1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: Col Zone Media. 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 2: On December eighth, two thousand, a bishop ordained a new 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 2: minister in his church. The procedure for this sort of 4 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 2: thing varies depending on the denomination, but in this case, 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,119 Speaker 2: the ceremony didn't take place in a church. There was 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 2: no ceremony, and there wasn't really much of a church 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 2: to speak of. There is not even any evidence that 8 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 2: these two men ever met. 9 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: Face to face. 10 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 2: The ordination took place through the mail, and by the 11 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 2: time William Fink was holding the envelope containing his certificate 12 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 2: of ordination, it had already been opened. Federal prisons opened 13 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 2: most of the male sent to the people they house. 14 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 2: A few years into his fourteen year sentence for beating 15 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 2: a man to death while working as a corrections officer 16 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 2: in New Jersey, Fink felt divinely called to reinterpret the Bible. 17 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 2: He even learned ancient Greek to create his own translations 18 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 2: of Biblical texts, all in service of proving that Jewish 19 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 2: people were the descendants of Satan. And this certificate made 20 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 2: it official he was a Christian identity minister. Today, William 21 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 2: Fink is one of the leading purveyors of Christian identity propaganda. 22 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 2: The man who ordained him. Frank Smith is dead. I'm 23 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 2: Molly Conger and this is where little guys. This is 24 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 2: the story of Frank Smith's final evolution. He was a 25 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,279 Speaker 2: bank robber, a bomber, a hit man, a loan shark, 26 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 2: a Nazi, and for the latter half of his life 27 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 2: a minister. As a young man in the early nineteen fifties, 28 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 2: he worked as a boxing promoter, but he kept getting 29 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 2: arrested for bank robbery. If you believe a prosecutor in 30 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 2: New York, he was also available as a murderer for hire. 31 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 2: He had a reputation for being the guide to call 32 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 2: when members of New England Organized crime needed something bombed. 33 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 2: While he was in prison for blowing up a man's house, 34 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 2: he read a few issues of the Rockwell Report, a 35 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 2: newsletter written by American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell. 36 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 2: He was so intrigued by Rockwell's message that he drove 37 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 2: down to Virginia to meet the man. Just weeks after 38 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 2: being released from prison in nineteen sixty five, Frank Smith 39 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 2: had a proposition for the Nazi Party. He owned six 40 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 2: hundred acres of land up in Maine that the Nazis 41 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 2: could use to start a fake church. It would provide 42 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 2: the party with some institutional legitimacy, and it would make 43 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 2: it easier for the group to accept donations. After meeting 44 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 2: with Rockwell, Frank reported back to a man in charge 45 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 2: of a different organization, Raymond patriarcha head of the New 46 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 2: England Mafia. He hoped that the two groups could have 47 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 2: a mutually beneficial relationship, but it wasn't meant to be. 48 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 2: Frank ran a foul of the mafia by ordering hits 49 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 2: without permission from the boss, and he found himself on 50 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,119 Speaker 2: the wrong end of a gun one night in March 51 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 2: of nineteen sixty five. After barely surviving the attempted hit, 52 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 2: Frank went back down to Virginia to help out with 53 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 2: Rockwell's campaign for governor. It was there that he met 54 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 2: his wife, Claudia, one of the Nazi Party secretaries. 55 00:03:58,520 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: For two years. 56 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 2: Frank was an active member of the American Nazi Party 57 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 2: and apparently a close friend of both George Lincoln Rockwell 58 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 2: and Rockwell's mistress, Barbara von Getz. Rockwell even gave Frank 59 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 2: a fun nickname, the Holy Father. He had, after all, 60 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 2: approached Rockwell with the great idea of forming a whites 61 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 2: only church. But Frank wasn't actually all that religious. He was, however, 62 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 2: full of bullet holes from that botched mob hit. When 63 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,280 Speaker 2: they first met in early nineteen sixty five, the timing 64 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 2: seemed perfect. Rockwell had been considering the possibility of hiding 65 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 2: his Nazi rhetoric behind some kind of faux Christian front 66 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 2: for years, and now here's Frank offering him the resources 67 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 2: to bring that idea to life. Rockwell himself had no 68 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 2: attachment to Christianity or religion of any kind, but he 69 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 2: saw the political value in pretending his message was a 70 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 2: Christian one, and he was in close contact with the 71 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 2: burgeoning Christian identity movement. I think it bears repeating every 72 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 2: time this comes up, which is not infrequently, But Christian 73 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 2: identity means something specific, and it isn't Christianity. To say 74 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 2: someone is an adherent of Christian identity isn't just another 75 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 2: way of saying they are someone who identifies as a Christian. 76 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 2: This isn't someone who is Methodist or Presbyterian or Catholic 77 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:40,840 Speaker 2: or anything like that. It isn't a Christian denomination and 78 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 2: there's no real doctrinal unity among its adherents at its core, though, 79 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 2: the one thing all Christian Identity adherents share is a 80 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 2: commitment to a deeply racist, anti Semitic belief system centered 81 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 2: around the idea that white Europeans are God's true chosen people. 82 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 2: Rockwell knew that in the nineteen sixties. He was in 83 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 2: contact with men like Wesley Swift, the father of the 84 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 2: Christian Identity movement, and Richard Butler, the man who would 85 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 2: later turned Swift's church into the Arian Nations. 86 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: But Frank didn't. 87 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 2: Frank was just a career criminal, an opportunist looking for 88 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 2: a new way to get ahead, an organized crime. He 89 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 2: didn't know a damn thing about anything besides collecting payments 90 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 2: from guys who made bad bets on boxing matches. 91 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 3: I'm dal stas a bunch of kids from the coach 92 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 3: and they're telling me I'm of Israel. What is this 93 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,720 Speaker 3: I know about? I know all about the childs and 94 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 3: the history. Right yeah, I'm telling here, I says, And 95 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 3: that's telling me. I'm a chill. That's telling me I'm Israel. 