In the fall of 2011, a 17-year-old model struck up an online relationship with NBA player Chris “Birdman” Andersen. But someone else was pulling the strings of their ill-fated romance.

When Jenelle Potter's crush, Billy Payne, started dating another woman, she used Facebook to spread rumors about the couple.

An online love triangle between 18-year-old Tommy, 17-year-old Jessi, and 22-year-old Brian turned tragic when their romantic fantasy world collided with their harsh realities.

Scott Caruthers’ community of “Next World Alien Lovers” in Maryland believed their leader when he told them he was an alien sent to save them from the apocalypse. But despite his insistence that he was a savior, Caruthers manifested doom at every turn — from a failed business plan that cost some investors everything, to a failed murder plot that put him and his followers behind bars.

In October 1869, a Baptist physician is visited by an angel during one of his alchemical experiments. She tells him a prophecy that changes his life, endowing him with an obsession for utopia and immortality. Cyrus “Koresh” Teed sets out to find followers, and though it takes decades, his movement finds its footing in Chicago. But where Koreshanity thrives, controversy follows.

The young co-founder of a church grew into a business tycoon who courted controversy until his death in 2014. Yoo Byung-eun built an empire on the backs of his devoted followers, who traded their money and labor for salvation. In 1987, a group associated with the church took part in a mass suicide. Nearly thirty years later, more than 300 people died in a ferry disaster that many believe Yoo Byung-eun was responsible for.

A religious group in Japan is led by a man who claims he is an interdimensional god named El Cantare, peddles spiritual vaccines online, and was once targeted for murder by a rival cult leader.

By 2004, James King and Barbara Loran were well-versed in violating ethical boundaries. But that year, the church leader and his mistress crossed a new line when they groomed and seduced the 17-year-old daughter of two congregants.

In 1990s Washington, James King held dozens of devoted followers in his thrall. He used emotional “processing” sessions to prey on women, while his mistress — a chiropractor who wanted to cultivate “Godlife” — became his number one recruiter.

As we look ahead to the new year, we want to take one last chance to say thank you for the year that was — and present our "Best of 2021"! Please enjoy this episode from our fan-favorite podcast, Solved Murders.

On Christmas Eve nearly seventy years ago, Dorothy Martin and the Seekers stood outside in Chicago and sang carols. They were waiting for a spacecraft that would shepherd them away from Earth — and the impending apocalypse.

The Manson Family’s infamous murder spree may have been partially inspired by The Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter” but it was The Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson who opened doors in Hollywood for their charismatic cult leader. From our friends at Sinister Societies, hear how Charles Manson almost became the next great pop hit of the ‘60s.

After a decade of abuse at the hands of Colin Batley, a young woman made a desperate escape. Early one morning, with her baby in her arms, she ran out of the cul-de-sac that Batley and his church called home and never came back. Now, out from under his grasp, she could bring Batley down.

In 1980s London, Colin Batley started a church based on the occult teachings of Aleister Crowley. Batley soon moved his congregation into a quiet cul-de-sac 200 miles away — where, behind the façade of suburbia, he and his followers sexually assaulted children.

We end our three-part special in Japan, where a yoga teacher named Shoko Asahara preached a violent, apocalyptic dogma.

Vanessa is joined by Lanie Hobbs from Crimes of Passion, a Spotify Original from Parcast, as they investigate the life of Michael Roach — Princeton grad, certified Geshe, and so-called king of Diamond Mountain, his spiritual retreat in Arizona.

How do quests for enlightenment get so sinister? Today, we’re looking at three stories of yoga gurus and guides who were loved — then loathed — for their practices.

When a psychic who’s been experimenting with ketamine goes missing in 1979, her brother suspects she’s been kidnapped by a cult. Today’s episode on Marcia Moore is from Unsolved Murders, a true crime podcast and Spotify Original from Parcast. Follow Unsolved Murders for new episodes every Tuesday!

Millions of followers. A powerful political ally. And his very own Garden of Eden. Televangelist Apollo Quiboloy spent decades turning his small congregation into a multinational religious empire.

After predicting a nuclear war, Hawkins offered salvation to his increasingly isolated followers. But cracks began to appear in his kingdom.

In the 1980s, a prophecy about two brothers and an ad in The National Enquirer drew hundreds of people into the House of Yahweh — a church in Abilene, Texas helmed by a deeply unsavory and swindling man named Bill Hawkins.

Nearly two decades after the Waco Siege, people are still wondering what transpired at the Branch Davidian compound.

On February 28th, 1993, ATF agents raided a compound in Waco, Texas, belonging to a religious group known as the Branch Davidians. A 51-day standoff ensued, ending in a violent siege.

By the 1990s, Rama Behera was living lavishly in his compound in Shawano, Wisconsin, while his followers traveled from far and wide to hear his divine message.

After Rama Behera came to the U.S. from India to attend college in the 1970s, his life changed forever when he claimed Jesus Christ contacted him. He dropped out to become a missionary, and settled on a compound in Wisconsin.