June 22, 2023 • 29 mins
A woman is shot dead in Guadalajara. There are multiple witnesses. Security camera footage. But no one comes forward and the case remains unsolved. We look at LLDM's deep connections with the police, and their hush-hush operations.
LLDM's longstanding connections with influential figures and politicians have helped them evade accountability time and again, but as public scrutiny intensifies, will justice finally be served? In this episode, we explore the extent of LLDM's power and influence, and the growing calls for accountability.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Before we jump in, we must warn you this episode
contains explicit content, such as sexual abuse that may be
disturbing to some people. Listener discretion is advised. Also, if
this is the first time you are listening to Sacred Scandal,
everything will make a lot more sense if you start
with episode one. Night has just fallen on November third,
(00:29):
twenty twenty in Gua Lajara, Mexico, and Silvia Rosco, a
thirty year old white eyed beauty, is home making dinner
for her family. Sevia lived in Hermosa Provincia just to
block away from the apostles Casa Grande. Her home is
so close to La Luzel Mundo's Grand temple that at night,
(00:50):
its neon floodlights bathe her house in purple, blue and
yellow Ermosa Provincia is a close knit community where only
l LDN believers are allowed free rein. If someone who
doesn't belong tries to enter, they're quickly approached by friendly
but firm members who insist on guiding the visitors around
(01:10):
until they leave. But this November night, nobody seemed to
stop the arm stranger that barged into Sybia's kitchen. The
man shot her four times with nine millimere bullets, then
quickly made his escape, jumping into a convoy of two
vehicles waiting right outside. Sybia was dead before she hit
(01:33):
the kitchen floor.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
In front of the people of her mother, in front
of her siblings.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
This is royled Silva, a former deacon of the church.
Syba was killed in front of her siblings, her mother,
and her three year old son, who all came running
when they heard the door being busted open.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
In front of the witnesses around the Colonial Massa Provincia
and the one of the main streets there.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Despite the multiple witnesses and security camera footage showing the
hitman's cars rushing out of Armazza Provincia through streets filled
with people, officially, nobody seems to know who Cyba's killer.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It might be ask for a copy of the denouncers
against that horrific act of a killing of a girl
one block away from the temple. They don't give you anything.
There's nothing there, there's no records.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Who el knows this because he went to Hallisko's District
attorney's office himself, demanding to see if any progress had
been made on the investigation.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I'm telling you because we went to investigate. Can we
have a copy of the denounce or the declarations? No,
the case is closed.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Almost three years later, Seba's killer remains at large, but
theories abound as to who might have ordered a hit
and what someone might have wanted her dead. I'm Robert
de Garza and you're listening to Sacred Scandal season two.
(03:15):
This is episode five. Silence of the Land. The neighborhood
of her Mosa Provincia, the fable city that lldm's first
(03:37):
apostle founded way back in the nineteen fifties, is like
a city inside a city. Unlike the boisterous streets of
the rest of Alajara, El Moosa Province is quaint and orderly,
a small, working class neighborhood of about five thousand people
that's totally self contained. It has its own schools, a
post office, hospital, and market, and everyone who lives there
(04:01):
belongs to and believes in ell DM. We sent her correspondent,
Florenzia Flores to interview its residence, and all of them
beamed about how safe and happy they felt there.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
With come most Amuitter and Quillolo Migno.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
He indifferent, A woman named Maggie says it's nice and quiet.
Other places in Guaalajara are more dangerous, but here it's
more secure and peaceful, she says. Another man we spoke
with emphasize how he can walk around safely at night.
I think he would never think to do in other
parts of the city.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Aquila Provincia, Aula Unona, La Cinquo, Lamaiana, in Oleon Tons,
las Quature, Lamaiana Ivmosal Temples, Saviano.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Another man talks about the harmony of the neighborhood, saying,
we all share with each other, we all help each other.
We're a community.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Luardun day much armonia, tololos, ermanos, passan nosa yuramos and
tretolos suna communida.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Entitl nit ter Mossa Provincia. Everyone watches everyone else. A
block from Sibia's residence is the Casa Grande, where the
apostle and his family live. That home is guarded twenty
four seven by armed men, a mixture of policemen and
ldm's own security core, and yet no guards reacted to
(05:23):
the rare sound of gunshots right at their doorstep.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
Ola Migos Carlos and rees.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
This is with Carlos Reyes, a YouTuber and former l
ld M member who uses his channel to track and
comment on what's going on in la Us del Mundoland.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Then Estadia or the Statar de vea com partim video
constelles Pa Personas caestaa bi segondel Casto de Sibia.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
There is a huge community of people online who talk
and share news about l l d M. Some are
former LEDM members, some are just curious. Louis's YouTube channel
has fifty three thousand subscribers, and this video of him
analyzing the security footage from outside Ceva's house has over
eight thousand views.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Sevidentia phisica in i Loel Prestaky por quayose kel Membros
Lord Lider Last Run.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
The video is black and white. There is no sound.
The camera is nestled behind some leaves, but you can
clearly see the street outside Civa's house. The video is
time stamped November third, twenty twenty. There are two people
sitting at a table across from her house, perhaps selling something.