96 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 3: I don't know anything about ten trigsonless. 97 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 2: When members of the American Nazi Party first explained Christian 98 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 2: identity to Frank on his first visit down to the 99 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 2: barracks in nineteen sixty five, he was offended. They said 100 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 2: he was a descendant of the true Israelites, and he 101 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 2: didn't know what that meant, so he thought they were 102 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 2: accusing him of being Jewish. 103 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 3: And we never discussed that either. I never knew of 104 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 3: any particular faith. He had never asked them, stayed away 105 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 3: from it. It was political. We tested that way. Political and racial. 106 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 3: Absolutely racial. 107 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 2: That's Frank describing the original plan he and Rockwell had 108 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 2: for their partnership. He's remarkably candid in this interview. He 109 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 2: has no problem admitting what was on his mind when 110 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 2: he started down the path of forming his church. He's 111 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 2: talking about nineteen sixty five, but that interview was recorded 112 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen. You can probably tell, even just from 113 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 2: the handful of clips I've used throughout this series, he's rambling. 114 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 2: He sort of fades in and out, and he mumbles, 115 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 2: and he doesn't finish all of his thoughts, and some 116 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 2: of his thoughts seem to start in the middle, or 117 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 2: he's reminiscing about things that don't quite make sense. He 118 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 2: was ninety five years old in twenty sixteen, So even 119 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 2: though I listened to the entire interview a few times. 120 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 2: There's a lot missing there. So he's speaking very openly 121 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,319 Speaker 2: about how he knew this church idea was a scam 122 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 2: when he first thought of it in nineteen sixty five. 123 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 2: But there's no explanation offered of how or when or 124 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 2: why he changed his mind, because I think he did. 125 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,680 Speaker 2: He did end up forming a church, and it seems 126 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 2: like maybe eventually he really believed he was a minister. 127 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 2: He didn't end up forming the church that he and 128 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 2: Rockwell had talked about. Rockwell was murdered in nineteen sixty seven, 129 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 2: so that plan was out the window. When Rockwall's murderer, 130 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 2: John Patler went on trial, Frank testified for the defense. 131 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 2: A few months after the trial, American Nazi Party member 132 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 2: Christopher Vivdnyevitch showed up outside Frank's house in Maine. The 133 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 2: pair had a shootout, but no one was injured and 134 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 2: no one went to jail. This apparent attempt to kill 135 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 2: him ended Frank's interest in continued involvement with the American 136 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 2: Nazi Party, but not with its core beliefs, and the 137 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 2: idea of forming that church must have still been rattling 138 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 2: round in his mind too. He lived quietly for a 139 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 2: few years. As far as I can tell, he pops 140 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 2: up in some old issues of his local newspaper, the 141 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 2: Ellsworth American, from time to time. In February of nineteen 142 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 2: sixty nine, he was offering boxing lessons to local high 143 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:20,839 Speaker 2: school boys at a theater after school. A few months later, 144 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,079 Speaker 2: he called the fire department after losing control of a 145 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,440 Speaker 2: fire he'd set on his property. 146 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: He says he. 147 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 2: Set the fire to burn the grass on his property. 148 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 2: I'm not entirely sure what he means by that, but 149 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 2: it was treated as a perfectly reasonable explanation by the newspaper. 150 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 2: After the fire was extinguished, firefighters walked the property just 151 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 2: a double check that there were no lingering embers behind 152 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 2: the house that could reignite, and they discovered two separate 153 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 2: cases of dynamite, one inside of a rusty metal container 154 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 2: and the other hidden under a pile of hay. Frank 155 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 2: said he had no idea how that got there, and 156 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 2: it wasn't his, and he was very grateful that the 157 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:11,199 Speaker 2: firefighters found it before something terrible happened. The paper doesn't 158 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 2: mention Frank's history with dynamite, but. 159 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: Maybe they didn't know. 160 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 4: Now. 161 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 2: Remember, Frank Smith owns about six hundred acres of land 162 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 2: in Ellsworth, Maine. He bought it back in the mid fifties, 163 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 2: not long after he was accused of several bank robberies, 164 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 2: and in nineteen seventy he signed over the deed to 165 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 2: all of his property to a recent law school graduate 166 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 2: in Rhode Island. He just gave this man hundreds of 167 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 2: acres of land. Frank's sister, Florence, who had also purchased 168 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 2: some land in Ellsworth, sold her property to the same 169 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 2: man on the same day. Frank would later offer the 170 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 2: vague explanation that the gift had been a sort of 171 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 2: bond for work done that he couldn't repay. The man's 172 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 2: name was Brian Soreau, at least I think it's Sorow. 173 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,960 Speaker 2: I could only find one recording of someone saying this 174 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:21,559 Speaker 2: man's name out loud, and that person said Sorrolt, which 175 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 2: is what it looks like spelled out. But the man 176 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 2: in the recording also said Pawtucket in the same sentence. 177 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 2: And I've been informed by the Rhode Islanders and the 178 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 2: audience that it's Patucket, So I'm not sure we can 179 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 2: trust this In my quest for accurate pronunciation. I did 180 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 2: watch a couple of old videos of hockey fights. There 181 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 2: used to be a Canadian hockey player named Eve Sorow, 182 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 2: and both the French and English language announcers pronounce it Sorow. 183 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,200 Speaker 2: The name does seem to be generally associated with people 184 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 2: of French Canadian descent. I really do go out of 185 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 2: my way to try to pronounce names of people and 186 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,679 Speaker 2: places correctly, but it's an uphill battle when the world 187 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 2: is full of people and places who proudly wield their 188 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 2: pronunciation of proper nouns as some kind of weapon in 189 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 2: an assault against the very idea of phonics. Despite my 190 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 2: extreme efforts to find recordings of locals saying these things, 191 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 2: I don't think I'll ever escape the humbling experience of 192 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 2: the regional shibbaleth. I mean, I'm from Virginia, home of Buna, Vista, 193 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 2: buck Annen, Batatat, and Stanton. None of those are spelled 194 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 2: how you think I grew up in Norfolk? 