June 15, 2023 • 35 mins
We meet Sochil Martin, the whistleblower who played a pivotal role in the downfall of Naasón Joaquín García. Sochil takes us on a journey through her childhood as a faithful member of the church and the dark tasks she was asked to perform as part of her service to the apostle.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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. It's a brisk California December Day, twenty nineteen,
(00:30):
and Suchil Martin must exit the hotel without being seen.
She peers out the window to make sure no one
is there, and then as she dashes through the parking
lot towards her car, kid in tow, she double checks
and double checks. This vigilant routine is her new reality,
constantly hiding from people and watching her back everywhere she goes.
(00:54):
She's always ready, armed with pepper spray and the local
police department on speed dial, but none of these prepares
her for what happens next. As she walks towards her
car with her daughter, she sees a familiar face panicked,
Sochil grabs her little girl and starts running. She's known
(01:15):
this man since childhood. He is a henchman for laluzel Mundo,
known as the Enforcer. He is so close that Sochil
can hear him say, yes, she's here. I can see her.
She is moving so fast she can't even feel her
legs safely inside, Sochil calls the San Diego police. Two
(01:37):
minutes later, the San Diego Pedia arrive, but the enforcer
has already vanished. Thanks to la uzel Mundo or LDM
for short, Sochil and her family had spent the last
few months quietly moving from one hotel to the next
after being forced to leave their home in Mexico. Her
decision to help you as authorities bring down Nason joa
(01:59):
kingar is what put her family in serious danger.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
On Monday night, my office arrested Nason Quaking Garcia.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Even from inside the jail cell, Nason could play with
people's lives. It was following his wishes that LEDMS. Hundreds
of pastors all over the US and Mexico ordered the
congregation to harass Sochil Martin and her family. Here's Suchil
herself describing the rumors LEDM spread about her.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
He used a platform, a national platform, to tell the
people of the congregation, you see this woman over here,
She's the one that you're going to blame for the
Apostle being in jail, and she's the one that if
you see on the street, she's the one that you harass.
It's her fault.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
After Nason's arrest, on June third, twenty nineteen, ldm's official spokesperson,
Celem Garcia, went to Mexico's twenty four hours new station
Millennium to defend the apostles inn against Sochel's claims.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
La personal.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Persona. This conocia most complete on national television. Celm Garcia
was careful not to name Sochil Martin. He claimed the
church did not know who this woman was and said
she was selling the Apostle out for a big payoff
from a documentary journalist. When pressed by Millennius anchor, Garcia
(03:31):
restayed his claim allegedly. He says, allegedly and repeats that
the church is completely unaware of who she is.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
La fiscalia, Noah present tatle of numbers.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
The last Posta's victimus give them precent tatle of numbers.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
But the truth was, Garcia and LDM knew perfectly well
who this woman was, and so did the Apostle. Intimately,
LLDM had been tracking Sochil and her families every month,
filming and photographing them everywhere they went, yelling and harassing
them in public, sending threatening messages, vandalizing their property, slashing
(04:11):
her car tires. They even stoned her pets. The family
went into witness protection after two lam agents dressed as
policemen broke into Sochil's home while her daughter was playing
in the living room. Socho was moving from one place
to another to keep her family safe, but against millions
(04:31):
of angry believers convinced she was to blame for Nason's imprisonment.
She had nowhere to hide and Robert Tagarza and you're
listening to Sacred Scandal season two. This is episode four,
the Apostles Obsession. In this episode, we delve into the
(04:55):
story of Sochil Martin, one of the survivors closest to
Nason and the first woman to speak up publicly about
the church and the apostles many abuses. She did this
despite knowing the consequences that she might never have a
normal life again. Growing up in East Los Angeles in
(05:18):
the nineteen nineties, there were moments when Sochil's life seemed
almost normal, like singing along to the radio with her aunt.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I'd be in the car with my aunt and we'd
be listening to a romantic song of Christian tastro or
I mean or like the Beg's some really beautiful song
from the seventies about love.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
There was one special song her aunt loved.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I Just Called to say I Love you.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
For Sochio's aunt Stevie wonders, I Just Called to say
I Love you? What was a song about for and
dedicated to the Apostle Samuel. Her aunt and a group
of women devotees in Los Angeles would send some well
tender voicemails of these seventies love songs, and sometimes, if
they were lucky, they would get a response.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
He would say, do you really miss me? Okay, I'm
there on the weekend or something.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
If the Apostle Samuel told his Los Angeles had him
that he was coming, Sochill remembers a flurry of activity, excitement,
preparations and such.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Would think, Oh my God, that's gonna be my life,
just like my mom, just like my aunt, right and
like all of this fun you know, oh, the butterflies
in your tummy.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Sochill was born and raised in an LDM family. Growing up,
pictures of the apostle were all over her house. Her
aunt taught her to kiss them before bed.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Samuel was never a monster to me. I loved him.
He was not just the apostle of Jesus Christ. He
was like the founder of my family.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Her grandmother joined in the nineteen forties, finding safety from
her husband's abuse in the church's community. It was only
natural that when the time came, Sochul's grandmother gifted her daughters,
Sochel's aunt and her mother to the Apostle Samuel, a
tradition that continued with Sochi.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I'm being raised by my aunt, who was also abused
by him, you know, and she's teaching me only what
she knew and what she was raised to believe.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Gifting or offering up your child can mean many things,
but in a luzel Mundo, it most often means sexual services.