(06:44):
The street is calm, then a flurry of activity. Louis
plays the video in full, he rewinds it and plays
it again.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Corindo a qui tank corindo purquestan corrindo esteva kami ona korremia.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
We see people running, he says. They are getting out
of the way, afraid of something.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Or what illego passaes to those autos or no blancos
to a squirrel.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Louis points out two moving cars, first a white one
and then one that appears to be dark gray. The
cars swerve in from around the corner and then speed
down the street. Just before the cars emerge, two men
turn the same corner. They look back, see something and
start to run. All at once. There's people on the
(07:39):
mostly empty street, about five or six. It looks like
neighbors rushing in to see what happened. As the cars
speed by, they duck out of the way as fast
as they can.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Person personas or yer on algo on mirar cosas.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Seven, the people who were there. Louis says, all of
these people hurt something, saw something, that's why they're running.
They're walking and then they start running. What did you hear?
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Louise asks, cares the ken sons altos kens altos.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
What happened? And whose cars are these? Does anyone recognize
the cars?
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Youa Mexico, and it's a skuys that are Mosa Provincia,
you know, luar Asika.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
He ends the video with a plea to those who
still live in Ramasa Provincia. I don't know, my friends,
what's happening there in Mexico, in the streets of Armaza Provincia.
I don't live there anymore. I don't know the place
as well as the people who live there now. But
those who are watching this video or those who can
remember that night, they can give a lot of information.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Sperd alas persona, do you live in Dia.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
When Sibia's murder happened, there were numerous witnesses. Her family
saw it all from inside the house, and the people
outside on the street saw the killers or at least
what appeared to be their cars, fleeing the scene. And
yet when the police arrived to investigate, no one came
forward with information about the cars or the shurer. It
(09:32):
was a deafening collective silence. When we return ledm's official response.
Shortly after Sibia's death, LEDM posted a video on their
official Facebook page. The English title translates to pronouncements regarding
(09:55):
the femicide of Sibia or Rosco.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
Allegria Buenas, then too Sitola in Las Alida.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
The video shows four women sitting at a long conference table.
Behind them is a perfectly framed view of the Grand Temple.
All are wearing ld m's modest clothes, little to no makeup,
long skirts and high necklines. Masks cover their faces because
it's twenty twenty and COVID is still raging. Each woman
(10:28):
takes off her mask as she speaks, we.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Were nastas av la masprofunga in thegnaccher.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
The first three speak about the church, but how ELDM
works to promote gender equality and how the safest place
for women believers is in the sisterhood of the church, the.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Vista el maes professor La.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
The last woman to speak is Sibia's mother, Dalila ares.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Mi nombres levanto paral sarmi bos.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
In dark sunglasses with her hair slicked back. Delila says
she did not bring a speech. She brings only pain.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Linias scritas, madre telaforma masquerel in Masco Barde the politicister
and diamartes in Torona casso casa.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
She says, I don't have any written lines. I have
the soft voice of a three year old boy whose
mother was snatched from him in the cruelest way. On Tuesday,
they truspassed into my house, into my kitchen and gone
down my daughter.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
Jovi cuomo esta persona persona.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I saw how that person, if you can call them
a person, loaded my daughter with bullets. Dalila says, I
saw him with my own eyes. I saw her body
lying on the floor, covered in blood. I can't keep quiet.
I demand the authorities do their job. Dalida goes on
(12:24):
to say she has filed the complaint with authorities and
says she wants to ask no, to demand that they
do not let this go unpunished.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Do you see whoes.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Jo solo pidok the lord. There's raw pain in Dalila's voice.
She lists the politicians she's spoken with, all of whom
she says were kind and pledged to help her.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Youes Al Senor Alfaro.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
But one months later, Oil Silva went to the district
attorney's office to find answers. There was no trace of
any collected evidence, no files on Sybia to be found.
The case's official status is unknown, but for all practical purposes,
it seems very much as dead as sibia Rosco. As
(13:19):
we know from Moyses Padilla's case against the church in
episode two, it's not uncommon for evidence to go missing
or paperwork to get lost when it's related to lldm's wrongdoings.
Oil says he had a friend who used to do
this kind of dirty work for the church.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, I had a friend that wished to be the
lawyer of Samuel, one of the lawyers, and I knew
he went in Mexico wa Allajara. He went to the judge,
you know, with the judges and where all the paperwork
is done, pay the employees, and bring disappeared the copies everything.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Paying off authorities to make sure paperwork goes missing is
not the only method l l DM has to make
its problems go away. The church has carefully cultivated deep
connections with the government and the police, both at the
state and federal level.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, they have a salary in the pay roll of
the state police.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Earlier in this episode we mentioned the apostle has armed
guards constantly patrolling his house.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
There was two levels there in Guadalajara. The first one
was the one that was guardian all the time his house,
and the Casa Grande and they were always a minimum
force right there every day.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
But Royle says there are two levels of armed guards
used by l LEDM. One is the private guard for
the apostle, and the other is a civil force used
to keep the peace in the community.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
And there was another one that was like a civil
force to take care of the security of the Hermosa provincia.
