Michael W. Ryan

Michael Wayne Ryan (August 3, 1948 – May 24, 2015) was an American convicted murderer, Christian Identity cult leader, and white supremacist.

One of the group's core messages was, more or less, that the white race was "chosen" by God and all other human beings are the children of Satan, via the so-called “serpent seed” theory.

Many of the recruited followers were disillusioned farmers from the local area with seemingly nothing to lose, who were easily influenced after having had lost money or property due to economic strains at the time.

They stockpiled weapons and supplies believing they would be needed during an imminent battle of Armageddon, assumed to occur in the form of a race war.

[1] Ryan was arrested in 1985 after reports and a criminal investigation indicated that he had abused and killed five-year-old Luke Stice and later killed fellow group member James Thimm (age 25) after he had tortured the latter for several days, beating him, whipping him, then shooting off his fingertips, skinning him alive, breaking his legs, and raping him with a shovel and pickaxe before finally stomping him to death.