For Sochol's mom and aunt, it meant tasks like performing
oral sex, preparing his bath, and particularly bringing him more
younger girls and making sure they were convinced it was
(07:48):
all a huge blessing. We can't say for sure how
Sochil's mom felt about this, but what we do know
is that when Sochil was barely a toddler. Her mom
became addicted to drugs and alcohol and eventually institutionalized.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
My mom was like something we would just nobody would
talk about.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
So Sochill was raised by her aunt, the same aunt
who sent the apostle boice messages of I just called
to say I love you.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
My mom didn't stand a chance. I didn't stand a.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Chance, Sochill, her mother and her aunt were what's known
in the church as unconditionals. We mentioned them in the
last episode. Unconditionals pledged themselves to serve the Apostle for
life in any way he wanted, without questions.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I am born and raised to believe that there is
no sin when it comes to the Apostle of Jesus Christ,
because saying that he sins is saying that God sins
and God does not sin. I was trained, Boop, as
soon as you think that there's something wrong or sin,
(08:55):
I'll just turn my brain off. Like if you go there, Sochill,
you're condemned for all eternity. Like you cannot let your
mind go and think, not even for a millisecond, that
the Apostle of Jesus Christ is wrong or that he
is doing something sick or wrong. Before God, because that's
going against God. That's like saying God, you piece of shit,
(09:17):
Like what are you doing? It's just as bad.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Such as turn came after her tenth birthday. Her aunt
was ordered by the apostle samuel to bring the little
girl to him.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
And so here I am a little girl, thinking both
the servant of God's not mad because he didn't. He
didn't seem mad when he saw me with my clothes off.
In fact, he likes it, and it makes him smile
and he does look happy. It's very normal, this culture
of rape and child abuse and pedophilia in the light
of the world.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
During her teenage years, such his responsibilities included rubbing someonel's feet,
giving him massages, and even dancing for him, often naked.
Many of her friends also did it, and few questioned it,
and when they did, the apostles groomers, older women known
as the vestals, would make sure they understood how much
(10:13):
of a blessing it was, how the girls should tell
no one about it, and how they and their whole
family would roast in hell if they did. A few
years later, the apostle SAMUELA signed such an annual task
to take care of his son Nason. At the time,
Nason was forty years old and Socho was still in
(10:34):
high school.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
He trusted me so much with his son's life, and
his son needed somebody like me to love him. And
you know, in the beginning it was okay, like, yeah, okay,
it's fine, Socho. But for so long I was an object.
I was a thing that was meant to keep Nason
happy and quiet and calm because he was the next
apostle in line.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
The abuse became gradually. Sochil worked for the church's pr firm,
Beta International, and this meant helping Nason with his radio
broadcasts late into the night in his office. She often
worked over thirty hours a week, all while attending high school,
all unpaid, and during their time working together, Nason would
(11:21):
often talk to the teenage Suchil about how unhappy he
was in his marriage, lamenting that his wife didn't love
him properly. He would tell her no one loved him.
Schil would respond that of course she loved him, he
was the apostle son after all, and Nason would reply,
if you love me, then why don't you kiss me?
(11:44):
Why don't you hug me? And then, wanting to obey
Prince Nason. Sochil of course would.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I was essentially his first concubine. There was much more.
It was much more racked with him, so he knew
my every move every day.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Sochio's aunt helped Nason keep track of her.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
They one hundred percent always knew what I was doing,
where I was going, who I would speak to.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
At one point, Sochil ran away to San Jose to
live with a relative there, but Nason and the church
were escapable. She was quickly brought back to La and
to the Apostle. The abuse only escalated from there. He
became arrogant and hurtful, asking for hardcore sexual favors BDSM,
Dungeoness and thrisms. Quickly escalated to the grooming of very
(12:37):
young girls and sexual acts with animals. She managed to
mostly avoid the worst acts, but resistance came with a
price tag. On one occasion, Nason presented her with a
boy naked and half conscious, a black mask covered his face.
Nason wanted to record a sexual act between Sochil and
(12:57):
the boy when she refused, and beat her so hard
she was unable to walk for several.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Days, and as time goes by, he physically took everybody
in my life away from me and completely isolated me
from everybody, including my family.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Such A didn't just endure physical abuse, she also experienced
financial abuse. She dreamt of studying film after graduating high school.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
I was lucky enough to get accepted to NYU and
it was so awesome. I was so excited, But Nasan
said no.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Nason wanted her to stay in Los Angeles to continue
working for the PR firm instead of film school in
New York. He told her to study communications at California
State University, and she did, but she was only able
to study for one year. She had secured a student loan,
but she'd been forced to turn the loan over to
(13:52):
the church. Without it, she could not afford to continue
her education, so such A dropped out. She settled into
work in full time at the church's PR firm, YA International.
Well she could at least practice her film skills, producing
shiny marketing videos for the church. This meant Nason officially
(14:13):
became her direct boss. He was now involved in every
aspect of her life.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
He's my boss, he's my pastor, he's my dad, he's
my everything. Right, so gradually my abuser becomes the closest
thing in my life.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
In time, so she would start to separate Nason the
man from Nason the apostle.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I essentially had nothing but him, and so I started
to be very angry at him subconsciously, and I started
to separate the idea between him being the servant of
God's son and him being not my predator. I didn't
(14:57):
see him as my predator, but I did start to
see him as the sole reason why I was so unhappy.
But there was nothing I could do about it.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
It would be many more years before such It would
free herself from him. The abuse would continue and worsen,
but the seats of doubt were planted and fate was
about to intervene more on that. After the break in
(15:30):
her early twenties, Suchil felt like nothing was going right.
She was working full time, mostly unpaid at the church's
pr firm. Nasong kept a firm grip on her in
her life. She experienced severe bouts of anxiety and depression
until one day, during a work trip, things began to change.
(15:51):
The night before, Suchil received a call from Nasong.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
He tells me that he needs me in Sonada the
following morning.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
So such A hops into a caraban with other producers
working for Berea. They traveled the four hours between La
and Baja California, and when they get there.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
The first person to open the door was Shaim. I
see Shadim, and I just thought he was like the
most handsome guy in the world, you know. I got
butterflies in my stomach.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
And Sharim noticed social too.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And yeah, he saw me, and that whole weekend we
were just looking at each other, back and forth.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Shadim Guzman was handsome, ambitious, and well respected within the church.
As LDM political LIAISONI and Sanada. He was active in
community affairs, serving as spokesman for the church before local
governments and businesses. Towards Soaschi. He was carrying, composed and tender.