In general, you know to the members to keep the
pace and keep the order during celebrations.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Armed private guards are not common in Mexico. They are
reserved only for the very rich, the very powerful, or
the very criminal. Legally, no one can carry a firearm
without a special permit. That permit has to come from
the army and it's extremely difficult to get a.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Jose and is protectorisos in Algunos, cassos los cassavancanos.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
They were like bodyguards, but they were volunteers in some
cases those who were close to him. The job was
to guard and escort. These were highly trained people who
were well prepared. They had defensive training, I guess like
general weapons training.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
This is Shadimgu's man. He worked as a political liaison
for LDM in Ensenada. He knows the backroom dealings between
an LDM and Mexico's politician and police force. Says very well,
he interacted with members of the Apostles security detail regularly.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Do you think have you persona theonomic constance? Have you persona.
Speaker 6 (16:14):
See there was a person I mean, I don't know
him myself. There was a person who was a former
militia soldier. He told me about it. They were comrades
in the militia. The other man introducing himself to the church.
He meets a girl, they get married, and he begins
to give them security training.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
So this one former military guy basically trained the rest
of the Apostles Armed Guards, and he was not the
first one. Since Aaron's military days, l LM's guards have
remained very cozy with Mexico's armed forces.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
I hinti Castamostros said, persona.
Speaker 6 (16:56):
There are people that become trainers and have even shown
the credentials they've been trained to train others. Because there's
a part of the guard that works as policemen. It's
an area called civil protection, but they also act like
an internal paramilitary with different functions. It's in their name,
but they act as another secret guard. Alodia members are
(17:19):
forbidden to be policemen or soldiers, but that restriction seems
to be over now.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
They all belong to this entity inside LDM called Civil Protection,
but unofficially the ones that guard the Joaquins twenty four
seven form a special unit of hardcore followers called the
Guards of Herico. LDM denies the existence of such a group,
yet there they stand at all hours, armed and vigilant
(17:48):
for all to see at the door of the Casagrande
or whatever. The Apostles family can be found, but is sooneriapari.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
They are basically an internal paramilitary group under the guise
of civil protection that have different functions. I mean, the
name says it all, but secretly there is a group
beyond that cover that is prepared for anything. Los Samuel,
(18:23):
those who protected Samuel. They were people who were prepared
to kill. How do you explain that an Apostle of
God used armored cars.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
These guards, true believers, are there to protect the Apostle
and his family by whatever means necessary.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
In his closed group of guards, we call it de Warudas.
There were some extreme people there, you know, some of them.
They they would go after a guy that talk bad
about the apostle and beat him you know, or or else.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
According to former pastor Rector Vera, these guards are not
just highly trained, they can be lethal.
Speaker 7 (19:08):
La Familia Juaquin is poderosa, is extempro t hiros port, garulas, grups, garuas,
Mandan Golbierre, Mandan Matar.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
The Juaquin family is powerful. It's true. It is no
wonder they need to be protected by loyal guards. But
according to Ector, these guards ordered biddings. They ordered killings,
and he names the case of Sibi Rosco or the.
Speaker 7 (19:37):
Cia Rosco in Temple der Moosa Provincia.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So we know there's two levels of guards, one that
patrols the streets of Armasa Provincia, keeping the peace on
the streets, and a special, elite, more extreme force assigned
to do the royal family's biddings. We know from Shariman
Joel that these guards a trained by members of the
Mexican military. Some are even alleged to be active policemen,
(20:06):
and we know from Moys's attempted murder in episode two
that when all else fails, LLDM is quite capable of
having them or the Federalists at their service make the
church's problems go away, but Moises was actively trying to
discredit ll DM by launching a public campaign against its
many abuses. Sybia, on the other hand, what just a
(20:30):
thirty something single mother living with her parents in her
Mosa provincia. No one has any evidence to prove the Joaquins,
the Garcias, or any other member of the church order
their goons to kill Seba, and yet Sybia didn't really
have a life outside l DM. The circumstances around her
murder suggest foul play. She was marked for death, so
(20:54):
we must ask what threat did Sevia pose? What did
Seba know that was so important, so much so that
the only solution was to keep her permanently quiet. That's
next after the break. One of the last posts on
(21:17):
Sibioosco social media reads nuncayil cielo porkenos como In English,
it means I'll never get to heaven because I don't
know how. It was posted just a month almost to
the date before her death. Below the caption is a
selfie of her looking glamorous sort of badass, ripped jeans,
(21:39):
pig seventies rock star style sunglasses, her black hair in
a bob not exactly leddm's approved aesthetic. It's easy to
read into a caption like that, as if she might
have known death was coming. It's about Heaven, sure, but
it's in a playful, bad girl language. Posts on her
(22:00):
Facebook tell a slightly different story. On March twenty twenty,
eight months before her death, she posted revenge is a
dish best served cold, along with a grinning emoji and
a picture of a woman at a protest holding a
sign that said, why shut up if I was born screaming.