195 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: I get it. 196 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 2: If you say the R or the L, you're not 197 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 2: from here. So I've chosen to go with Siro. I 198 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 2: did my best. 199 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: Now, if you're from. 200 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 2: Rhode Island, you almost certainly know how that man's name 201 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 2: is pronounced, because you probably know that Brian J. Sorow 202 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 2: was elected mayor of Patucket, Rhode Island in nineteen eighty seven, 203 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 2: and he was still the mayor when the FBI arrested 204 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:11,319 Speaker 2: him in nineteen ninety one for running a massive extortion, 205 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 2: bribery and kickback operation out of city hall. But when 206 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 2: Frank gave him all that land in nineteen seventy, he 207 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 2: was fresh out of law school. He'd only passed the 208 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 2: bar a few months earlier. Frank sort of implies that 209 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 2: the land was payment for legal work, but it's hard 210 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 2: to imagine what kind of work Sorow could have been 211 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 2: doing for Frank that would have been worth six hundred 212 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 2: acres of land in just a few months. As a 213 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 2: recent law school graduate, he wasn't even licensed to practice 214 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 2: in the state of Maine. 215 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: Now, I don't want. 216 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 2: To imply anything I can't prove. Brian Sorow may be disbarred, 217 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 2: but he's still out there, so I'm not making any allegiance. 218 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 2: But there are some clues here that Frank hadn't given 219 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 2: up on the idea that the land could serve some 220 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 2: criminal purpose. I couldn't find anything directly linking Brian Sorou 221 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 2: to organize crime, at least not beyond his own racketeering case. 222 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 2: No one's accusing Sourow of moving money around for the mafia. 223 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 2: But I did find his father's name in Raymond Patriarch's 224 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 2: FBI file, the same Raymond Patriarcha who ran the Providence mafia. 225 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 2: The same Raymond Patriarca who maybe told an FBI informant 226 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 2: to shoot Frank. In nineteen sixty one, an FBI agent 227 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 2: wrote a memo about an unsuccessful attempt by their informant 228 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:53,239 Speaker 2: to get information about Patriarca out of one of his associates, 229 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 2: a man named a May Sourou. Again, there's just no 230 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 2: winning with French. I looked at a lot of videos 231 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 2: of people saying this name. It's Aime, it could be 232 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 2: m a, could be aim m Ama is what I 233 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 2: saw most often. Don't email me about pronouncing quebequa French. 234 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 2: A Ma Soro, Brian's father, and Brian's brother, Stephen Sorow, 235 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 2: were involved in several massive and very confusing fraud schemes 236 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 2: over the years. In nineteen seventy nine, A Ma Soro's 237 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 2: name was on the incorporation paperwork for a company in 238 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 2: Florida that was formed for the sole purpose of engaging 239 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 2: in mortgage fraud. His name was actually on the incorporation 240 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 2: paperwork for quite a few companies in the late seventies 241 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 2: and early eighties, and most of those companies show up 242 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 2: in federal court filings in cases for mail fraud, wire fraud, 243 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 2: securities fraud, mortgage fraud, really any kind of financial crime 244 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 2: you can think of, and some I hadn't heard of. 245 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 2: Which is interesting because when Frank Smith did finally get 246 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 2: around to forming his church in nineteen seventy eight, the 247 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 2: paperwork filed with the state of Maine lists A May 248 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,920 Speaker 2: Sorrow as the vice president of the church and his son, 249 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 2: Stephen Sorow was on the board of directors. Now, this 250 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 2: doesn't fit neatly into my story, and it's not entirely 251 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:49,200 Speaker 2: about Frank, but it's too weird to leave out. When 252 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 2: police in Florida showed up to ask questions about bad 253 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 2: checks that were being deposited by that fake mortgage company 254 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty, they didn't find the Sirows. They did 255 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,679 Speaker 2: find a washed up minor league baseball player driving a 256 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 2: car with a forged registration. Bob Banalowitz played a few 257 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 2: seasons on farm teams for the Saint Louis Cardinals, but 258 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 2: he never made it to the majors. His name pops 259 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 2: up in connection with a couple of pretty serious crimes, 260 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 2: but I can't actually find any indication he ever served 261 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,680 Speaker 2: time for any of them. But he was definitely arrested 262 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 2: that day in nineteen eighty The article about this curious 263 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 2: incident with the bad checks in Florida says police believed 264 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 2: the mastermind behind the scheme was a known con man 265 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 2: named Michael Arthur Strauss, but by the time the police 266 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 2: got there, Strauss. 267 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:44,880 Speaker 1: Was in the wind. 268 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 2: A year later, in nineteen eighty one, Banalowitz and Strauss 269 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 2: were together again, and they were both on the run 270 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 2: from charges related to a mail fraud scheme in Pennsylvania. 271 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 2: I think you probably know by now, but part of 272 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,920 Speaker 2: my process means spending a lot of time flushing out 273 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 2: the details of events I know full well are not 274 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:10,720 Speaker 2: going to be relevant and they are not getting me 275 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:15,639 Speaker 2: any closer to finishing the episode. I have reams of 276 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 2: notes about stuff you'll never hear about because it just 277 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,880 Speaker 2: isn't related to the story. In any way, even by 278 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 2: my standards, Bob Banalowitz, the minor league baseball player, is 279 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 2: not a character in Frank's story. I mean, he did 280 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 2: some fraud with the father of the man that Frank 281 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 2: gave that land to, but there's no way they have 282 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:43,679 Speaker 2: any meaningful connection, right. There was no reason for me 283 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 2: to look up the court records for a lawsuit and 284 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 2: alla Witz filed against Wynn Dixie after he slipped and 285 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:51,640 Speaker 2: fell in a grocery store in Florida in nineteen ninety nine. 286 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 2: But I've got it in my notes, you know, when 287 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,359 Speaker 2: I was poking around learning a little bit more about 288 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 2: this very tang gentially relevant character, because you never know 289 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 2: what you might find, and this time I'm glad I looked. 