The sparks were mutual, but with Nasona the whole LEDM
(16:57):
cohort close by, the two love could mostly only glance
at each other.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I wasn't allowed to talk to him. I wasn't allowed
to give him my personal information because I was limited
to the people I had on my phone because I
was monitored by Nason and my aunt. And so yeah,
he asked for my phone number, and I said, I
couldn't give it to him. He thought it was kind
(17:24):
of weird, but he was totally patient, and I'm like,
but can we like exchange emails or messenger accounts? And
so that's how we started to get in contact.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
At the time, Sharim lived in Sanada, Mexico. Well, Sochi
lived in Los Angeles. So they started at clandestine long
distance love.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Affair and we sort of fell in love through the internet.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Over the next months, Sochil and Sharim texted and messaged
one another. While her secret relationship would Shadim deepened. Her
life with Nason was getting worse and worse. She felt
like she was living in hell. Nasom became increasingly aggressive,
beating Sochil during sex, sometimes brutally, and their affair was
(18:19):
becoming more public and more brazen. Church members gossiped about Sochi,
disparaging her for sleeping with a married man. As a result,
Nasong began humiliating Sochil in public, taking away blessings from
her during church gatherings, and openly pointing out even her
smallest mistakes. Again, Sochil ran away, and again she was
(18:42):
forced back by church members under Nason's orders. In the meantime,
Samoel was preparing Nason to take over for him as
head of LDM. Since Nason was not yet the Apostle,
his reputation had to be protected, and Samuel became increasingly
concerned that Nason's obsession and openly aggressive behavior with Sochi
(19:03):
would shake the church's foundations. It could place Nason's future
at risk, so in twenty ten, Samuel decided to separate
the two. He sent Nason to a ministry far away
from Los Angeles and told Sochi that she had a
month to get married and that he had already selected
her husband. Sochil asked for more time and to choose
(19:26):
her own husband. The Apostle granted her six months and
agreed that Sochil could marry the man she wanted shut him,
and so the two lovers were married in the church.
Sochil moved to en Senata with her new husband, and
a year later she gave birth to a little girl.
(19:46):
At twenty four, Sochi was finally free from Nason. They
were still part of the church, but life was mostly good.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
It really made me feel like I had a normal
life within the cult.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Then four years later, the Apostle Samuel passed away and
Sochill's heart sank, not only because she felt grief for
the apostle, but also because Nassan would become the absolute
leader of l Em, the new apostle in his father's place.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
There was a part of me that knew what was coming.
There was a big part of me that knew what
was coming, and I was terrified.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
More on that. In a minute, with Samuel dead, Nason
ascended as the new leader of la uzel Mundo. So
she knew Nason well, and she had a gut feeling
that with so much power, he would become unhinged.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And it was very dark. It got very dark, very fast.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
In early twenty fifteen, a year after Nassan became the
Apostle of God, he called Sochil back to Warajaa. She
was brought to Nasson's office and greeted by Asali Ranjel Melendez,
who Soochil recognized as Nassan's chief assistant and groomer in Mexico.
Asalia told her Nason had requested a private audience with her,
(21:18):
and once the door closed behind her.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
He assaulted me and I couldn't recover for months.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Nason rapped Sochil right over his desk and videotaped it.
From now on, she was to continue her sexual servitude
to him and also help him find and groom new
young girls for his pleasure.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
That's when I broke emotionally, in psychologically, and in so
many ways, tried to end my life.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Sochil endured Nassan's rapes and abuse for months, afraid of
what he might do to her family or to her
if she resisted. She was spending many months out of
the year in Waerajara, away from Shadim and their young daughter,
so she submitted and played along. When she was away
from Nassan, she sent him affectionate messages, pretending to be
(22:14):
his girlfriend. When she refused to comply, she was beaten.
She tried to commit suicide. Worried about his wife and
confused by her suicide attempt, Soochil's husband, Shadim picked up
her phone when it buzzed with an incoming message. He
(22:34):
found racing messages and pictures between Sochil and the apostle.
Shadim was stunned, and he immediately confronted Sochil about it.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I was sort of on the verge of like, oh,
finally he knows he started calling him a son of
a bitch. He started calling him a disgusting piece of shit,
and me, I'm like, stop talking, stop talking like that
about the servant of God. Don't say that. It was like,
I don't want my husband to go to hell.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Sochil was relieved that she didn't have to hide the
truth from Shadim anymore, but she was scared for him.
She was worried about Nason's reaction, the violence he was
capable of, and there was everything she had learned as
a young girl that's peaking ill of the apostle. What
damn her husband to hell?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
I'll just turn my brain off, Like if you go there, Sochil,
you're condemned for all eternity. Like you cannot let your
mind go and think, not even for a millisecond, that
the Apostle of Jesus Christ is wrong or that he
is doing something sick or wrong before God, because that's
going against God.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Instead of questioning the abuse, she found herself questioning her
husband's faith.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
The way Sharim acted for me was like, oh, oh
you see, that's why you weren't allowed to know, because
your faith is just not there, not getting it. And
even after that happened, I still went to church. I
still went to church, and Sharim was like, Okay, I
guess you can go. But my daughter never steps foot
in that church again.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So Suchill kept going to church while Sharim did not.
Ward started to get out about Shadim not being in attendance,
and people started gossiping, and the biggest elephant in the
room was so Chill and Nissan's not so secret affair.
Sochill didn't see the big deal because of her conditioning,
she did not yet think this was abuse. Suchill thought
(24:35):
that if my son just reached out, everything would be fine,
and she blamed herself.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Because it was essentially my fault that Shatim saw the messages.