(22:22):
Before twenty twenty, Sybia's Facebook posts were more of the
live Love, laugh variety. There's pictures of her pregnant belly,
a Christmas tree, and her father with the caption fullhouse,
Happy Heart, and a photo of a champagne bottle ante
amos spelled out in rose petals on a hotel bed
on Valentine's Day. But something happened in the spring of
(22:45):
twenty twenty that caused her to start posting threats on
her Facebook page. That something was a bad breakup. Sybia
had been in a long time relationship with celeem Garcia.
We've met him before. He's the man you heard last episode,
vehemently denying Sochil Martin's involvement with ld M and insisting
(23:09):
the church had no knowledge of her on an interview
with the news group Millennium.
Speaker 8 (23:15):
Laes personal persona the Cocamos complete.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Cilem is ld m's official spokesperson. His main responsibilities are
keeping l d m's ugly truths from coming out, offering
empty words to the press, and maintaining an externally published image,
and he does his job very well.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
LUs del Mundo s Elem Garcia solo replica in companion
in the studios Lembeni, which so addresses Alejandro Mona notiz.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Here he is defending Nasson's innocence on Millenniu.
Speaker 8 (23:50):
Like lesla luzer Mundo kine plena Confianza and naves and
alisaros los falsos sennel amientos de los Cazi, lukeeto e
la posto le esuk.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Celeem isn't just lldm's official spokesperson. He's also the son
of one of the big shod bishops of the church,
Hilberto Garcia, the money maker, the deal breaker, the preacher
who gave the speech that sealed the deal for Nassan
to become the apostle. Right after some Moel passed away.
Selim Garcia is the rumored father of Sebia's three year
(24:22):
old son, the son who witnessed his mother gone down
right in front of him. After Sybia's murder, Celim was
conspicuously absent from all official ldm's declarations around her death.
In fact, since that tragic November day, his usually abandoned
media appearances dropped to almost zero, which is odd because
(24:45):
Sibia's murder also coincided with Nasson's trial hitting up. You'd
think Seleem would have a lot to say.
Speaker 9 (24:53):
Religious leaders are supposed to have the best interests of
their followers and congregations in mind. Officials say that is
not with the leader how the Light of the World
Church was doing. Instead, they say he was abusing his
position of power, taking advantage of people, families, and young
children for his own sexual desires.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
In the class, Seleem was fifteen years Sibia senior and
married to another woman, but Sibia had been Sillem's lover
since she was a teenager. A gift from the Apostle
to the loyal Garcia family. Sibia used to serve sam
Oil and then Nason right before she was passed on
to Hilberto and Seleem, and.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
She was my niece.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
By the way, this is hoile again. We heard him
describe Sybia's killing earlier in this episode before leaving the church.
He was close to Sybia and her family. Oil and
Sybia come from a multi generational Ledm family, a family
whose members know the ins and outs of the church
it's inner workings better than most. They were very close
(25:57):
to the apostles, their power and their secrets.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
But this girl was also a helper for Samuel in
one time, and then she was passed to Nason and
another time, and then Nason released her from his service
and passes to help Sealem.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Of course, Sileem does not officially acknowledge Sibia's son as his.
We do not know what caused it to break up.
All we have is a timeline from Sybia's Facebook the
happy posts and then shortly after Valentine's Day twenty twenty,
the angry posts about revenge being a dish best sef, cold,
(26:42):
a jilted and mistreated lover with a lot of intimate
knowledge about where La DM's bones are buried. That's something
that would scare even an apostle of God.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
This lady had a lot of knowledge of the you know,
the deeds of these people, so when she decided to
talk about it, they disappear her. So there's many theories
around there. They did it as an example of all
(27:14):
the hundreds, if not thousands, of victims in her Mossa
Provincia in other parts of Mexico.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Coile has a theory of his own.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
It was a demonstration of power. You put an example
of her. This is gonna happen if you open your mouth.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Coyle's theory has to do with the crucial timing of
the murder. Sebia's assassination went down just as Nasan's trial
was about to start. Like Sibia, there are many LLDM
women out there who could do a lot of damage
if they came forward. After all, they were the ones that,
in a mixture of fierce loyalty and brutal coercion, did
(27:54):
most of the apostles dirty work.
Speaker 10 (27:57):
Prosecutor say, the Apostle, for all all his religious glory,
has always had women in the church who helped to
recruit and groom young girls in their teens for him
to abuse and rape.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
That's next on Sacred scandal. Sacred Scandala Uzel Mundo is
a production of Exiled Content Studio in partnership with Aarhartsmichael
Doura podcast Network, and is hosted by me Robert Garraza,
produced by Sabin Jansen with the help of Estella emet
Reynald Kutierrez and Anna Isabel Obtavio. Written by myself and
(28:33):
Menissa Heinrich, research by Robert G. Garza, additional reporting by
Florence Second Soileist Geragarcia, Engineering by Umen Doza and Sabin Jensen.
Sound designed by quatickin Unis. Original music by Patrick Hart,
edited by writer Alsop and Rose Red. Executive producers are
(28:54):
Rose Reed, Carmen gratterol Isa Klee, and Ando Villa. Ann
Bautista over sees audio at Exiled Canton Studio. Our executive
producers at iHeart Argisel Bancees and Arlene Santana. Sacred Scandal
was created by Melanie Bartley and Paula Varus Special thanks
to Sonic Union. For more podcasts, go to the iHeartRadio
(29:18):
app or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.