290 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 4: So. 291 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty one, when Manolowitz and Strauss are on 292 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,679 Speaker 2: the lamb after their scheme with this Arose went busted, 293 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 2: they hid out at a friend's house in Massachusetts, and 294 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:25,680 Speaker 2: the newspaper later reported that the FBI arrested a man 295 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:30,920 Speaker 2: named Theodor Green for harboring the fugitives. And that name 296 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 2: looked really familiar, And it turned out I had it 297 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 2: in my notes already, But surely it's not the same 298 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 2: Teddy Green. I'm sure there are plenty of Teddy Greens 299 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 2: living in the Boston suburbs. 300 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:47,199 Speaker 1: But what a strange coincidence. 301 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 2: I know, you know that at this point I forged 302 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 2: ahead on my mission to waste my own time, and 303 00:20:55,680 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 2: sure enough it wasn't a coincidence. The ages matched up, 304 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 2: which was a good clue. But I think what really 305 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,160 Speaker 2: sealed it for me were the descriptions of Theodore Green 306 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 2: in those articles written in the nineteen eighties. I mean, 307 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 2: how many Teddy Greens in Boston could there be who 308 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,479 Speaker 2: had a history of bank robbery and once escaped from 309 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,439 Speaker 2: a Massachusetts state prison by shipping himself out in a 310 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,640 Speaker 2: crate of dirty rags. There's just no way. The Boston 311 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 2: suburbs are home to two men named Theodore Green, who 312 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 2: famously tried and failed to escape from Alcatraz on a 313 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 2: dozen separate occasions. 314 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: It's the same guy. 315 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 2: The man who is harboring those fugitives in nineteen eighty 316 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:44,160 Speaker 2: one is the exact same Teddy Green who was accused 317 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:48,959 Speaker 2: of robbing a bank with Frank Smith in Menford, Massachusetts 318 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,240 Speaker 2: in nineteen fifty two. They were members of the same 319 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 2: bank robbery gang. All throughout the early fifties, So what 320 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 2: is Teddy doing back in the story thirty years later. 321 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,199 Speaker 2: It's an accumulation of hints that proves nothing I know, 322 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 2: but it suggests that Frank never lost touch with his 323 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 2: old associates even as his interests shifted and his public 324 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 2: presentation evolved. He may have put on a clerical caller, 325 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 2: but he's still doing business with the same people. When 326 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 2: Brian Sirow was indicted in nineteen ninety one, his finances 327 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:34,360 Speaker 2: were obviously of great interest to investigators. He was accused 328 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 2: of raking in about a million dollars in bribes and 329 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 2: kickbacks over just a few short years. They made the 330 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 2: arrest after they got him on a wire tap accepting 331 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 2: a bribe, but that wasn't enough. They wanted the whole picture, 332 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 2: and the whole picture included Frank and Claudia Smith. A 333 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety two article in the Providence Journal says prosecute 334 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 2: weren't actually sure where all the money went. Sorow definitely 335 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:09,440 Speaker 2: pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it didn't look 336 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 2: like he was spending it. He didn't live a lavish lifestyle. 337 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 2: He didn't drive a flashy car, or live in a mansion. 338 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 1: His home was. 339 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 2: Described as heavily mortgaged, and the missing money wasn't in 340 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 2: his bank account. Bryan Sirou ended up pleading guilty, so 341 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,120 Speaker 2: there was no trial, and any court filings that might 342 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 2: exist in that file are in a box on a 343 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:40,200 Speaker 2: shelf at the National Archives, so there's no chance of 344 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 2: getting my hands on them anytime soon. All I really 345 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 2: have to go on here is what the federal prosecutor 346 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 2: told this reporter in nineteen ninety two. A lot of 347 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 2: that missing money went directly into a bank account opened 348 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 2: by Claudia Smith. Soroa was listed as a trustee on 349 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 2: the account, and he was observed making cash withdrawals from 350 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 2: it a few weeks. 351 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: After he was arrested. 352 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 2: Frank Smith never really held a straight job, at least 353 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 2: not after the nineteen fifties. 354 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:18,960 Speaker 1: I can't find any evidence. 355 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:24,200 Speaker 2: That Claudia worked either, but they always had money. Claudia 356 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,680 Speaker 2: told people they didn't need to work because she had 357 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,439 Speaker 2: family money, some kind of large inheritance from oil wells 358 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 2: on land her family owned. I'm not entirely sure that's true. 359 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 2: Her family does not appear to have been wealthy, although 360 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 2: I did find a notice in a newspaper in Alabama 361 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 2: from nineteen fifty about a pending claim in court. It 362 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 2: looks like Claudia and her sister shared a one sixty 363 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 2: fourth interest in a parcel of land in Chalktawk County, 364 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,119 Speaker 2: and one of the other interested holders of that land 365 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,239 Speaker 2: was the Magnolia Petroleum Come. So there may have been 366 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 2: oil and gas on that land, but I don't think 367 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 2: it was the kind of oil money that funds you 368 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 2: for life. But for decades, Claudia Smith and Brian Sorow 369 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 2: were sharing access to several bank accounts. In nineteen seventy nine, 370 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,840 Speaker 2: when Soirow needed money for a condo development project he 371 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,679 Speaker 2: was working on, he took out a loan from the trust. 372 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty six, Sorow's law partner and personal attorney, 373 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:35,159 Speaker 2: Charles Rogers, borrowed twenty five thousand dollars from an account 374 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 2: held by Frank Smith's church. There's no evidence either of 375 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 2: these loans were repaid. Disclosures filed with the State Ethics 376 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 2: Committee show Sirow borrowed undisclosed sums from the Smiths in 377 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty nine and nineteen ninety. He refused to comment 378 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 2: on how much money he borrowed, what it was for, 379 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:01,679 Speaker 2: and when or if it was repaid. There are a 380 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 2: lot of unanswered questions about this money, but it does 381 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 2: start to paint a picture that Frank really was using 382 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,919 Speaker 2: that land exactly how he'd imagined when he proposed the 383 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 2: idea to George Lincoln Rockwell, make a fake church and 384 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 2: use it to move dirty money around. Like I said, 385 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 2: I don't think anyone is outright saying Brian Sirou was 386 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:33,879 Speaker 2: involved with organized crime, but Frank never really left that world. 