And this whole time, I'm thinking if I would have
been more careful, and even the minister's wife told me,
I should kill you for being so careless, and at
that moment, I'm thinking it is my fault, like I'm
so stupid, and deep down inside I kind of wanted
(25:01):
it all just to be over. So I was kind
of like telling everybody in my head, like why is
everybody making such a fucking big deal, Like it's okay,
Like Sharim's gonna understand in the end if we just
talk to him, if the servant of God just talks
to him, then everything is gonna be okay.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Such a hope na son would talk to them and
explain how it was all a blessing, smooth things over
with Shadim, but he never did. Instead, he completely cuts
her off.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
And I'm like, why doesn't he just talk to us,
Why doesn't he just you know, fly us over to
a lahara. We could talk about this, and now Shadim
is going to understand that it's a blessing, it's not
bad or it's not abuse the way he's seeing it.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Shadim's son going absence concerned the church, So two of
lledm's high bishops play the coupla visit at their home
in Sanada, set.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Person that following last week a little para.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
A meeting Social secretly recorded. The bishops started the conversation
by blaming Social for everything, not we weren't the ones
(26:23):
committing any delinquent behavior, they stated.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
The the little comedy okay.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Such encountered by saying we all know what the root
of it all is.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
And cop.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Sochio was present throughout the meeting, but the bishops addressed
Shadim and Shaim only for el at them. The husband
is the sole head of the family, so it was
his job to decide everyone's faith about their heads and
return to the fold or lose everything.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
What issa you.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Sharim tells them he needs time to talk it over
with Sochi because his faith and his heart have been shaken.
He believes her, He's hurt by the pain caust to her,
and he feels betrayed. One of the bishops tells the
couple that the solution is in their hands.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
And do a man well. Almost of the.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
The bishops end the meeting by saying they do not
see the couple as enemies of the church or as apostates.
They promised to keep the bridges open and to talk
again in two weeks or a month. Even though the
parting words were comforting, the tone was threatening. The promised
meeting never came. Instead, Sochil and her daughter are kidnapped
(28:38):
in the fall of twenty sixteen, shortly after the bishop's visit.
So She gets a call from a church official to
tell her that finally Nason has agreed to speak with
her and her pastor.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
My aunt her husband. They came to pick me up
because they were going to take me to go speak
about this with the minister. That's what they told me.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
But Nason was nowhere to be found.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
And as soon as we go pick up my daughter,
you know, they take my phone. I couldn't even be
with my daughter. My aunt takes my daughter. She has
her with her the entire time.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Sauchil and her daughter with her aunt and the rest
of he Ldm's representatives are driven from Senata to San Diego.
When they arrive, such as passport is confiscated by her aunt, and.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Then we go to San Diego and we're sitting at
a Denny's.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
At the San Diego Dennis. Her aunt makes a call.
On the other end of the line is Asalia, Nasson's
groomer and secretary, the same Asalia who ushered Sochi Li
into Nassan's office when he summoned her back to Warajara
after becoming the apostle. She hears Nassan's voice in the background,
but she's not allowed to speak with him.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I'm thinking, like, oh, I understand that I fucked up
so bad. They don't even want to talk to me.
The Servanagad doesn't want to talk to me. I messed up.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
This is the second time the church came to her.
The second time, some powerful hyop tells her this miss
was all her fault, without even letting her explain anything.
So suchl begins to see things differently.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
I'm seeing what pieces of shits they are. I'm like, hey,
you guys, this doesn't seem like it's new. And where
is Nason? Why is Nisa disappearing? Why doesn't he just
you know, talk to us? And everything started to connect.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
It reminded her of a scene from one of her
favorite movies.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I was a big fan of the Godfather, and that
scene to me was very Carleone for me, very very
Godfather to me. And I was fucking scared. I was like,
these fuckers are in some weird powerful mafia. It's all families.
(30:57):
They protect the business, they take the name, and I
am now fucked over because of my life of abuse
and knowledge of Nason.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
When Sochil seemed scared enough, she was let go.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
They dropped me off at my house and I was told,
given particular instructions, that my husband had to go back
to church. If not, I was going to go to hell.
He was going to go to hell, and my daughter
was going to go to hell.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Even after her kidnapping and the bishop's threats and the
Godfather scene, Sochi was unsure about what to do. She
tried to convince her husband to go back, to return
to the flock and be done with it.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
My husband was essentially like, you keep going there, We're
done because I cannot with all of this. It's too much,
and he thought my daughter is potentially in danger.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Sochil is forced to make a choice hell on Earth
with Nason or eternal Domnque with shedding.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
And I told them no, like I want to be
with you, and I would rather go to Hell all together,
but so long as we're not separated. My breaking point
was my husband somebody who loves me, truly that in
my subconscious, deep down inside, this person has never hurt me,
This person would never hurt me. This person loves me,
(32:23):
and maybe maybe this is wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
And at that moment, Sochi decided not to play nice anymore.
Her family had already shunned her, her aunt, her colleagues
and closest friends from ledm All, her brothers and sisters
in the faith had turned their backs on her. The
only two people left standing by her side were her
husband and daughter. Sochi knew how the church operated. She
(32:51):
had worked close to Nassan for years. She knew about
the double finances, the unpaid labor, the abuse of young
girls and boys, and the taxation, all criminal behaviors institutionally
aided and abetted by the church. And she had evidence.
At the very least she knew where to tell the
police to find it. Sochi decided to give Lalus del
(33:15):
Mundo a taste of their own medicine.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Thank you, Brian for having us. And it is much
more about just the apostle. It's about an institution, a
corrupt institution, that enable this apostle, so called apostle, and
help him commit these crimes, and it needs to stop.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
On our next episode, we explore how laluzel Mundo became
such a ruthless organization, fully protected by the powers that
being and untouchable in Mexico. Sacred Scandal. Lalus del Mundo
is a production of Excell Content Studio in partnership with
Ihearts Michael Tura podcast Network, and is hosted by me
(34:03):
Robert Tgarza, produced by Sabin Johnson, with the help of
Stella Emmett, Raynolds, Gutierrez and Anna Isabel Obtavio. Written by
myself and Monissa Henrix, Research by Robert Garza, additional reporting
by Florenzia Gonzalez Geragarcia, Engineering by Ugamendoza and Sabine Johnson,
(34:25):
Sound design by Patrick kin Junis. Original music by Patrick Hart,
edited by writer Alsop, Maribel Keesada Smith and Rose Red.
Executive producers are Rose Reed, Carmen gratterol Isaac Lee, and
Nando Villa. Daniel Batista oversees an audio at Exile Content
Studio are Executive producers at iHeart are Giselle Vanzes and
(34:50):
Arlene Santana. Sacred Scandal was created by Mendelie Bartley and
Paula Varos, Special thanks to Sonic Union. For more podcast
go to the iHeartRadio app or whatever 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. It's a brisk California December Day, twenty nineteen,
(00:30):
and Suchil Martin must exit the hotel without being seen.
