From Shoko Asahara to Jim Jones: 5 Cult Leaders Who Shocked the World With Their Devious Acts

To Follow Them Was to Give up on Life

Cult leaders with their charisma and manipulation manage to convince a group of people to do tasks that are sometimes bizarre and dangerous. "Cult leaders are notable for the enormous amount of power they have over their group," Ashlen Hilliard, a cult intervention specialist and founder of People Leave Cults, shared. "This power is what many look for when defining a cult, but it’s not the only aspect that creates a cult leader. When you take a closer look, a cult leader often exhibits a classic set of traits and behaviors. Although there is variety in how these traits present, certain themes tend to ring true," said Hilliard to HuffPost. Here are five cult leaders, who made international headlines for their charisma and beguiling nature that led to devious outcomes.

1. Shoko Asahara

Shoko Asahara came from humble beginnings and climbed the ranks claiming he could read minds, HISTORY reported. Asahara wreaked havoc in Japan with his gas attack that left thousands injured. He established a cult named Aum Supreme Truth, The Guardian reported. It is a mix of Buddhist ideals and Hindu meditation, along with Christian and apocalyptic teachings, yoga, and the occult. At its peak, the cult boasted more than 10,000 followers in Japan and an estimated 30,000 in Russia. Many of its members came from the top universities of Japan. They were attracted by the promise, that being a part of this group would help them to survive the coming Armageddon – a nuclear attack by the US.  The cult had their members convinced that Armageddon could be defeated by sarin, a nerve agent invented by the Nazis. Many members were sent to a compound at Mount Fuji, to make this chemical. He masterminded a 1994 attack on a city in northern Japan, in which more than 100 people were injured. His most brutal blow came when he instructed his group members in 1995 to expose passengers in the Tokyo subway to liquid sarin. The attack cost 13 people their lives, and thousands were injured, BBC reported. Asahara was executed in 2018 after multiple appeals were rejected.

2. Keith Raniere

Keith Raniere created a company called NXIVM, which offered self-improvement workshops, to help individuals achieve a higher purpose in life, The New York Times reported. The company became popular in Hollywood circles for its noble purpose and was active between 1998 and 2018. In reality, the company was a cultlike criminal enterprise, where several women suffered sexual abuse. The mastermind behind the enterprise was Raniere himself who participated in the abuse and also branded several women with his initials in a secret ceremony. He was idolized by his followers and in return exploited them for sex and money. In his relationships, he exercised coercive control. One of the witnesses shared that he forced her to be available for sex at all hours and weigh less than 100 pounds. Another one revealed that he expected her to wait naked for him, like a piece of meat. According to his associates, Raniere targeted insecure people who hoped that immersing themselves in expensive self-help classes would unlock the key to fulfillment. In 2020, he was sentenced to 120 years in prison and plans to appeal the conviction.

3. Jeffrey Lundgren

Jeffrey Lundgren created a following of 20 members from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS) and lived with them in the town of Kirtland in Ohio, Fox2 reported. Lundgren came to Ohio to work with RLDS in 1987 but was expelled when he allegedly began stealing from the temple donations. During his time in the institution, he attracted many followers, who agreed to live with him in a rented farmhouse and contribute to their paychecks. Lungren taught classes to his followers and emphasized the importance of reclaiming Kirtland Temple. He claimed that an earthquake would raise the temple and that Christ would then return to establish Zion. He shared that the group needed to sacrifice ten followers to achieve their objectives. The Avery family was also a part of Lundgren's cult but was on the periphery and attended only a few meetings. The Avery family included five members. On April 17, 1989, all of them were invited to dinner by Lundgren. After the dinner, Lundgren along with his followers, placed each member in a pit, gagged them, and then shot them to death. Lundgren was convicted and sentenced to death for murder. He died by lethal injection in 2006.

4. David Koresh

David Koresh was born to a 15-year-old mother in Houston, Texas in 1959, PBS reported. He described his childhood as lonely, to the FBI, and claimed that he was teased a lot. He struggled with his studies and dropped out, but loved music and wanted to pursue it seriously. Koresh went to Hollywood with a dream of becoming a rockstar but failed. At the age of 20, he joined the Church of Seventh-Day Adventists, his mother's church, but was expelled for being a bad influence. In 1981, he shifted to Waco, Texas, and joined Branch Dravidians. He entered into an affair with then-prophetess Lois Roden who was in her late sixties. After her death, he came into a conflict with Lois Roden's son, George, to control the group's leadership. George Roden was shot dead in 1987. In 1993, Koresh started a 51-day standoff against ATF and the FBI, Vox reported. The standoff happened because ATF was investigating the group's association with drug activities. This standoff led to the death of 76 people, which included Branch Dravidian members and officials. Koresh was killed in the violent standoff.

5. Jim Jones

Jim Jones built Peoples Temple on the foundation of tolerance, social responsibility, and community, PBS reported. Slowly these ideals changed drastically, as Jones demanded unconditional loyalty and obedience from his followers. He identified himself as an underdog, protecting the vulnerable. From a very young age, he felt connected to religion as well as spirituality and explored every church in town like Quaker, Nazarene, Methodist, Apostolic, and the Church of Christ, but got disillusioned by each of them. Through Peoples Temple, he wanted to create a place where everyone was equal, something that resonated with people of color in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Jones shifted to Guyana with his followers, and created a settlement named Jonestown, FBI reported. California Congressman, Leo Ryan, arrived in 1978 to investigate claims that people were being exploited in Jonestown. On November 18, as Ryan and his team of reporters were leaving along with a few temple followers, the guards shot them dead on the airstrip. Later, fearing retaliation by U.S. forces, Jones instructed his followers to drink a fruit drink that was reportedly laced with cyanide. This mass suicide led to the death of Jim Jones and 900 of his followers, which included over 200 children.

6. Charles Manson

The Manson family shook Hollywood with their brutal killing spree in the 1960s, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Charles Manson, the leader of the cult was born to a teenage mother in 1934. He did not have a stable childhood and jumped from one relative's house to another. Manson soon became acquainted with the world of crime and had several stays in institutions in the Midwest. He moved to Berkeley and San Francisco in the 1960s and garnered a following (comprised mainly of young women) with a promise of a new way of life. He promised lax social codes and a chance to mingle with Hollywood Royalty, to his followers. In 1968, he headed to Los Angeles with his followers to make a career in music. After encountering failures, he turned sadistic and instructed followers to commit savage crimes in upscale neighborhoods in an attempt to demonstrate to African Americans how violence should be carried out. His followers, in a few days murdered actress Sharon Tate, celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Folger’s boyfriend Voytek Frykowski, business executive Leno LaBianca, and his wife, Rosemary. Manson was sentenced to life in prison and died in 2017, as one of California’s longest-standing prison inmates.