387 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety two, Frank's church owned three cars, and 388 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:45,719 Speaker 2: for some reason, he registered them in Rhode Island, not Maine. 389 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 2: The cars were registered to an address in Patucket, specifically 390 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 2: to a trailer park owned by lifelong patriarcha crime family associate, 391 00:26:54,960 --> 00:27:00,880 Speaker 2: albo Vitally. According to Claudia Smith's driver's license, that's where 392 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,760 Speaker 2: she lived. Whether she did live there at some point 393 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 2: or not isn't actually clear. The FBI couldn't find her 394 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety two. Frank said she wasn't living with 395 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 2: him anymore and wouldn't say where she might be. She 396 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 2: did get two traffic tickets near Frank's home in Ellsworth 397 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,680 Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety four, and the citations indicate her license 398 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 2: listed a Patucket address. When she died in two thousand, 399 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 2: she was living in Massachusetts, and I can't find any 400 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,439 Speaker 2: record that the couple ever filed for divorce, and the 401 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,879 Speaker 2: paperwork for Frank's church was never updated after it was 402 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 2: filed in nineteen seventy eight. So even though she's been 403 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 2: dead for twenty five years, Claudia Smith is still the 404 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:54,639 Speaker 2: registered agent for the Church of Christ and Israel. But 405 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:58,879 Speaker 2: back in nineteen ninety two, the US Attorney's Office and 406 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:04,439 Speaker 2: the FBI couldn't locate Claudia, but they did subpoena Frank 407 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:09,120 Speaker 2: to testify before a grand jury. This wasn't the grand 408 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,679 Speaker 2: jury that indicted Siro It was one that came a 409 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 2: few months after his arrest when they were looking into 410 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,440 Speaker 2: bringing additional charges against other people related to the corruption 411 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:24,879 Speaker 2: in Patucket. Grand jury testimony is secret, of course, so 412 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 2: who knows? But Frank said on the stand and there 413 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,720 Speaker 2: Sirro's lawyer refused to comment on it, and so did 414 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 2: the federal prosecutor. 415 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: Not a word. 416 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 2: The Providence Journal reported that one unnamed source said Frank 417 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 2: showed up to court and a clerical caller. I guess 418 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 2: to try to sell the idea that he was just 419 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 2: a mild mannered Christian pastor whose attorney managed his money 420 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 2: in a completely normal and legal way. It does kind 421 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 2: of remind me, though, if you remember a few weeks 422 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 2: ago in nineteen fifty, Frank and his little brother William 423 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 2: were both arrested in connection with that bank robbery in Medford. 424 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 2: And when they raided his little brother's apartment, they found 425 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 2: a bunch of guns and amo and lock picks and dynamite. 426 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 2: But they also found a suitcase full of disguises, including 427 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 2: a clerical coller investments. So forty years apart, he's got 428 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 2: a real church now kind of, but the clerical caller 429 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 2: is still just a disguise. Brian Siro eventually pleaded guilty 430 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 2: and spent five years in prison. There's no other reporting 431 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 2: I can find on where all that bribe money ended up, 432 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 2: whatever came of the subpoenas for Claudia Smith's bank accounts. 433 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:04,800 Speaker 2: But let's get back to Frank and his church. The 434 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 2: Siro's showing up on that paperwork and in Frank's bank 435 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 2: accounts is a hint that the church is less of 436 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 2: a religious institution and more of a front for some 437 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 2: kind of financial sin inigans. So the church is maybe 438 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 2: not one hundred percent sincere, but what kind of church 439 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 2: is he claiming to lead? In January of nineteen seventy eight, 440 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 2: Frank Smith filed paperwork with a State of Paine for 441 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 2: an organization called the Church of Christ in Israel, just 442 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 2: a few weeks after the church legally existed on paper. 443 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,120 Speaker 2: Brian Sirow gave all of the land back to Frank, 444 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 2: not to him personally. He gave it to the church, 445 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 2: and the church was initially granted tax exempt status, but 446 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 2: the main state Bureau of Taxation rescinded that exemption in 447 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy nine, and that's when Frank went to the press. 448 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,479 Speaker 2: He claimed to have been ordained four years earlier, so 449 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 2: that would be nineteen seventy five, although when he was 450 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,560 Speaker 2: asked the same question in nineteen eighty two he said 451 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 2: he'd been ordained for five years, which would mean he 452 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 2: was ordained in seventy seven, and I think the later 453 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,480 Speaker 2: date is the correct one. He probably fudged it the 454 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 2: first time to make it sound like he'd been a 455 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:28,640 Speaker 2: minister for more than a few months before he incorporated 456 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 2: his church. The article in nineteen eighty two quotes Frank 457 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,280 Speaker 2: saying that he was ordained into the Christian identity movement 458 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 2: by a man named Glenn Wheeler in California. 459 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: That name meant nothing to me. 460 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 2: I never say that. I always know the guy. But 461 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 2: who's Glenn Wheeler? I mean, with Frank's connections to the 462 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,600 Speaker 2: American Nazi Party and by extension, the broader movement, I 463 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 2: kind of figured he would have been brought into Christian 464 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 2: identity by a bigger name, you know, a James Wickstrom 465 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:07,240 Speaker 2: or a William Potter, Gale, Dan Gaman. Maybe not Glenn, 466 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 2: just some guy named Glenn. But I guess that's kind 467 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 2: of the thing about Christian identity. It's not a church, 468 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 2: it's an idea. Anyone can just start writing a newsletter 469 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 2: full of bizarre, racist, biblical hermeneutics. Anyone can just mail 470 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 2: certificates out saying I'm a minister and now you are too. 471 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 2: Sometimes a Christian identity group might have a church in 472 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 2: the traditional sense, you know, a building and a congregation, 473 