She peers out the window to make sure no one
is there, and then as she dashes through the parking
lot towards her car, kid in tow, she double checks
and double checks. This vigilant routine is her new reality,
constantly hiding from people and watching her back everywhere she goes.
(00:54):
She's always ready, armed with pepper spray and the local
police department on speed dial, but none of these prepares
her for what happens next. As she walks towards her
car with her daughter, she sees a familiar face panicked,
Sochil grabs her little girl and starts running. She's known
(01:15):
this man since childhood. He is a henchman for laluzel Mundo,
known as the Enforcer. He is so close that Sochil
can hear him say, yes, she's here. I can see her.
She is moving so fast she can't even feel her
legs safely inside, Sochil calls the San Diego police. Two
(01:37):
minutes later, the San Diego Pedia arrive, but the enforcer
has already vanished. Thanks to la uzel Mundo or LDM
for short, Sochil and her family had spent the last
few months quietly moving from one hotel to the next
after being forced to leave their home in Mexico. Her
decision to help you as authorities bring down Nason joa
(01:59):
kingar is what put her family in serious danger.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
On Monday night, my office arrested Nason Quaking Garcia.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Even from inside the jail cell, Nason could play with
people's lives. It was following his wishes that LEDMS. Hundreds
of pastors all over the US and Mexico ordered the
congregation to harass Sochil Martin and her family. Here's Suchil
herself describing the rumors LEDM spread about her.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
He used a platform, a national platform, to tell the
people of the congregation, you see this woman over here,
She's the one that you're going to blame for the
Apostle being in jail, and she's the one that if
you see on the street, she's the one that you harass.
It's her fault.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
After Nason's arrest, on June third, twenty nineteen, ldm's official spokesperson,
Celem Garcia, went to Mexico's twenty four hours new station
Millennium to defend the apostles inn against Sochel's claims.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
La personal.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Persona. This conocia most complete on national television. Celm Garcia
was careful not to name Sochil Martin. He claimed the
church did not know who this woman was and said
she was selling the Apostle out for a big payoff
from a documentary journalist. When pressed by Millennius anchor, Garcia
(03:31):
restayed his claim allegedly. He says, allegedly and repeats that
the church is completely unaware of who she is.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
La fiscalia, Noah present tatle of numbers.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
The last Posta's victimus give them precent tatle of numbers.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
But the truth was, Garcia and LDM knew perfectly well
who this woman was, and so did the Apostle. Intimately,
LLDM had been tracking Sochil and her families every month,
filming and photographing them everywhere they went, yelling and harassing
them in public, sending threatening messages, vandalizing their property, slashing
(04:11):
her car tires. They even stoned her pets. The family
went into witness protection after two lam agents dressed as
policemen broke into Sochil's home while her daughter was playing
in the living room. Socho was moving from one place
to another to keep her family safe, but against millions
(04:31):
of angry believers convinced she was to blame for Nason's imprisonment.
She had nowhere to hide and Robert Tagarza and you're
listening to Sacred Scandal season two. This is episode four,
the Apostles Obsession. In this episode, we delve into the
(04:55):
story of Sochil Martin, one of the survivors closest to
Nason and the first woman to speak up publicly about
the church and the apostles many abuses. She did this
despite knowing the consequences that she might never have a
normal life again. Growing up in East Los Angeles in
(05:18):
the nineteen nineties, there were moments when Sochil's life seemed
almost normal, like singing along to the radio with her aunt.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I'd be in the car with my aunt and we'd
be listening to a romantic song of Christian tastro or
I mean or like the Beg's some really beautiful song
from the seventies about love.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
There was one special song her aunt loved.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I Just Called to say I Love you.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
For Sochio's aunt Stevie wonders, I Just Called to say
I Love you? What was a song about for and
dedicated to the Apostle Samuel. Her aunt and a group
of women devotees in Los Angeles would send some well
tender voicemails of these seventies love songs, and sometimes, if
they were lucky, they would get a response.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
He would say, do you really miss me? Okay, I'm
there on the weekend or something.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
If the Apostle Samuel told his Los Angeles had him
that he was coming, Sochill remembers a flurry of activity, excitement,
preparations and such.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Would think, Oh my God, that's gonna be my life,
just like my mom, just like my aunt, right and
like all of this fun you know, oh, the butterflies
in your tummy.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Sochill was born and raised in an LDM family. Growing up,
pictures of the apostle were all over her house. Her
aunt taught her to kiss them before bed.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Samuel was never a monster to me. I loved him.
He was not just the apostle of Jesus Christ. He
was like the founder of my family.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Her grandmother joined in the nineteen forties, finding safety from
her husband's abuse in the church's community. It was only
natural that when the time came, Sochul's grandmother gifted her daughters,
Sochel's aunt and her mother to the Apostle Samuel, a
tradition that continued with Sochi.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I'm being raised by my aunt, who was also abused
by him, you know, and she's teaching me only what
she knew and what she was raised to believe.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Gifting or offering up your child can mean many things,
but in a luzel Mundo, it most often means sexual services.
For Sochol's mom and aunt, it meant tasks like performing
oral sex, preparing his bath, and particularly bringing him more
younger girls and making sure they were convinced it was
(07:48):
all a huge blessing. We can't say for sure how
Sochil's mom felt about this, but what we do know
is that when Sochil was barely a toddler. Her mom
became addicted to drugs and alcohol and eventually institutionalized.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
My mom was like something we would just nobody would
talk about.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
So Sochill was raised by her aunt, the same aunt
who sent the apostle boice messages of I just called
to say I love you.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
My mom didn't stand a chance. I didn't stand a.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Chance, Sochill, her mother and her aunt were what's known
in the church as unconditionals. We mentioned them in the
last episode. Unconditionals pledged themselves to serve the Apostle for
life in any way he wanted, without questions.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I am born and raised to believe that there is
no sin when it comes to the Apostle of Jesus Christ,
because saying that he sins is saying that God sins
and God does not sin. I was trained, Boop, as
soon as you think that there's something wrong or sin,
(08:55):
I'll just turn my brain off. Like if you go there, Sochill,
you're condemned for all eternity. Like you cannot let your
mind go and think, not even for a millisecond, that
the Apostle of Jesus Christ is wrong or that he
is doing something sick or wrong. Before God, because that's
going against God. That's like saying God, you piece of shit,
(09:17):
Like what are you doing? It's just as bad.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Such as turn came after her tenth birthday. Her aunt
was ordered by the apostle samuel to bring the little
girl to him.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
And so here I am a little girl, thinking both
the servant of God's not mad because he didn't. He
didn't seem mad when he saw me with my clothes off.
