NE - Luke Stice, 5, & James Thimm, 26, tortured to death, Rulo, March-April 1984

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Michael Ryan was convicted in the torture and killing of 26-year-old James Thimm at a southeast Nebraska farm near Rulo, where Ryan led a cult, and in the beating death of Luke Stice, the 5-year-old son of a cult member. Ryan has been on death row since Sept. 12, 1985.

Over three days, Thimm was beaten, sexually abused, shot, stomped and partially skinned while still alive. His fingertips had been shot off on one hand.

The Ryans and about 20 cult members lived on the farm. The group hated Jews and stored weapons in preparation for a final battle between good and evil, authorities have said. Ryan told his followers that he heard the voice of God and that Thimm had angered God.
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Every detail of every activity conducted by Ryan was determined by consulting "Yahweh" through a method called the "arm test." To perform the arm test, one group member would hold his or her right arm out, and a second group member would place one hand on the shoulder and one hand on the wrist of the first group member, exerting downward pressure on the arm. The second group member would then question "Yahweh." If "Yahweh's" answer was yes, the arm stayed up; if the answer was no, the arm would yield to the pressure and fall. Group members were permitted to use the arm test only with Ryan's permission.
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Michael Ryan dropped out of high school, lost the only job he ever liked, smoked too much weed, and ended up on welfare.By his mid-30s, there was only one line of work left for him. He became the voice of God.

Ryan set himself up on a defunct 80-acre hog farm near Rulo, Neb., and somehow convinced 21 people that the Almighty was talking directly to them through a sadistic bully, which he was.

He foretold of an epic battle between good and evil, which for him meant Jews, bankers, and the government, and told his band of zealots to prepare for Armageddon.

His battle resulted in only two casualties, one a 5-year-old boy. Both lost their lives at the hands of this most unlikely of prophets.

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