Before we jump in, we must warn you this episode
contains explicit content, such as sexual abuse that may be
disturbing to some people. Listener discretion is advised. Also, if
this is the first time you are listening to Sacred Scandal,
everything will make a lot more sense if you start
with episode one. Night has just fallen on November third,
(00:29):
twenty twenty in Gua Lajara, Mexico, and Silvia Rosco, a
thirty year old white eyed beauty, is home making dinner
for her family. Sevia lived in Hermosa Provincia just to
block away from the apostles Casa Grande. Her home is
so close to La Luzel Mundo's Grand temple that at night,
(00:50):
its neon floodlights bathe her house in purple, blue and
yellow Ermosa Provincia is a close knit community where only
l LDN believers are allowed free rein. If someone who
doesn't belong tries to enter, they're quickly approached by friendly
but firm members who insist on guiding the visitors around
(01:10):
until they leave. But this November night, nobody seemed to
stop the arm stranger that barged into Sybia's kitchen. The
man shot her four times with nine millimere bullets, then
quickly made his escape, jumping into a convoy of two
vehicles waiting right outside. Sybia was dead before she hit
(01:33):
the kitchen floor.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
In front of the people of her mother, in front
of her siblings.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
This is royled Silva, a former deacon of the church.
Syba was killed in front of her siblings, her mother,
and her three year old son, who all came running
when they heard the door being busted open.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
In front of the witnesses around the Colonial Massa Provincia
and the one of the main streets there.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Despite the multiple witnesses and security camera footage showing the
hitman's cars rushing out of Armazza Provincia through streets filled
with people, officially, nobody seems to know who Cyba's killer.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It might be ask for a copy of the denouncers
against that horrific act of a killing of a girl
one block away from the temple. They don't give you anything.
There's nothing there, there's no records.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Who el knows this because he went to Hallisko's District
attorney's office himself, demanding to see if any progress had
been made on the investigation.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I'm telling you because we went to investigate. Can we
have a copy of the denounce or the declarations? No,
the case is closed.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Almost three years later, Seba's killer remains at large, but
theories abound as to who might have ordered a hit
and what someone might have wanted her dead. I'm Robert
de Garza and you're listening to Sacred Scandal season two.
(03:15):
This is episode five. Silence of the Land. The neighborhood
of her Mosa Provincia, the fable city that lldm's first
(03:37):
apostle founded way back in the nineteen fifties, is like
a city inside a city. Unlike the boisterous streets of
the rest of Alajara, El Moosa Province is quaint and orderly,
a small, working class neighborhood of about five thousand people
that's totally self contained. It has its own schools, a
post office, hospital, and market, and everyone who lives there
(04:01):
belongs to and believes in ell DM. We sent her correspondent,
Florenzia Flores to interview its residence, and all of them
beamed about how safe and happy they felt there.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
With come most Amuitter and Quillolo Migno.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
He indifferent, A woman named Maggie says it's nice and quiet.
Other places in Guaalajara are more dangerous, but here it's
more secure and peaceful, she says. Another man we spoke
with emphasize how he can walk around safely at night.
I think he would never think to do in other
parts of the city.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Aquila Provincia, Aula Unona, La Cinquo, Lamaiana, in Oleon Tons,
las Quature, Lamaiana Ivmosal Temples, Saviano.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Another man talks about the harmony of the neighborhood, saying,
we all share with each other, we all help each other.
We're a community.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Luardun day much armonia, tololos, ermanos, passan nosa yuramos and
tretolos suna communida.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Entitl nit ter Mossa Provincia. Everyone watches everyone else. A
block from Sibia's residence is the Casa Grande, where the
apostle and his family live. That home is guarded twenty
four seven by armed men, a mixture of policemen and
ldm's own security core, and yet no guards reacted to
(05:23):
the rare sound of gunshots right at their doorstep.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
Ola Migos Carlos and rees.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
This is with Carlos Reyes, a YouTuber and former l
ld M member who uses his channel to track and
comment on what's going on in la Us del Mundoland.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Then Estadia or the Statar de vea com partim video
constelles Pa Personas caestaa bi segondel Casto de Sibia.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
There is a huge community of people online who talk
and share news about l l d M. Some are
former LEDM members, some are just curious. Louis's YouTube channel
has fifty three thousand subscribers, and this video of him
analyzing the security footage from outside Ceva's house has over
eight thousand views.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Sevidentia phisica in i Loel Prestaky por quayose kel Membros
Lord Lider Last Run.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
The video is black and white. There is no sound.
The camera is nestled behind some leaves, but you can
clearly see the street outside Civa's house. The video is
time stamped November third, twenty twenty. There are two people
sitting at a table across from her house, perhaps selling something.