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 2: something like Dan Gayman's Church of Israel and Missouri. Other 474 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 2: times it might look like a church at the center 475 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 2: of an entire compound, like Robert Miller's Aloheim City in 476 00:32:54,720 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 2: Oklahoma or Richard Butler's Area Nations in Idaho. Sometimes a 477 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 2: Christian identity group is less of a congregation and more 478 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 2: of a terror cell groups like the Aryan Republican Army, 479 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 2: the Order, or the Covenant the Sword in the arm 480 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:16,960 Speaker 2: of the Lord. But it seems like the most common 481 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,680 Speaker 2: kind of Christian identity minister is a guy whose church 482 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 2: exists only in his newsletter. The Laporte Church of Christ 483 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:28,960 Speaker 2: never had more than a few dozen members, but Pete 484 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 2: Peters had a radio show, a monthly newsletter, a television 485 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 2: program in thousands of fans all over the country. Kingdom 486 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 2: Identity Ministries didn't have a church at all, but they 487 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 2: sold books and tapes, and they broadcast their sermons twenty 488 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:49,160 Speaker 2: four to seven over shortwave radio. Sheldon Emery's Lord's Covenant 489 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 2: Church was so small they met in his living room, 490 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 2: but through his America's Promise Ministries, he bought airtime on 491 00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:02,719 Speaker 2: stations all over the country to broadcast his message. You know, 492 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 2: it's kind of like what Brian Eno said about the 493 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 2: Velvet Underground. They may not have sold a lot of albums, 494 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:12,239 Speaker 2: but everybody who bought one went out and started their 495 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:18,439 Speaker 2: own band. These physical congregations were small, but a lot 496 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,319 Speaker 2: of the people who got the message would go on 497 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 2: to have an outsized impact, and you can usually trace 498 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 2: their ideological lineage to a specific organization. Three men associated 499 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:34,840 Speaker 2: with America's Promised Ministries bombed an abortion clinic and a 500 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 2: newspaper in nineteen ninety six. Another member of that congregation 501 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:42,279 Speaker 2: shot five people in a Jewish community center in Los 502 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,919 Speaker 2: Angeles in nineteen ninety nine. When Eric Rudolph attended Dan 503 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,560 Speaker 2: Gayman's Church of Israel and Missouri in the eighties, Gaiman 504 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:54,240 Speaker 2: tried to play matchmaker with his own daughter. He wanted 505 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 2: to make Eric Rudolph his son in law and perhaps 506 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 2: his successor. A decade later, Rudolph set off a bomb 507 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,279 Speaker 2: at the Atlanta Olympics before bombing two abortion clinics and 508 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 2: a lesbian bar. Members of the Order murdered Alan Berg, 509 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,160 Speaker 2: a Jewish talk radio host, because he was disrespectful in 510 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:19,040 Speaker 2: an on air debate with Christian identity minister Pete Peters. 511 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:22,600 Speaker 2: A man named Michael Ryan was so inspired by the 512 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,080 Speaker 2: sermons of James Wickstrom that he started a small cult 513 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:30,680 Speaker 2: compound and eventually brutally murdered two of his own followers 514 00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:37,040 Speaker 2: when they expressed doubt about Christian identity teachings. So I 515 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,560 Speaker 2: think there is value in finding out who Glenn Wheeler was, 516 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:46,120 Speaker 2: who was it that ordained Frank, and what version of 517 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,560 Speaker 2: Christian identity was Frank Steepton, Because there is a wide 518 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:55,640 Speaker 2: spectrum everything from guys who've never actually opened a Bible 519 00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:58,040 Speaker 2: but are likely to nod in agreement if you tell 520 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:01,240 Speaker 2: them it says black people aren't human, Guys like George 521 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:04,640 Speaker 2: Lincoln Rockwell who don't actually care at all what's in 522 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,960 Speaker 2: the Bible, but they have a cynical understanding of the 523 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,640 Speaker 2: political value of tricking that first kind of guy into 524 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,360 Speaker 2: being more racist. And then there are guys who truly 525 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,560 Speaker 2: believe that God commands them to incite a bloody race 526 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,760 Speaker 2: war because of a genuinely held belief in a warped 527 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:27,600 Speaker 2: understanding of pre millennialist eschatology. And then there's kinds of 528 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,359 Speaker 2: guys you and I have never even imagined, and all 529 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,920 Speaker 2: kinds of guys in between. Sometimes it really is just 530 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:40,400 Speaker 2: a tax dodge, but sometimes it is a terrorist plot 531 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 2: aimed at triggering armageddon. So that's why I usually just 532 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:49,520 Speaker 2: give you the short version. It is a racist misunderstanding 533 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 2: of the Book of Genesis. There's a lot going on here. 534 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:58,320 Speaker 2: The man who actually ordained Frank into the Christian Identity 535 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 2: ministry is pretty obscure. Admittedly, I could keep digging. I 536 00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:07,759 Speaker 2: could try begging the Special Collections Library and at the 537 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,920 Speaker 2: University of Kansas to scam the papers in a box 538 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,040 Speaker 2: labeled Glen Wheeler nineteen seventy seven to nineteen seventy nine 539 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,759 Speaker 2: in their collection of James Mason's personal papers. You can 540 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:23,239 Speaker 2: only access that collection in person due to the discovery 541 00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:26,719 Speaker 2: of some child pornography in the materials Mason donated to 542 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:28,400 Speaker 2: the library. 543 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:29,239 Speaker 1: I've heard you have. 544 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:31,440 Speaker 2: To request the boxes in advance so they can be 545 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:35,319 Speaker 2: pre screened. I will make it out to Kansas one day, 546 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:39,560 Speaker 2: but for now I do know what at least one 547 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 2: of those documents is Glenn Wheeler ordained at least one 548 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:49,160 Speaker 2: other person besides Frank Smith in nineteen seventy seven, it 549 00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:53,720 Speaker 2: was James Mason, the author of the Adam Waffen Bible Siege. 