In fact, he likes it, and it makes him smile
and he does look happy. It's very normal, this culture
of rape and child abuse and pedophilia in the light
of the world.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
During her teenage years, such his responsibilities included rubbing someonel's feet,
giving him massages, and even dancing for him, often naked.
Many of her friends also did it, and few questioned it,
and when they did, the apostles groomers, older women known
as the vestals, would make sure they understood how much
(10:13):
of a blessing it was, how the girls should tell
no one about it, and how they and their whole
family would roast in hell if they did. A few
years later, the apostle SAMUELA signed such an annual task
to take care of his son Nason. At the time,
Nason was forty years old and Socho was still in
(10:34):
high school.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
He trusted me so much with his son's life, and
his son needed somebody like me to love him. And
you know, in the beginning it was okay, like, yeah, okay,
it's fine, Socho. But for so long I was an object.
I was a thing that was meant to keep Nason
happy and quiet and calm because he was the next
apostle in line.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
The abuse became gradually. Sochil worked for the church's pr firm,
Beta International, and this meant helping Nason with his radio
broadcasts late into the night in his office. She often
worked over thirty hours a week, all while attending high school,
all unpaid, and during their time working together, Nason would
(11:21):
often talk to the teenage Suchil about how unhappy he
was in his marriage, lamenting that his wife didn't love
him properly. He would tell her no one loved him.
Schil would respond that of course she loved him, he
was the apostle son after all, and Nason would reply,
if you love me, then why don't you kiss me?
(11:44):
Why don't you hug me? And then, wanting to obey
Prince Nason. Sochil of course would.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I was essentially his first concubine. There was much more.
It was much more racked with him, so he knew
my every move every day.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Sochio's aunt helped Nason keep track of her.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
They one hundred percent always knew what I was doing,
where I was going, who I would speak to.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
At one point, Sochil ran away to San Jose to
live with a relative there, but Nason and the church
were escapable. She was quickly brought back to La and
to the Apostle. The abuse only escalated from there. He
became arrogant and hurtful, asking for hardcore sexual favors BDSM,
Dungeoness and thrisms. Quickly escalated to the grooming of very
(12:37):
young girls and sexual acts with animals. She managed to
mostly avoid the worst acts, but resistance came with a
price tag. On one occasion, Nason presented her with a
boy naked and half conscious, a black mask covered his face.
Nason wanted to record a sexual act between Sochil and
(12:57):
the boy when she refused, and beat her so hard
she was unable to walk for several.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Days, and as time goes by, he physically took everybody
in my life away from me and completely isolated me
from everybody, including my family.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Such A didn't just endure physical abuse, she also experienced
financial abuse. She dreamt of studying film after graduating high school.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
I was lucky enough to get accepted to NYU and
it was so awesome. I was so excited, But Nasan
said no.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Nason wanted her to stay in Los Angeles to continue
working for the PR firm instead of film school in
New York. He told her to study communications at California
State University, and she did, but she was only able
to study for one year. She had secured a student loan,
but she'd been forced to turn the loan over to
(13:52):
the church. Without it, she could not afford to continue
her education, so such A dropped out. She settled into
work in full time at the church's PR firm, YA International.
Well she could at least practice her film skills, producing
shiny marketing videos for the church. This meant Nason officially
(14:13):
became her direct boss. He was now involved in every
aspect of her life.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
He's my boss, he's my pastor, he's my dad, he's
my everything. Right, so gradually my abuser becomes the closest
thing in my life.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
In time, so she would start to separate Nason the
man from Nason the apostle.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I essentially had nothing but him, and so I started
to be very angry at him subconsciously, and I started
to separate the idea between him being the servant of
God's son and him being not my predator. I didn't
(14:57):
see him as my predator, but I did start to
see him as the sole reason why I was so unhappy.
But there was nothing I could do about it.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
It would be many more years before such It would
free herself from him. The abuse would continue and worsen,
but the seats of doubt were planted and fate was
about to intervene more on that. After the break in
(15:30):
her early twenties, Suchil felt like nothing was going right.
She was working full time, mostly unpaid at the church's
pr firm. Nasong kept a firm grip on her in
her life. She experienced severe bouts of anxiety and depression
until one day, during a work trip, things began to change.
(15:51):
The night before, Suchil received a call from Nasong.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
He tells me that he needs me in Sonada the
following morning.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
So such A hops into a caraban with other producers
working for Berea. They traveled the four hours between La
and Baja California, and when they get there.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
The first person to open the door was Shaim. I
see Shadim, and I just thought he was like the
most handsome guy in the world, you know. I got
butterflies in my stomach.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
And Sharim noticed social too.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And yeah, he saw me, and that whole weekend we
were just looking at each other, back and forth.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Shadim Guzman was handsome, ambitious, and well respected within the church.
As LDM political LIAISONI and Sanada. He was active in
community affairs, serving as spokesman for the church before local
governments and businesses. Towards Soaschi. He was carrying, composed and tender.