(06:44):
The street is calm, then a flurry of activity. Louis
plays the video in full, he rewinds it and plays
it again.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Corindo a qui tank corindo purquestan corrindo esteva kami ona korremia.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
We see people running, he says. They are getting out
of the way, afraid of something.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Or what illego passaes to those autos or no blancos
to a squirrel.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Louis points out two moving cars, first a white one
and then one that appears to be dark gray. The
cars swerve in from around the corner and then speed
down the street. Just before the cars emerge, two men
turn the same corner. They look back, see something and
start to run. All at once. There's people on the
(07:39):
mostly empty street, about five or six. It looks like
neighbors rushing in to see what happened. As the cars
speed by, they duck out of the way as fast
as they can.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Person personas or yer on algo on mirar cosas.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Seven, the people who were there. Louis says, all of
these people hurt something, saw something, that's why they're running.
They're walking and then they start running. What did you hear?
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Louise asks, cares the ken sons altos kens altos.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
What happened? And whose cars are these? Does anyone recognize
the cars?
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Youa Mexico, and it's a skuys that are Mosa Provincia,
you know, luar Asika.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
He ends the video with a plea to those who
still live in Ramasa Provincia. I don't know, my friends,
what's happening there in Mexico, in the streets of Armaza Provincia.
I don't live there anymore. I don't know the place
as well as the people who live there now. But
those who are watching this video or those who can
remember that night, they can give a lot of information.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Sperd alas persona, do you live in Dia.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
When Sibia's murder happened, there were numerous witnesses. Her family
saw it all from inside the house, and the people
outside on the street saw the killers or at least
what appeared to be their cars, fleeing the scene. And
yet when the police arrived to investigate, no one came
forward with information about the cars or the shurer. It
(09:32):
was a deafening collective silence. When we return ledm's official response.
Shortly after Sibia's death, LEDM posted a video on their
official Facebook page. The English title translates to pronouncements regarding
(09:55):
the femicide of Sibia or Rosco.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
Allegria Buenas, then too Sitola in Las Alida.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
The video shows four women sitting at a long conference table.
Behind them is a perfectly framed view of the Grand Temple.
All are wearing ld m's modest clothes, little to no makeup,
long skirts and high necklines. Masks cover their faces because
it's twenty twenty and COVID is still raging. Each woman
(10:28):
takes off her mask as she speaks, we.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Were nastas av la masprofunga in thegnaccher.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
The first three speak about the church, but how ELDM
works to promote gender equality and how the safest place
for women believers is in the sisterhood of the church, the.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Vista el maes professor La.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
The last woman to speak is Sibia's mother, Dalila ares.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Mi nombres levanto paral sarmi bos.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
In dark sunglasses with her hair slicked back. Delila says
she did not bring a speech. She brings only pain.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Linias scritas, madre telaforma masquerel in Masco Barde the politicister
and diamartes in Torona casso casa.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
She says, I don't have any written lines. I have
the soft voice of a three year old boy whose
mother was snatched from him in the cruelest way. On Tuesday,
they truspassed into my house, into my kitchen and gone
down my daughter.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
Jovi cuomo esta persona persona.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I saw how that person, if you can call them
a person, loaded my daughter with bullets. Dalila says, I
saw him with my own eyes. I saw her body
lying on the floor, covered in blood. I can't keep quiet.
I demand the authorities do their job. Dalida goes on
(12:24):
to say she has filed the complaint with authorities and
says she wants to ask no, to demand that they
do not let this go unpunished.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Do you see whoes.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Jo solo pidok the lord. There's raw pain in Dalila's voice.
She lists the politicians she's spoken with, all of whom
she says were kind and pledged to help her.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Youes Al Senor Alfaro.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
But one months later, Oil Silva went to the district
attorney's office to find answers. There was no trace of
any collected evidence, no files on Sybia to be found.
The case's official status is unknown, but for all practical purposes,
it seems very much as dead as sibia Rosco. As
(13:19):
we know from Moyses Padilla's case against the church in
episode two, it's not uncommon for evidence to go missing
or paperwork to get lost when it's related to lldm's wrongdoings.
Oil says he had a friend who used to do
this kind of dirty work for the church.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, I had a friend that wished to be the
lawyer of Samuel, one of the lawyers, and I knew
he went in Mexico wa Allajara. He went to the judge,
you know, with the judges and where all the paperwork
is done, pay the employees, and bring disappeared the copies everything.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Paying off authorities to make sure paperwork goes missing is
not the only method l l DM has to make
its problems go away. The church has carefully cultivated deep
connections with the government and the police, both at the
state and federal level.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, they have a salary in the pay roll of
the state police.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Earlier in this episode we mentioned the apostle has armed
guards constantly patrolling his house.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
There was two levels there in Guadalajara. The first one
was the one that was guardian all the time his house,
and the Casa Grande and they were always a minimum
force right there every day.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
But Royle says there are two levels of armed guards
used by l LEDM. One is the private guard for
the apostle, and the other is a civil force used
to keep the peace in the community.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
And there was another one that was like a civil
force to take care of the security of the Hermosa provincia.
In general, you know to the members to keep the
pace and keep the order during celebrations.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Armed private guards are not common in Mexico. They are
reserved only for the very rich, the very powerful, or
the very criminal. Legally, no one can carry a firearm
without a special permit. That permit has to come from
the army and it's extremely difficult to get a.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Jose and is protectorisos in Algunos, cassos los cassavancanos.
