Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Evil Harvest documents the
life of cult leader Mike Ryan
and his followers throughout the heinous crimes they performed. These crimes include
murder and stealing among
many others.
The first distinct crime that occurs in the book is the murder of 5-year-old Luke Stice. Luke was abused for months leading up to his death, but eventually died after being pushed into a bookcase and hitting his head on the corner of it. The next crime is the murder of James Thimm. Like Luke, James was abused by Mike Ryan previous to his death. There was one day, however, where Mike Ryan completely lost it and tortured James. Ryan and his followers sexually assaulted James then proceeded to whip him, shoot off his fingertips, cut off skin from his leg, beat him with a pipe and he finally died after Mike Ryan literally jumped on his chest. Luke and James were both buried on the farm where the cult lived. Other crimes committed by the cult include buying guns and turning them into automatic weapons. Cult members would also steal tools, food, farm machinery, and more in order to survive and prepare for the Battle of Armageddon.
In this book, not much about the actual investigation was stated, but I did learn a lot about how the conviction was created and the importance of the evidence collection. When Hayzlett was initially collecting evidence from the theft crime scenes, he took multiple pictures from different angles, but always with a ruler for scale in it. By getting pictures of the tire treads and tire patterns, it would be easier to identify the car used in the thefts. The shoe prints would also display class characteristics of particular shoes that investigators could be looking for. Once Jimmy and David had been pulled over, Hayzlett had compared the tires in the pictures and then a forensic scientist was used to confirm his findings and make his findings valid. Using gun records and machinery records, investigators could determine what had been reported stolen when and then compare that to the stolen property found on the Rulo farm. The biggest thing I learned about was probably forensic psychology. During the whole process of the investigation, Officer McNabb knew Mike Ryan's personality and McNabb had to manipulate Ryan into thinking that he was under Ryan's control. Knowing the Ryan was an anti-Semitic, white supremacist, McNabb could use that to his advantage in determining the motive behind the crimes that Ryan had his followers commit. Mike Ryan truly believed that the world was going to end and the government was not going to be able to help so he had to build up an arsenal of weapons, food, and supplies in order to survive. It's survival of the fittest. It was very interesting to learn how the whole investigation went down with investigators knowing that Mike Ryan had dozens of automatic weapons that he could use if an officer crossed him. I wish the testimonies to convict the cult members were included in the book because we would have learned more about how forensics helped convict the men.
This is the beginning of Mike Ryan's interest in the cult and when he begins forming new radical religious ideals. His interest begins after he heard sermons from Reverend James Wickstrom.
- Mike Ryan uses his money from selling cattle to buy weapons
- Reverend Wickstrom is arrested
- Mike Ryan recruits Cheryl Gibson, her parents and her sister, Lisa
- Cheryl Gibson files for divorce from her husband Lester and moves to the Rulo farm with her 5 children
- Lester Gibson files missing person reports for them all
- Mike Ryan instructs Cheryl and the children to not go outside in case someone was watching them/ looking for them
June
- Rick Stice's mother, the Stice kids' grandmother, goes to the farm to see the children but is turned away by Mike Ryan
- She becomes suspicious of mistreatment
July
- Mike Ryan begins punishing those who "anger" Yahweh including making members sleep outside naked
- Mike Ryan began abusing Luke Stice, whom he claimed was from Satan
- Two undercover police officers were sent to the farm to confirm that the Gibson children were there and safe
1983
1982
The trials and convictions of all the cult members conclude in 1986.
Mike Ryan
Dennis Ryan
Tim Haverkamp
Jimmy Haverkamp and David Andreas
Rick Stice
1985
1984
2015
Up until now, Mike Ryan had been recruiting members to believe in Yahweh and his message. 1983 was also the year when Mike Ryan determined that he was the spirit of the archangel Michiel, the warring angel of God. Ryan believed he would be the one to lead everyone in the Battle of Armageddon. Ryan and his followers began stealing calves, hogs, and farm equipment (ex. backhoe).
1986
- Mike Ryan begins sensing that his followers are doubting him and the followers of Yahweh
- Mike names Luke Stice, Rick Stice and James Thimm slaves
- The grandmother of the Stice children manages to give Christmas presents to some of the children at school; she notices that they look malnourished but nothing can be done about it because they are not in immediate danger
- Mike Ryan's abuse of Luke escalates
- Rick leaves the farm but returns in fear that Mike will abuse Luke and his other children
- Dennis Ryan accidentally shoots James Thimm in the face
- Mike says that Yahweh fired the gun, not Dennis
March
- Luke Stice dies after months of abuse from Mike Ryan
- Rick Stice escapes from the farm
- James Thimm is tortured and murdered
- Lisa, Cheryl's sister, gives birth to her and Rick's baby
- Jimmy and David break into the Cargill Company fertilizer plant and steal sledgehammers, saws, drills and other tools
- Cargill calls Hayzlett to come investigate the theft
- June 25th: David and Jimmy are pulled over by Officer McNabb
- Becker and McNabb get a search warrant for the Rulo farm and Mike Ryan complies
- Lester Gibson reunites with his children
July
- Rick starts helping the authorities by telling them all the things that Mike Ryan did while on the farm and the fear he instilled in his followers
August
- 12th: Rick admits that Luke is dead and buried on the farm
- 18th: The bodies of Luke Stice and James Thimm are found
- The cult members are arrested
Mike Ryan dies on death row in Nebraska from brain cancer.