Introducing 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.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's one thing to catch a criminal who kills for
greed he was a man who craved power and was
very lustful. Or catch a criminal who kills for anger.
He was christ. When I look back on it now,
I think, Wow, I'm lucky you didn't kill me. But
how do you catch a criminal who kills for God?
You go kill all these people the ways God's gonna

(00:22):
curse us forever and the world. I'm Jesse Hyde. As
a journalist, I investigate crime, religion and fanaticism. A few
years ago I stumbled on a story deep in the
Chihuahua Desert of a religion that became a Mormon could
that became a crime family who then crossed over into America,

(00:42):
unleashed terror yet operated unseen for generations. The costumes, the beard,
the clothes, they were disguised and no one could identify them.
The narcotics trafficking, and the gun running. They look good
coffee's and they have fun doing it up. It's like
a mafia. Right. As I dug deeper into this story,

(01:06):
I learned of the desperate hunt to stop this family
across state lines, following a trail of murder and crime,
all seemingly spreading from the poison of one man, hervil
A Baron, the false prophet who controlled it all. The
police force is not enough on this. We are in

(01:26):
a fight against evil. I've done multiple homicide cases, but
nothing like this, where it's a part of their upbringing,
where you're raised to kill people. I understand what it's
like to live in a terrorist organization. I understand how
mothers who strapped bombs to their children feel. It's the
most horrific thing you can imagine. Listen to Deliver Us

(01:49):
from Herville on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.