The sparks were mutual, but with Nasona the whole LEDM
(16:57):
cohort close by, the two love could mostly only glance
at each other.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I wasn't allowed to talk to him. I wasn't allowed
to give him my personal information because I was limited
to the people I had on my phone because I
was monitored by Nason and my aunt. And so yeah,
he asked for my phone number, and I said, I
couldn't give it to him. He thought it was kind
(17:24):
of weird, but he was totally patient, and I'm like,
but can we like exchange emails or messenger accounts? And
so that's how we started to get in contact.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
At the time, Sharim lived in Sanada, Mexico. Well, Sochi
lived in Los Angeles. So they started at clandestine long
distance love.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Affair and we sort of fell in love through the internet.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Over the next months, Sochil and Sharim texted and messaged
one another. While her secret relationship would Shadim deepened. Her
life with Nason was getting worse and worse. She felt
like she was living in hell. Nasom became increasingly aggressive,
beating Sochil during sex, sometimes brutally, and their affair was
(18:19):
becoming more public and more brazen. Church members gossiped about Sochi,
disparaging her for sleeping with a married man. As a result,
Nasong began humiliating Sochil in public, taking away blessings from
her during church gatherings, and openly pointing out even her
smallest mistakes. Again, Sochil ran away, and again she was
(18:42):
forced back by church members under Nason's orders. In the meantime,
Samoel was preparing Nason to take over for him as
head of LDM. Since Nason was not yet the Apostle,
his reputation had to be protected, and Samuel became increasingly
concerned that Nason's obsession and openly aggressive behavior with Sochi
(19:03):
would shake the church's foundations. It could place Nason's future
at risk, so in twenty ten, Samuel decided to separate
the two. He sent Nason to a ministry far away
from Los Angeles and told Sochi that she had a
month to get married and that he had already selected
her husband. Sochil asked for more time and to choose
(19:26):
her own husband. The Apostle granted her six months and
agreed that Sochil could marry the man she wanted shut him,
and so the two lovers were married in the church.
Sochil moved to en Senata with her new husband, and
a year later she gave birth to a little girl.
(19:46):
At twenty four, Sochi was finally free from Nason. They
were still part of the church, but life was mostly good.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
It really made me feel like I had a normal
life within the cult.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Then four years later, the Apostle Samuel passed away and
Sochill's heart sank, not only because she felt grief for
the apostle, but also because Nassan would become the absolute
leader of l Em, the new apostle in his father's place.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
There was a part of me that knew what was coming.
There was a big part of me that knew what
was coming, and I was terrified.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
More on that. In a minute, with Samuel dead, Nason
ascended as the new leader of la uzel Mundo. So
she knew Nason well, and she had a gut feeling
that with so much power, he would become unhinged.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And it was very dark. It got very dark, very fast.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
In early twenty fifteen, a year after Nassan became the
Apostle of God, he called Sochil back to Warajaa. She
was brought to Nasson's office and greeted by Asali Ranjel Melendez,
who Soochil recognized as Nassan's chief assistant and groomer in Mexico.
Asalia told her Nason had requested a private audience with her,
(21:18):
and once the door closed behind her.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
He assaulted me and I couldn't recover for months.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Nason rapped Sochil right over his desk and videotaped it.
From now on, she was to continue her sexual servitude
to him and also help him find and groom new
young girls for his pleasure.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
That's when I broke emotionally, in psychologically, and in so
many ways, tried to end my life.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Sochil endured Nassan's rapes and abuse for months, afraid of
what he might do to her family or to her
if she resisted. She was spending many months out of
the year in Waerajara, away from Shadim and their young daughter,
so she submitted and played along. When she was away
from Nassan, she sent him affectionate messages, pretending to be
(22:14):
his girlfriend. When she refused to comply, she was beaten.
She tried to commit suicide. Worried about his wife and
confused by her suicide attempt, Soochil's husband, Shadim picked up
her phone when it buzzed with an incoming message. He
(22:34):
found racing messages and pictures between Sochil and the apostle.
Shadim was stunned, and he immediately confronted Sochil about it.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I was sort of on the verge of like, oh,
finally he knows he started calling him a son of
a bitch. He started calling him a disgusting piece of shit,
and me, I'm like, stop talking, stop talking like that
about the servant of God. Don't say that. It was like,
I don't want my husband to go to hell.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Sochil was relieved that she didn't have to hide the
truth from Shadim anymore, but she was scared for him.
She was worried about Nason's reaction, the violence he was
capable of, and there was everything she had learned as
a young girl that's peaking ill of the apostle. What
damn her husband to hell?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
I'll just turn my brain off, Like if you go there, Sochil,
you're condemned for all eternity. Like you cannot let your
mind go and think, not even for a millisecond, that
the Apostle of Jesus Christ is wrong or that he
is doing something sick or wrong before God, because that's
going against God.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Instead of questioning the abuse, she found herself questioning her
husband's faith.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
The way Sharim acted for me was like, oh, oh
you see, that's why you weren't allowed to know, because
your faith is just not there, not getting it. And
even after that happened, I still went to church. I
still went to church, and Sharim was like, Okay, I
guess you can go. But my daughter never steps foot
in that church again.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So Suchill kept going to church while Sharim did not.
Ward started to get out about Shadim not being in attendance,
and people started gossiping, and the biggest elephant in the
room was so Chill and Nissan's not so secret affair.
Sochill didn't see the big deal because of her conditioning,
she did not yet think this was abuse. Suchill thought
(24:35):
that if my son just reached out, everything would be fine,
and she blamed herself.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Because it was essentially my fault that Shatim saw the messages.
And this whole time, I'm thinking if I would have
been more careful, and even the minister's wife told me,
I should kill you for being so careless, and at
that moment, I'm thinking it is my fault, like I'm
so stupid, and deep down inside I kind of wanted
(25:01):
it all just to be over. So I was kind
of like telling everybody in my head, like why is
everybody making such a fucking big deal, Like it's okay,
Like Sharim's gonna understand in the end if we just
talk to him, if the servant of God just talks
to him, then everything is gonna be okay.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Such a hope na son would talk to them and
explain how it was all a blessing, smooth things over
with Shadim, but he never did. Instead, he completely cuts
her off.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
And I'm like, why doesn't he just talk to us,
Why doesn't he just you know, fly us over to
a lahara. We could talk about this, and now Shadim
is going to understand that it's a blessing, it's not
bad or it's not abuse the way he's seeing it.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Shadim's son going absence concerned the church, So two of
lledm's high bishops play the coupla visit at their home
in Sanada, set.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Person that following last week a little para.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
A meeting Social secretly recorded. The bishops started the conversation
by blaming Social for everything, not we weren't the ones
(26:23):
committing any delinquent behavior, they stated.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
The the little comedy okay.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Such encountered by saying we all know what the root
of it all is.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
And cop.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Sochio was present throughout the meeting, but the bishops addressed
Shadim and Shaim only for el at them. The husband
is the sole head of the family, so it was
his job to decide everyone's faith about their heads and
return to the fold or lose everything.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
What issa you.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Sharim tells them he needs time to talk it over
with Sochi because his faith and his heart have been shaken.
