she collected, including prescription medications removed from the scene and whether she observed alcohol or THC gummies inside the residence. Gipson acknowledged the hydrocodone bottle recovered from the home was not tested for fentanyl and testified that no drug paraphernalia was found.
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Defense attorneys also questioned how certain areas were documented, noting that no photographs were taken of the kitchen, sink or closet during the initial processing of the scene.
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Kathy Nester walks back to her seat during the trial at the Summit County Courthouse, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Spenser Heaps/AP Photo, Pool)
Judge Richard Mrazik called a recess around 9:30 a.m., citing a scheduling conflict. When court resumed shortly after 10:30 a.m., he dismissed jurors for the day, referencing “unforeseen emergency circumstances unrelated to the case.”
On Thursday, Kouri Richins’ housekeeper testified that she bought pain pills for her after repeated requests in early 2022. Carmen Lauber said Richins asked in early February 2022 for pain meds for an “investor,” took the pills and deleted their texts, and later left $1,000 at her Midway home for Lauber to pick up for another purchase.
Lauber also said she helped Kouri Richins obtain increasingly stronger drugs. She said she first sought out strong painkillers through a friend after Kouri Richins allegedly said her “investor” wanted something stronger, calling it the “Michael Jackson stuff.”
Lauber’s testimony followed a state toxicologist’s testimony acknowledging that Eric Richins could have taken fentanyl before having a drink, potentially undercutting prosecutors’ claim that Kouri Richins laced his Moscow mule.
Richins was arrested in May 2023. The case later drew national attention after she published a children’s book about grief following her husband’s death.
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The trial is expected to continue for several more weeks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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DENVER — More than 24 hours after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, Coloradans are continuing to express their feelings about what the attack means not only for the world, but here in our state.
For the second straight day, Coloradans expressed their opinions on the steps of the state Capitol about the attack by the US and Israel on Iran.
But instead of anger, as was the case on Saturday, the tone on Sunday was more cheerful.
“Today it’s a celebration about like getting our freedom back, and we would love to have people to be happy with us,” said Forzun Yalme, who helped organize the event with Free Iran Colorado.
For some Iranian-Americans, the news of the attack brings a new sense of hope that freedom is near.
“For me to be Iranian-American, in 47 years here, I learned about democracy and human rights and what I like,” detailed Amir Tosh, another member of Free Iran Colorado. “I want to transfer what your values are for democracy, human rights, freedom to my country, my motherland.”
Denver rally shows divided feelings over U.S.-Israel action against Iran
“My uncle and grandma, grandparents, they were all so happy about what happened, because we can, like, now feel the freedom,” explained Yalme.
But some Iranian-Americans are more cautious.
Colorado’s only Iranian-American state representative, Yara Zokaie, doubts the operation will have a significant impact to Iran’s leadership.
“I’m sympathetic to people who want regime change by any means necessary, but I think we also need to stop and realize what this actually means,” said Zokaie. “Regime change is not something that can happen in one airstrike.”
Zokaie admits she herself was elated to hear Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials were killed in the attack.
But she hopes Coloradans remember the innocent people who have already been killed and those who are more likely to come.
“I ask that we remember the humanity of people in the Middle East as this news unfolds. I ask that we call for a peaceful resolution that we empower Iranian people who will bring change from within, and that we call for no war with Iran,” said Zokaie.
Several people at today’s event at the Capitol approached our Denver7 team. They shared their gratitude for President Donald Trump, the US military, and the Israelis for their action in helping bring freedom to Iran.
They hope others will see that as well. They plan on being here for the next hour and a half or so.
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