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.

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.

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.

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.