He believes her, He's hurt by the pain caust to her,
and he feels betrayed. One of the bishops tells the
couple that the solution is in their hands.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
And do a man well. Almost of the.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
The bishops end the meeting by saying they do not
see the couple as enemies of the church or as apostates.
They promised to keep the bridges open and to talk
again in two weeks or a month. Even though the
parting words were comforting, the tone was threatening. The promised
meeting never came. Instead, Sochil and her daughter are kidnapped
(28:38):
in the fall of twenty sixteen, shortly after the bishop's visit.
So She gets a call from a church official to
tell her that finally Nason has agreed to speak with
her and her pastor.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
My aunt her husband. They came to pick me up
because they were going to take me to go speak
about this with the minister. That's what they told me.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
But Nason was nowhere to be found.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
And as soon as we go pick up my daughter,
you know, they take my phone. I couldn't even be
with my daughter. My aunt takes my daughter. She has
her with her the entire time.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Sauchil and her daughter with her aunt and the rest
of he Ldm's representatives are driven from Senata to San Diego.
When they arrive, such as passport is confiscated by her aunt, and.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Then we go to San Diego and we're sitting at
a Denny's.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
At the San Diego Dennis. Her aunt makes a call.
On the other end of the line is Asalia, Nasson's
groomer and secretary, the same Asalia who ushered Sochi Li
into Nassan's office when he summoned her back to Warajara
after becoming the apostle. She hears Nassan's voice in the background,
but she's not allowed to speak with him.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I'm thinking, like, oh, I understand that I fucked up
so bad. They don't even want to talk to me.
The Servanagad doesn't want to talk to me. I messed up.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
This is the second time the church came to her.
The second time, some powerful hyop tells her this miss
was all her fault, without even letting her explain anything.
So suchl begins to see things differently.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
I'm seeing what pieces of shits they are. I'm like, hey,
you guys, this doesn't seem like it's new. And where
is Nason? Why is Nisa disappearing? Why doesn't he just
you know, talk to us? And everything started to connect.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
It reminded her of a scene from one of her
favorite movies.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I was a big fan of the Godfather, and that
scene to me was very Carleone for me, very very
Godfather to me. And I was fucking scared. I was like,
these fuckers are in some weird powerful mafia. It's all families.
(30:57):
They protect the business, they take the name, and I
am now fucked over because of my life of abuse
and knowledge of Nason.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
When Sochil seemed scared enough, she was let go.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
They dropped me off at my house and I was told,
given particular instructions, that my husband had to go back
to church. If not, I was going to go to hell.
He was going to go to hell, and my daughter
was going to go to hell.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Even after her kidnapping and the bishop's threats and the
Godfather scene, Sochi was unsure about what to do. She
tried to convince her husband to go back, to return
to the flock and be done with it.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
My husband was essentially like, you keep going there, We're
done because I cannot with all of this. It's too much,
and he thought my daughter is potentially in danger.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Sochil is forced to make a choice hell on Earth
with Nason or eternal Domnque with shedding.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
And I told them no, like I want to be
with you, and I would rather go to Hell all together,
but so long as we're not separated. My breaking point
was my husband somebody who loves me, truly that in
my subconscious, deep down inside, this person has never hurt me,
This person would never hurt me. This person loves me,
(32:23):
and maybe maybe this is wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
And at that moment, Sochi decided not to play nice anymore.
Her family had already shunned her, her aunt, her colleagues
and closest friends from ledm All, her brothers and sisters
in the faith had turned their backs on her. The
only two people left standing by her side were her
husband and daughter. Sochi knew how the church operated. She
(32:51):
had worked close to Nassan for years. She knew about
the double finances, the unpaid labor, the abuse of young
girls and boys, and the taxation, all criminal behaviors institutionally
aided and abetted by the church. And she had evidence.
At the very least she knew where to tell the
police to find it. Sochi decided to give Lalus del
(33:15):
Mundo a taste of their own medicine.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Thank you, Brian for having us. And it is much
more about just the apostle. It's about an institution, a
corrupt institution, that enable this apostle, so called apostle, and
help him commit these crimes, and it needs to stop.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
On our next episode, we explore how laluzel Mundo became
such a ruthless organization, fully protected by the powers that
being and untouchable in Mexico. Sacred Scandal. Lalus del Mundo
is a production of Excell Content Studio in partnership with
Ihearts Michael Tura podcast Network, and is hosted by me
(34:03):
Robert Tgarza, produced by Sabin Johnson, with the help of
Stella Emmett, Raynolds, Gutierrez and Anna Isabel Obtavio. Written by
myself and Monissa Henrix, Research by Robert Garza, additional reporting
by Florenzia Gonzalez Geragarcia, Engineering by Ugamendoza and Sabine Johnson,
(34:25):
Sound design by Patrick kin Junis. Original music by Patrick Hart,
edited by writer Alsop, Maribel Keesada Smith and Rose Red.
Executive producers are Rose Reed, Carmen gratterol Isaac Lee, and
Nando Villa. Daniel Batista oversees an audio at Exile Content
Studio are Executive producers at iHeart are Giselle Vanzes and
(34:50):
Arlene Santana. Sacred Scandal was created by Mendelie Bartley and
Paula Varos, Special thanks to Sonic Union. For more podcast
go to the iHeartRadio app or whatever you listen to
your favorite podcasts.
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