Roch Thériault

Roch "Moïse" Thériault (May 16, 1947 – February 26, 2011) was the leader of a small religious group based near Burnt River, Ontario, Canada. Between 1977 and 1989 he held sway over as many as 12 adults and 22 children, he had 26 children when he passed, fathering the other 4 during visits in prison from some of the "wives". He used all of the nine women as concubines, and may have fathered most of the children in the group.

He was arrested for assault in 1989, and convicted of murder in 1993. At the time of his death in 2011 he was continuing to serve out a life sentence, having been denied parole in 2002. Along with Clifford Olsen and Paul Bernardo, Thériault was considered one of Canada's most notorious criminals.

During his reign, Thériault mutilated several members. He once used a meat cleaver to chop off the hand and part of the arm of Gabrielle Lavallée, one of his concubines, also removing eight of her teeth. He was accused of castrating a 2-year-old boy, as well as at least one adult male, and of murdering his legal spouse, Solange Boilard, by disembowelment, purportedly while trying to perform surgery on her, in 1988.

The group was based primarily on religious themes, such as women's obedience to men, polygamy, harsh punishments, the righteousness of the leader and the sinfulness of the followers, and living miracles. Thériault was called "father (papy)" and re-christened all members with biblical names. He also claimed to be a reincarnation of the prophet Moses, and demanded the respect appropriate for such a figure. He allegedly tried to resurrect a woman he had killed by sawing the top off her corpse's skull and masturbating into the cavity.

Thériault was able to persuade his followers to sell their belongings, sever ties with their families, and move to a commune near Burnt River, about 100 km northeast of Toronto. Thériault convinced the women that all of them were his wives, and that they should bear him children. Even while he was in prison, three of his wives continued conjugal visits and two of the three bore him more children.

Related works

In 2002, the film Savage Messiah depicted Thériault's crimes against his followers and the ensuing legal recourse. The film starred Luc Picard as Thériault and Polly Walker as Paula Jackson, the social worker whose investigation revealed the crimes. Gabrielle Lavallée, wrote an autobiographic book about the sect titled L'alliance de la brebis ("Alliance of the Sheep"), ISBN 2920176854

Death

Roch Thériault was found dead near his cell, February 26, 2011, at Dorchester Penitentiary, in New Brunswick. He was 63 years old. His death is believed to be the result of an altercation with his cell mate, Matthew Gerrard MacDonald, 60, of Port au Port, N.L, who killed Theriault and has been charged with the killing.

Source

• Savage Messiah, a compilation by two psychologists of Thériault's life until his arrest.

External links

• A detailed bio of Roch Thériault
• Rick Ross on Thériault
• CTV news report about Thériault
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