Speaker 6 (15:33):
They were like bodyguards, but they were volunteers in some
cases those who were close to him. The job was
to guard and escort. These were highly trained people who
were well prepared. They had defensive training, I guess like
general weapons training.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
This is Shadimgu's man. He worked as a political liaison
for LDM in Ensenada. He knows the backroom dealings between
an LDM and Mexico's politician and police force. Says very well,
he interacted with members of the Apostles security detail regularly.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Do you think have you persona theonomic constance? Have you persona.
Speaker 6 (16:14):
See there was a person I mean, I don't know
him myself. There was a person who was a former
militia soldier. He told me about it. They were comrades
in the militia. The other man introducing himself to the church.
He meets a girl, they get married, and he begins
to give them security training.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
So this one former military guy basically trained the rest
of the Apostles Armed Guards, and he was not the
first one. Since Aaron's military days, l LM's guards have
remained very cozy with Mexico's armed forces.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
I hinti Castamostros said, persona.
Speaker 6 (16:56):
There are people that become trainers and have even shown
the credentials they've been trained to train others. Because there's
a part of the guard that works as policemen. It's
an area called civil protection, but they also act like
an internal paramilitary with different functions. It's in their name,
but they act as another secret guard. Alodia members are
(17:19):
forbidden to be policemen or soldiers, but that restriction seems
to be over now.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
They all belong to this entity inside LDM called Civil Protection,
but unofficially the ones that guard the Joaquins twenty four
seven form a special unit of hardcore followers called the
Guards of Herico. LDM denies the existence of such a group,
yet there they stand at all hours, armed and vigilant
(17:48):
for all to see at the door of the Casagrande
or whatever. The Apostles family can be found, but is sooneriapari.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
They are basically an internal paramilitary group under the guise
of civil protection that have different functions. I mean, the
name says it all, but secretly there is a group
beyond that cover that is prepared for anything. Los Samuel,
(18:23):
those who protected Samuel. They were people who were prepared
to kill. How do you explain that an Apostle of
God used armored cars.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
These guards, true believers, are there to protect the Apostle
and his family by whatever means necessary.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
In his closed group of guards, we call it de Warudas.
There were some extreme people there, you know, some of them.
They they would go after a guy that talk bad
about the apostle and beat him you know, or or else.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
According to former pastor Rector Vera, these guards are not
just highly trained, they can be lethal.
Speaker 7 (19:08):
La Familia Juaquin is poderosa, is extempro t hiros port, garulas, grups, garuas,
Mandan Golbierre, Mandan Matar.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
The Juaquin family is powerful. It's true. It is no
wonder they need to be protected by loyal guards. But
according to Ector, these guards ordered biddings. They ordered killings,
and he names the case of Sibi Rosco or the.
Speaker 7 (19:37):
Cia Rosco in Temple der Moosa Provincia.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So we know there's two levels of guards, one that
patrols the streets of Armasa Provincia, keeping the peace on
the streets, and a special, elite, more extreme force assigned
to do the royal family's biddings. We know from Shariman
Joel that these guards a trained by members of the
Mexican military. Some are even alleged to be active policemen,
(20:06):
and we know from Moys's attempted murder in episode two
that when all else fails, LLDM is quite capable of
having them or the Federalists at their service make the
church's problems go away, but Moises was actively trying to
discredit ll DM by launching a public campaign against its
many abuses. Sybia, on the other hand, what just a
(20:30):
thirty something single mother living with her parents in her
Mosa provincia. No one has any evidence to prove the Joaquins,
the Garcias, or any other member of the church order
their goons to kill Seba, and yet Sybia didn't really
have a life outside l DM. The circumstances around her
murder suggest foul play. She was marked for death, so
(20:54):
we must ask what threat did Sevia pose? What did
Seba know that was so important, so much so that
the only solution was to keep her permanently quiet. That's
next after the break. One of the last posts on
(21:17):
Sibioosco social media reads nuncayil cielo porkenos como In English,
it means I'll never get to heaven because I don't
know how. It was posted just a month almost to
the date before her death. Below the caption is a
selfie of her looking glamorous sort of badass, ripped jeans,
(21:39):
pig seventies rock star style sunglasses, her black hair in
a bob not exactly leddm's approved aesthetic. It's easy to
read into a caption like that, as if she might
have known death was coming. It's about Heaven, sure, but
it's in a playful, bad girl language. Posts on her
(22:00):
Facebook tell a slightly different story. On March twenty twenty,
eight months before her death, she posted revenge is a
dish best served cold, along with a grinning emoji and
a picture of a woman at a protest holding a
sign that said, why shut up if I was born screaming.
(22:22):
Before twenty twenty, Sybia's Facebook posts were more of the
live Love, laugh variety. There's pictures of her pregnant belly,
a Christmas tree, and her father with the caption fullhouse,
Happy Heart, and a photo of a champagne bottle ante
amos spelled out in rose petals on a hotel bed
on Valentine's Day. But something happened in the spring of
(22:45):
twenty twenty that caused her to start posting threats on
her Facebook page. That something was a bad breakup. Sybia
had been in a long time relationship with celeem Garcia.