550 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,440 Speaker 2: While Mason was in prison in the nineties after an 551 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,960 Speaker 2: arrest for sexual exploitation of a minor, he wrote a 552 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:07,839 Speaker 2: collection of essays on the Bible. In that book, called 553 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:11,480 Speaker 2: One Verse Charlie's, he includes a scan of the certificate 554 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:15,239 Speaker 2: Glenn Wheeler mailed him in nineteen seventy seven ordaining him 555 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:20,839 Speaker 2: as a minister in Christ's Identity Church. I did find 556 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:24,160 Speaker 2: a little bit more about Glen Wheeler, but nothing about 557 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 2: his church. None of what I found about Glen Wheeler 558 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:30,239 Speaker 2: had anything to do with Christian Identity. He ran for 559 00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:33,719 Speaker 2: California State Assembly in nineteen seventy on the American Independent 560 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,520 Speaker 2: Party ticket. The party formed so that George Wallace could 561 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:41,240 Speaker 2: run for president on the segregation platform, and he actually 562 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,719 Speaker 2: met with George Wallace at some point in nineteen sixty nine, 563 00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:47,160 Speaker 2: and earlier in the sixties he formed some kind of 564 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:50,960 Speaker 2: racist discussion group called Western Front with a man whose 565 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:55,360 Speaker 2: real name is Walter White, but I think that's for 566 00:38:55,400 --> 00:39:00,840 Speaker 2: another day. Walter White had a very interesting wife. But 567 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 2: as far as Frank goes, I'm not sure he had 568 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:08,640 Speaker 2: much contact with Glenn after the ordination, but he was 569 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:11,919 Speaker 2: in touch with other people in the movement. When Frank 570 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,040 Speaker 2: was explaining his beliefs to a reporter in nineteen seventy nine, 571 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,279 Speaker 2: he mentioned a few guys by name, he talked about 572 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:22,000 Speaker 2: Dan Gaman and Sheldon Emory, and when he was back 573 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,919 Speaker 2: in the newspaper again in nineteen eighty two, complaining about 574 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,840 Speaker 2: his ongoing battle for tax exemption, he told a reporter 575 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 2: that Sheldon Emory had offered to connect him with a 576 00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:36,200 Speaker 2: group called the Christian Law Association for some assistance, and 577 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:40,560 Speaker 2: he also mentioned a recent conference in Wisconsin. Based on 578 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,719 Speaker 2: the location and the timing, that has to be James Wickstrom. 579 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:50,200 Speaker 2: Frank clearly had a soft spot for Sheldon Emory. He 580 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,719 Speaker 2: dropped that name twice in interviews about his church, and 581 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:55,760 Speaker 2: his name shows up in at least one of Emory's 582 00:39:55,800 --> 00:40:01,000 Speaker 2: newsletters as a supporter. In nineteen eighty hosted an event 583 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:05,480 Speaker 2: in Sandford, Maine. It was advertised in the newspaper as 584 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:11,840 Speaker 2: a benign sounding inter faith Easter program featuring gospel music 585 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,280 Speaker 2: and the presentation of a film. 586 00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:18,800 Speaker 1: The film was called Airs of the Promise. It's a 587 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,359 Speaker 1: very generic sort of phrase, and. 588 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,600 Speaker 2: It's a phrase that appears in mostly innocuous religious writing 589 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:29,040 Speaker 2: that doesn't have a Christian identity angle. The phrase itself 590 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:34,279 Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily mean we're in Christian identity territory, so it 591 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:37,759 Speaker 2: made it a little hard to search for, but this 592 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:42,920 Speaker 2: videotape is actually something pretty specific, and Frank seemed to 593 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,040 Speaker 2: really like this tape. Not only did he show it 594 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:49,920 Speaker 2: at the Interfaith Easter program in nineteen eighty, in nineteen 595 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:53,600 Speaker 2: ninety one, after he testified before that Grand jury in 596 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:57,960 Speaker 2: Rhode Island, he mailed a copy of this video to 597 00:40:58,000 --> 00:40:59,200 Speaker 2: the federal prosecutor. 598 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:04,480 Speaker 4: Why of all the people of the earth, has it 599 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,759 Speaker 4: been only this white Caucasian race, these so called gentiles, 600 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:12,200 Speaker 4: who have claimed Jesus Christ as their God, and who 601 00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:15,880 Speaker 4: have taken this book as the foundation of their religion. 602 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,800 Speaker 4: The answer, the truth, which is avoided and even denied 603 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:24,719 Speaker 4: by the clergy, is simple. These people are the Israelites, 604 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:28,200 Speaker 4: the children of Abraham, God's chosen people. 605 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,840 Speaker 2: I did watch airs of the Promise. It's only about 606 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:37,320 Speaker 2: forty minutes long, and it was a waste of my time. 607 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,120 Speaker 2: But the voice you just heard is Pastor Sheldon Emory 608 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:45,200 Speaker 2: of America's Promised Ministries, a Christian identity minister in Arizona. 609 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:48,920 Speaker 2: So we know Frank was a big fan of Emory 610 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:51,359 Speaker 2: and they were in touch at least a little bit. 611 00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 2: There is a scan of an undated pamphlet published by 612 00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:59,440 Speaker 2: Emory's ministry. There was archived in the Gordon Hall and 613 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:04,680 Speaker 2: Grace Collection of Dissenting an extremist printed Propaganda, that's say 614 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:08,120 Speaker 2: special collection of materials held at the Brown University Library. 615 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:12,640 Speaker 2: And this old pamphlet from Emory's ministry has a stamp 616 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:15,279 Speaker 2: on it showing that it was mailed to the Church 617 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:19,600 Speaker 2: of Christ and Israel. Now that's the name of Frank's church, 618 00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:26,520 Speaker 2: but the address isn't right. Frank's church was in Ellsworth, Maine, 619 00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:32,080 Speaker 2: and this stamp says Dover, New Hampshire. It turns out 620 00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:34,920 Speaker 2: that when Frank told reporters that he had started churches 621 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:37,799 Speaker 2: in other New England towns that he traveled around check 622 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:42,160 Speaker 2: in on from time to time, he wasn't totally lying. 623 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:45,440 Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know that any of these churches 624 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:49,359 Speaker 2: had members, but there was at least a guy in 625 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:53,080 Speaker 2: New Hampshire. The church in Dover was headed by a 626 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:57,880 Speaker 2: man named Alan Goodrich, who was incidentally one of the 627 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:03,919 Speaker 2: other hosts at Frank's interfaith Easter program. There isn't much 628 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:07,560 Speaker 2: surviving evidence that I can find about Frank's church directly. 629 00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:11,240 Speaker 2: He doesn't appear to have published a newsletter, at least 630 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,480 Speaker 2: not one that was archived online or written about in 631 00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:18,239 Speaker 2: a newspaper, at least not that I could find. And 632 00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:22,320 Speaker 2: there are factors complicating the search. Churches that share the 633 00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:27,480 Speaker 2: same name might be chapters of the same organization. They 634 00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:31,600 Speaker 2: might be inspired by one another, or totally unrelated and 635 00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:35,799 Speaker 2: just inspired by the same source material. Sometimes the same 636 00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:39,200 Speaker 2: organization has several names over time or even at the 637 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:44,399 Speaker 2: same time. A lot of Christian identity organizations have names 638 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:47,080 Speaker 2: that look like they were assembled by drawing a few 639 00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:49,799 Speaker 2: words out of a hat. And there's only so many 640 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:52,880 Speaker 2: words in the lexicon here. It's just a sort of 641 00:43:53,520 --> 00:44:00,239 Speaker 2: random hodgepodge of the words Christ, Jesus, Israel, Identity, Kingdom, ministry, America. 