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Forensics Book Project by Emily Lowe

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.

Evil Harvest by Rod Colvin

Concepts and Lessons

Timeline of Events

Forensic Accounts cont.

May of 1982

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.

1984

- 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

1986

1983

1982

The trials and convictions of all the cult members conclude in 1986.

Mike Ryan

  • April 10th: Convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree murder for the deaths of James and Luke, respectively
  • October 16th: Sentenced to death

Dennis Ryan

  • Although only 16, he is tried as an adult
  • Found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of James Thimm
  • Sentenced to life in prison but was reduced after expressing remorse

Tim Haverkamp

  • Initially charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to reduced charge of second-degree murder of James Thimm in exchange for testimony against Mike Ryan
  • Sentenced to life in prison

Jimmy Haverkamp and David Andreas

  • Convicted of second-degree assault in death of James Thimm
  • Convicted of carrying concealed weapons and possession of stolen property
  • Both serving 26 year prison terms

Rick Stice

  • 6 month jail sentence, 18 months house arrest, and 5 years probation on theft charges for stealing cattle

1985

1983

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

1985

- 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

May 24th, 2015

Mike Ryan dies on death row in Nebraska from brain cancer.

  • "McNabb went up to the third floor and pulled the shoes they'd confiscated from Jimmy and David from the jail locker... Becker turned the shoes over to examine the soles as Hayzlett laid out the photos of the shoe prints." (pg. 290) This was a part of the last account as well. After confirming the car was a match, the shoe prints from the previous thefts and the shoes from Jimmy and David were compared. The soles of the shoes led to a positive match.
  • "As they searched each room, a technician snapped photos." (pg. 298) This occurred after the police got a warrant to search the farm that Jimmy and David had been living on. Taking pictures of the crime scene is the second step in a crime scene investigation, after securing and protecting the scene.
  • "Diggers found the first body. It was that of Luke Stice. They lifted the dirt-encased form out of the grave, zipped it into a body bag, and placed it in a waiting ambulance. Forty-five minutes later, James's body was recovered. It was placed in a body bag and slid in the ambulance. [Becker] and McNabb watched as the ambulance pulled away, heading for Lincoln General Hospital. There, autopsies would be performed." (pg. 345) After Luke and James's bodies were found, they had to be taken to a medical examiner. The autopsies would show the cause of death and relative time of death. Although no other information is given, decomposition and entomology would probably be useful factors in pinpointing time of death.
  • "From the premises, investigators had confiscated a wealth of evidence-- ninety-nine exhibits-- which included: guns, gun parts, shells, shell casings, cannon fuses, blasting caps, bullet slugs embedded in sections of wall, sections of blood-stained tiles and carpets, over one hundred cassette tapes, marijuana paraphernalia, and survivalist literature-- all of which were being collected as evidence for the upcoming murder trial. Investigators had pored over the premises for hours, carefully collecting and cataloging each exhibit." (pg. 347) This passage describes all the evidence collected from the farm that can be used to convict Mike Ryan and his cult members of the numerous crimes they committed. It also shows the chain of custody and packaging evidence techniques that were used during the investigators. Investigators wanted to have solid evidence so the cult could be convicted. The evidence combines forensic psychology, biology, entomology, toxicology and more.

Forensic Accounts

Summary

  • "There lay Luke, his face blue. His body was stiff. He'd been dead for several hours; rigor mortis had set it." (pg. 245) Rigor mortis begins 2-6 hours after death. During this stage of death, the muscles stiffen. Livor mortis has also occurred, which we know from the pooling of Luke's blood, causing his face to turn blue.
  • "Hayzlett pulled his 35-mm Yashica camera and a twelve-inch ruler from his briefcase. He positioned the ruler next to a section of tire track, focused, and snapped the photo; the ruler would provide a standard of measurement once the photos were developed... He also took photos of shoes prints in the mud, again placing the ruler next to each print before taking the shot." (pg. 281) Two cult members, Jimmy and David, stole farming equipment and tools from the Cargill farm and the owner reported the theft. It had rained the night before and the truck and their shoes left behind prints. The investigator, Hayzlett, came and took photos to compare to other crime scenes/ theft cases.
  • "Three days later, the thieves struck again, this time at a farm only a few miles from the Cargill plant... Hayzlett got photos of the tire treads and shoe prints. They were the same as from the Cargill break-in." (pg. 283) Jimmy and David stole more equipment from another farm. By comparing the treads on their truck's tires and the shoe prints of both men, Hayzlett was able to determine that the crimes were committed by the same person/ people.
  • "Hayzlett opened an envelope and pulled out his stack of black-and-white, five-by-seven photos of the tire treads and shoe prints from the Cargill case. He shuffled through the stack, looking for the shot of the front tires. When he found it, the three of them squatted in front of the right front tire and compared the tread with that in the photo. 'Looks like a match to me,' McNabb said. 'Yep,' Hayzlett said. 'For sure they're the same kind of tread that I've got pictures of. We'll want to send the tires to the crime lab in Kansas City for a positive ID.' The Regional Criminalistics Lab could take the tires and Hayzlett's photos and determine, without a doubt, if they were the tires that made the tracks at the Cargill plant." (pg. 290). This scene occurred after Jimmy and David were pulled over for not having brake lights on a piece of equipment they stole. Officer McNabb took them in and compared the treads of the truck they were driving to the car from the two other thefts. Sending the pictures and tires to a crime lab would confirm that McNabb's theory was true- he caught the thieves.
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