Search results
Jun 15, 2019 · Cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne has died aged 97. But as the messianic leader of Victorian cult The Family, which ran amok in secret from the Dandenongs, Kew and Lake Eildon for 35 years, she was ...
- Overview
- CAPTIVATED BY ANNE
- "AN EVIL, EVIL PERSON"
- HOUSE OF HORRORS
- SEEKING FREEDOM
- THE RAID
- "OPERATION FOREST"
- CLOSING IN
- CAUGHT
- LIFE AFTER THE FAMILY
This story first aired on April 29, 2017
To some, Anne Hamilton-Byrne was a yoga teacher with a penchant for plastic surgery. To others, she was the evil leader of The Family -- an apocalyptic cult with about 500 followers and more than 28 children. Some were the children of cult members, others were newborns that came from unwed mother tricked into thinking their babies were going to good homes, a few were out and out stolen, investigators say.
Now, some of those children are speaking out about Hamilton-Byrne's attempt to build a perfect race through a collection of children -- some of whom were forced to have their hair bleached blonde, were home-schooled on an isolated property, and were injected with LSD as part of an initiation ritual.
The harsh treatment was carried out by some of the women known as "Aunties," loyal cult members who lived with and taught the children. The children believed they were brothers and sisters and thought Anne and Bill Hamilton-Byrne were their parents until they were rescued by police and the cult was broken up.
"The Family" is also the story of the incredible determination of a detective in Australia and an agent at the FBI who joined forces to bring the Hamilton-Byrnes before a judge.
"My whole life was wrapped up in this investigation," says Lex de Man, a former detective with the Victoria Police Department in Melbourne, Australia. He tells "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant, "She is the most evil person that I've ever met."
Michael Stevenson-Helmer: Anne was waiting for me, and just welcomed me, and took me in … Looked at me and I was numb right through to my toes.
Anne Hamilton-Byrne's magnetism and command always seemed to hypnotize some of her followers.
Michael Stevenson-Helmer: It's hard to put into words, but it's was the most … amazing, wonderful feeling … It was just a feeling of being known, and understood.
Like true believer Michael Stevenson-Helmer, who was 19 years old when he met Hamilton-Byrne.
Michael Stevenson-Helmer: She just radiated out, don't you know that? Haven't you experienced that?
Even those who later broke away from The Family are still awed by Anne's seductive strengths.
In Australia, locals would call Detective Lex de Man a "copper" and investigating Anne Hamilton-Byrne had been this "copper's" life's work.
Lex de Man: Anne Hamilton-Byrne is the most evil person I've ever come across and I've come across quite a few evil people in my life. …when you look at what she did to children -- what she did to young mothers, taking children … breaking marriages up, taking money off people, she is an evil, evil person.
Sarah Moore: She'd just change your whole world. She'd turn it upside down overnight.
Sarah Moore, taken from her unwed mother at birth, grew up watching Anne manipulate her disciples -- children and adults – with unquestioned power, combining love with fear.
Sarah Moore: They'd have a marriage, they might be in love with someone or they might have a kid or whatever, and she'd just take that away overnight and say … "No, you're with this person now," or, "No, you're having this kid now, not that one," and that was the way it worked.
But there are also stories of Anne winning over converts by allegedly performing miracles. Ben Shenton, who grew up in The Family, describes how Anne won over his mother Joy after a life-changing encounter.
Anouree Treena-Byrne was a child of The Family cult. Now, she's revisiting her childhood home, back where her nightmares began.
Anouree Treena-Byrne: Anyone who saw this house … would think it would be a lovely holiday house. …For us, of course, Eildon was … a dreadful place to live.
Anouree Treena-Byrne: It was very hard to relax. I don't know if I even knew what that meant I don't think. It was just a terrible place to be. … I uselessly dreamed of going to Mars, and living there.
Anouree was actually Bill Hamilton-Byrne's biological granddaughter. As an infant, she was given to Anne and Bill. As she grew older, she wondered about the outside world, sometimes sneaking off the property.
Anouree Treena-Byrne: We did go for midnight walks … And we'd peer into people's houses. And we were very curious as to what exactly it was they were doing.
Anne Hamilton-Byrne has always insisted the children were well cared for.
Leeanne Creese: …as children Sarah and I … used to talk about … escaping.
Sarah Moore: From … 14 or 15 age, you see the hypocrisy … I don't want to be part of her cult. I don't want her to be my guru.
Fed up with the hunger, abuse and psychological torture of life under cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, Leeanne, now 15, found the courage to confront her face to face. She says Anne responded with violence.
Leeanne Creese: She had attacked me quite viciously … had slapped me … I was very angry with her so I actually slapped her back. And I thought, "Oh God, I'm not going to hang around for this."
Leeanne Creese: So I jumped out the window… and ran down to the lake… Kept running as far as I could possibly get away from them. …And I saw a light in a house and I thought, "Oh well, I will go to them and ask them to go and get the police." …they were a lovely couple, old couple… I remember the wife being very concerned … she said, "Oh, are you one of those children from around the lake?" All I could say to them was just, "Please get me the police."