We've met him before. He's the man you heard last episode,
vehemently denying Sochil Martin's involvement with ld M and insisting
(23:09):
the church had no knowledge of her on an interview
with the news group Millennium.
Speaker 8 (23:15):
Laes personal persona the Cocamos complete.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Cilem is ld m's official spokesperson. His main responsibilities are
keeping l d m's ugly truths from coming out, offering
empty words to the press, and maintaining an externally published image,
and he does his job very well.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
LUs del Mundo s Elem Garcia solo replica in companion
in the studios Lembeni, which so addresses Alejandro Mona notiz.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Here he is defending Nasson's innocence on Millenniu.
Speaker 8 (23:50):
Like lesla luzer Mundo kine plena Confianza and naves and
alisaros los falsos sennel amientos de los Cazi, lukeeto e
la posto le esuk.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Celeem isn't just lldm's official spokesperson. He's also the son
of one of the big shod bishops of the church,
Hilberto Garcia, the money maker, the deal breaker, the preacher
who gave the speech that sealed the deal for Nassan
to become the apostle. Right after some Moel passed away.
Selim Garcia is the rumored father of Sebia's three year
(24:22):
old son, the son who witnessed his mother gone down
right in front of him. After Sybia's murder, Celim was
conspicuously absent from all official ldm's declarations around her death.
In fact, since that tragic November day, his usually abandoned
media appearances dropped to almost zero, which is odd because
(24:45):
Sibia's murder also coincided with Nasson's trial hitting up. You'd
think Seleem would have a lot to say.
Speaker 9 (24:53):
Religious leaders are supposed to have the best interests of
their followers and congregations in mind. Officials say that is
not with the leader how the Light of the World
Church was doing. Instead, they say he was abusing his
position of power, taking advantage of people, families, and young
children for his own sexual desires.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
In the class, Seleem was fifteen years Sibia senior and
married to another woman, but Sibia had been Sillem's lover
since she was a teenager. A gift from the Apostle
to the loyal Garcia family. Sibia used to serve sam
Oil and then Nason right before she was passed on
to Hilberto and Seleem, and.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
She was my niece.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
By the way, this is hoile again. We heard him
describe Sybia's killing earlier in this episode before leaving the church.
He was close to Sybia and her family. Oil and
Sybia come from a multi generational Ledm family, a family
whose members know the ins and outs of the church
it's inner workings better than most. They were very close
(25:57):
to the apostles, their power and their secrets.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
But this girl was also a helper for Samuel in
one time, and then she was passed to Nason and
another time, and then Nason released her from his service
and passes to help Sealem.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Of course, Sileem does not officially acknowledge Sibia's son as his.
We do not know what caused it to break up.
All we have is a timeline from Sybia's Facebook the
happy posts and then shortly after Valentine's Day twenty twenty,
the angry posts about revenge being a dish best sef, cold,
(26:42):
a jilted and mistreated lover with a lot of intimate
knowledge about where La DM's bones are buried. That's something
that would scare even an apostle of God.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
This lady had a lot of knowledge of the you know,
the deeds of these people, so when she decided to
talk about it, they disappear her. So there's many theories
around there. They did it as an example of all
(27:14):
the hundreds, if not thousands, of victims in her Mossa
Provincia in other parts of Mexico.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Coile has a theory of his own.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
It was a demonstration of power. You put an example
of her. This is gonna happen if you open your mouth.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Coyle's theory has to do with the crucial timing of
the murder. Sebia's assassination went down just as Nasan's trial
was about to start. Like Sibia, there are many LLDM
women out there who could do a lot of damage
if they came forward. After all, they were the ones that,
in a mixture of fierce loyalty and brutal coercion, did
(27:54):
most of the apostles dirty work.
Speaker 10 (27:57):
Prosecutor say, the Apostle, for all all his religious glory,
has always had women in the church who helped to
recruit and groom young girls in their teens for him
to abuse and rape.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
That's next on Sacred scandal. Sacred Scandala Uzel Mundo is
a production of Exiled Content Studio in partnership with Aarhartsmichael
Doura podcast Network, and is hosted by me Robert Garraza,
produced by Sabin Jansen with the help of Estella emet
Reynald Kutierrez and Anna Isabel Obtavio. Written by myself and
(28:33):
Menissa Heinrich, research by Robert G. Garza, additional reporting by
Florence Second Soileist Geragarcia, Engineering by Umen Doza and Sabin Jensen.
Sound designed by quatickin Unis. Original music by Patrick Hart,
edited by writer Alsop and Rose Red. Executive producers are
(28:54):
Rose Reed, Carmen gratterol Isa Klee, and Ando Villa. Ann
Bautista over sees audio at Exiled Canton Studio. Our executive
producers at iHeart Argisel Bancees and Arlene Santana. Sacred Scandal
was created by Melanie Bartley and Paula Varus Special thanks
to Sonic Union. For more podcasts, go to the iHeartRadio
(29:18):
app or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.
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