642 00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:03,960 Speaker 2: So you do sometimes end up with organizations that have 643 00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:06,319 Speaker 2: the same name that don't have anything to do with 644 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:11,080 Speaker 2: each other. But there aren't very many references to something 645 00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:17,480 Speaker 2: specifically called the Church of Christ in Israel. Now, there 646 00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:21,759 Speaker 2: is a Christian denomination called the Church of Christ, and 647 00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:26,640 Speaker 2: I think it does have a church in Israel that 648 00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:31,360 Speaker 2: is a completely different thing. But within the Christian identity movement, 649 00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:34,799 Speaker 2: there are only a few references to something called the 650 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:35,520 Speaker 2: Church of Christ. 651 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:36,040 Speaker 1: In Israel. 652 00:44:37,239 --> 00:44:40,440 Speaker 2: And I know Alan Goodrich's church in New Hampshire is 653 00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:43,879 Speaker 2: connected to Franks because Goodrich wrote a letter to Grace 654 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:46,279 Speaker 2: Hoague in nineteen eighty one that was preserved in the 655 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:50,439 Speaker 2: Hull Hoague collection. But there were at least two other 656 00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:53,960 Speaker 2: people using the name the Church of Christ in Israel, 657 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,759 Speaker 2: and both of them pop up in the nineties. There 658 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:03,520 Speaker 2: was a chiropractor and Sei California, who wrote prolifically in 659 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:07,360 Speaker 2: a very unhinged newsletter, but he doesn't seem to have 660 00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,600 Speaker 2: done much else. And then there was a group and 661 00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:16,839 Speaker 2: a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. 662 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:20,759 Speaker 2: The Church of Christ in Israel in Pennsylvania was run 663 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:24,080 Speaker 2: by a man named August Christ at the direction of 664 00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:28,440 Speaker 2: James Wickstrom. So there is a chance that the shared 665 00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:32,880 Speaker 2: name here indicates some relationship, because I believe Frank was 666 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:35,840 Speaker 2: in touch with Wickstrom, but I just can't find the 667 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:40,000 Speaker 2: connective tissue to prove this. It would be just like 668 00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:44,200 Speaker 2: Frank to have known August Christ, though I mean, Frank 669 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:47,160 Speaker 2: knew all kinds of strange characters. Frank was getting into 670 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:49,839 Speaker 2: hijinks you just wouldn't even believe, So it would make 671 00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:53,640 Speaker 2: perfect sense if he knew a man like August Christ, 672 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:58,279 Speaker 2: he might have lived a life stranger than Frank's. He 673 00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:00,640 Speaker 2: served nine months in the Navy during the Vietnam but 674 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:05,120 Speaker 2: he was discharged for being unfit to serve. He was 675 00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:09,200 Speaker 2: a clansman. When the Aryan Nations splintered after Richard Butler's death, 676 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:11,880 Speaker 2: he led one of the factions, and he tried to 677 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,759 Speaker 2: form an alliance with Al Qaida. He had his own 678 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:18,240 Speaker 2: Christian Identity church. He was on two episodes of Jerry Springer, 679 00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:22,400 Speaker 2: and before he went to prison for fraudulently obtaining veterans 680 00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:27,080 Speaker 2: benefits and a truly horrific series of sex crimes against children. 681 00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:31,840 Speaker 2: He lost both of his legs to diabetes. We will 682 00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:35,640 Speaker 2: have to come back to August Christ, but. 683 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:37,000 Speaker 1: I think we're done with Frank. 684 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:40,600 Speaker 2: Though I'm not done with the stories going on all 685 00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:44,400 Speaker 2: around him. But I haven't decided yet. If we're staying here, 686 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:48,960 Speaker 2: we're moving on for now. I did spend an awful 687 00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:53,960 Speaker 2: lot of time this week reading some shockingly racist interpretations 688 00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,640 Speaker 2: of the Bible based on a misunderstanding of ancient Greek, 689 00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,000 Speaker 2: so I think I will have to tell you a 690 00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:03,880 Speaker 2: little bit more about the man Frank Smith ordained in 691 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:07,040 Speaker 2: two thousand. I mean, if we're going to talk about 692 00:47:07,080 --> 00:47:09,400 Speaker 2: guys who believe Eve had sex with a snake in 693 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,920 Speaker 2: the garden of Eden, there's just no avoiding Bill Fink's 694 00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:13,560 Speaker 2: weird blog. 695 00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:17,640 Speaker 1: But Frank's pardon, the story is over. 696 00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:23,000 Speaker 2: Francis Joseph Smith, the Second, the man George Lincoln Rockwell 697 00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:27,120 Speaker 2: called the Holy Father, the man the FBI called Boston Blackie, 698 00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:32,160 Speaker 2: a bank robber, bomber, loan shark, Nazi, and Christian identity minister. 699 00:47:33,280 --> 00:47:37,799 Speaker 2: Died on October second, twenty twenty, just shy of his 700 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:42,680 Speaker 2: one hundredth birthday. He signed a will a year before 701 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:46,319 Speaker 2: he died, and in it he left what little he 702 00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:50,160 Speaker 2: had to his daughter. He scratched out his initials at 703 00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:53,759 Speaker 2: the bottom of a page whose final line reads, I 704 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,319 Speaker 2: have not left my son anything, and this was a 705 00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:03,040 Speaker 2: deliberate choice. Frank's actual parting gift to his son was 706 00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:05,799 Speaker 2: leaving his mailing address on file with the city as 707 00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:10,160 Speaker 2: the point of contact for the church. The church still 708 00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:14,400 Speaker 2: owns all that land, and as of this recording, the 709 00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:18,400 Speaker 2: city of Ellsworth, Maine, is still sending Frank's son past 710 00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:23,120 Speaker 2: due notices or a growing real estate tax Bill. He 711 00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:25,000 Speaker 2: never did convince the State of Maine that it was 712 00:48:25,040 --> 00:48:40,920 Speaker 2: a real church. Weird Little Guys as a production of 713 00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:43,920 Speaker 2: Coal Zone Media and iHeartRadio. It's research, written and recorded 714 00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:46,600 Speaker 2: by me, Willy Hunger. You probably noticed that I have 715 00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:48,959 Speaker 2: a cold this week, so I'm sorry my voice sounds 716 00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:52,440 Speaker 2: a little nasily. Our executive producers are Sophie Lettterman and 717 00:48:52,520 --> 00:48:55,480 Speaker 2: Robert Evans. The show is edited by the wildly talented 718 00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:58,040 Speaker 2: Rory Gagan. The theme music was composed by Brad Dickert. 719 00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:00,200 Speaker 2: You can email me at Riddle the Guy's pot Guess 720 00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:02,360 Speaker 2: at gmail dot com. I will definitely read it, but 721 00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:05,600 Speaker 2: I probably won't answer. It's nothing personal. You can exchange 722 00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:07,880 Speaker 2: conspiracy theories about the show with other listeners on the 723 00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:10,799 Speaker 2: Weird Little Guys subreddit, and if you're listening to this 724 00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:13,239 Speaker 2: around the time it came out, you can go over 725 00:49:13,280 --> 00:49:15,759 Speaker 2: to the subreddit and post in the pin thread if 726 00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:18,319 Speaker 2: you have questions you'd like answered in an upcoming Q 727 00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:20,760 Speaker 2: and A episode. I think we'll be doing that sometime 728 00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:25,360 Speaker 2: in December. As always, don't post anything that's going to 729 00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:33,720 Speaker 2: make you on my Weird Little Guys