When an officer arrived, Leeanne told him about the horrors. But instead of rescuing her, the officer called the Aunties at Lake Eildon, who convinced him that Leeanne was unstable.
The world first became aware of the Australian cult known as The Family on Aug. 14, 1987, when the Victorian and federal police staged a dramatic pre-dawn raid to remove children living at an isolated compound near Melbourne. The cult was led by Anne Hamilton-Byrne, a self-appointed mystic who controlled her followers for decades.
By day's end, news was spreading about Anne Hamilton-Byrne, a yoga teacher turned cult leader who, investigators say, had been collecting children for years. At one time, there were 28 kids in all, ranging in age from toddlers to teens.
Dave Whitaker's parents were senior cult members and knew Anne well.
Dave Whitaker: She was a very charismatic sort of person … she had a huge presence about her.
As many as 500 adults followed Anne Hamilton-Byrne willingly, but the children had no choice. Some were the offspring of cult members; others were taken from unwed mothers who were strong-armed into giving up their babies by cult doctors and nurses. Now those children are speaking out about their ordeal.
Sarah Moore: There was a child that was nearly dying from malnutrition and was only three foot tall … and was 12 years old.
Marie Mohr: You couldn't hear those stories without it affecting you if you had any heart at all.
Back in the 1980s, Marie Mohr was a tough as nails investigative reporter hot on the trail of cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne. But once she bonded with cult children Sarah and Leeanne, her hard-edged attitude softened.
Marie Mohr: I do remember one of my bosses saying to me at one stage, "are you a social worker or a journalist?" and I said, "well at the moment it seems I'm a bit of both."
Leeanne Creese: Marie was the one, ultimately the first person that we actually grew, all of us to trust …and she was a bit of a bulldog in the fact that she wanted justice for all of us for what had happened and she's always been there.
Eager for answers, Mohr tracked down one of The Family's psychiatrists, Dr. John Mackay.
She had questions about an autistic baby boy Dr. Mackay had adopted and given to Anne to raise.
The scenic and secluded town of Hurleyville, New York, was about to take center stage in an international drama much to the surprise of Australian detective Lex de Man.
Lex de Man: Who would have thought Anne would have been in this house, two hours north of New York City, in a remote part of upper New York State – 10,000 miles from Victoria?
Peter Van Sant: It's like the dark side of the moon, right?
Lex de Man: To me it is … And seeing it today, I'm amazed that we were actually able to find her.
For four-and-a-half years, cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne and her husband, Bill, had managed to elude the detective.
Peter Van Sant: How did they end up here?
Lex de Man: This so-called Jesus Christ … was nothing more than a heinous criminal. …I don't think Anne Hamilton-Byrne was evil; I know that Anne Hamilton-Byrne was evil.
Lex de Man's dogged pursuit of Anne Hamilton-Byrne and her husband had led to this moment in upstate New York.
Agent Hilda Kogut: I say "FBI. Open the door. We have arrest warrants for Anne Hamilton-Byrne and William Hamilton-Byrne. Open the door."
Special Agent Hilda Kogut didn't know what she would find behind that door.
Agent Hilda Kogut: I see a look of shock…
Instead of a commanding cult leader, she saw a sad-looking 71-year-old woman.
When Anne Hamilton-Byrne finally set foot on Australian soil for the first time in six years back in August 1993, she did not look like the glamorous cult leader her followers had come to expect.
Sarah Moore: Anne … being shown on national television without her wig -- that really was a blow to her narcissism.
A year later, with her wig back in place, Anne and her husband were hauled before a judge.
It was a moment ex-cult child Sarah Moore just had to see firsthand.
Sarah Moore: I still wanted there to be justice and for there to be some sort of acknowledgment that something bad had happened to us children.
The children of The Family, some of whom had been brainwashed, physically and emotionally abused, and even given mind-altering drugs, thought that Anne and Bill Hamilton-Byrne would face charges that could put them in prison for decades.
- Correspondent, "48 Hours
- CBS News
Jun 14, 2019 · Anne Hamilton-Byrne, who convinced people she was Jesus Christ reincarnated, led the doomsday sect with her husband Bill Hamilton-Byrne from 1963 to 1987.
Jun 14, 2019 · Australian cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne has died in Melbourne at the age of 98. Her cult, The Family, was accused of imprisoning and brainwashing children in the 1970s and 80s....
Main page; Contents; Current events; Random article; About Wikipedia; Contact us; Donate; Pages for logged out editors learn more
Jun 14, 2019 · Notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne has died in a suburban Melbourne nursing home. Hamilton-Byrne, who some followers believed was Jesus Christ, was glamorous and charismatic — and, many allege, very dangerous.
People also ask
Did Bill Byrne divorce his wife?
Who is Anne Hamilton-Byrne?
Did we ever find Anne Hamilton-Byrne?
What happened to Ms Hamilton-Byrne?
Who were Anne and Bill Hamilton-Byrne?
What happened to Anne Hamilton-Byrne?
Jun 20, 2023 · The story of Anne Hamilton-Byrne’s cult The Family has been told in a non-fiction book and documentary, a novel, In the Clearing, and now a Disney+ series. What can stories like this teach...
