All language subtitles for Devil in the Family The Fall of Ruby Franke S01E03 720p HULU WEB-DL DDP5 1 H 264-RAWR

Police officers. Open up!

- Got movement.
- Open the door!

Jodi? I need you to step out.

I... I have... I
have my attorney...

That's great. Step
out of the house.

- No, I'm not gonna step out of the house.
- Step out of the house.

- Step out of the house.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

We're just gonna see if anybody
else... is there anybody else home?

Wait a minute! How do
you come in my house?

Right there.

We should
probably talk about

what Ruby and Jodi
did to the kids

after you moved out.

If that's okay.

Okay.

Come down.

Keep coming.

Kevin
and Chad are gone.

Shari's been disowned.

So that leaves four young kids
with only Ruby to care for them.

We were all starting to worry.

What I say is
often really difficult

for people to hear.

And what I'm suggesting
is that your woke child

is a walking zombie.

And you have an opportunity
to wake the zombie up.

You have hurt, you have
fear, you have resentment.

You have feelings
of being entitled.

Watch the computer.

You have these kind of
perceptions inside you.

And you may not even know
you have them, but you do.

Will you step forward just
one step so I can see your face?

Step forward a little more.

There you go. Right there.

These were once
very bubbly children.

Now they were withdrawn,

um, almost seemed like no joy.

One day, Ruby
happened to be in her front yard.

So I asked her, "Why did
Kevin and Chad leave?"

And she said, "Every marriage
should have a separation."

She said, "It could be a
year. It could be five years."

We don't
know what is wrong,

but there is something wrong.

I think, if anything, we hoped
that maybe Kevin would come home

and either remedy the situation,

or get those kids away from, what
we felt was, a dangerous situation.

Going into
the no-contact separation,

I was terrified that I was
going to lose my marriage,

that Ruby was going
to ask for a divorce.

I was 1,000% compliant
by that point.

I was going to support
her over all my children.

Period.

And somehow, I had
to convince Jodi

that I was ready
to go back to Ruby.

You have to be willing
to make choices that are in truth.

Just focus on not being
selfish in any form tomorrow.

It was radio silence

from anybody and everybody

with the exception of
the weekly men's group.

And so, I shifted to
an absolute hermit.

I moved right
outside the local university.

You are depressed, you
are anxious, you are addicted.

The calls with
Jodi, they're still going on?

Once a week, every
Tuesday, at 3:00 p.m.

There's selfishness, there's
greed, there's porn, there's lust,

there's manipulation, there's lying,
there's hiding, there's secrets.

At this point, Jodi really
just had kind of a control on me

'cause I learned to love her
and I learned to trust her.

As you know...

All I really wanted
that whole time moving out

was to make my
mom and Jodi proud

and to really show
that I was changing.

Because
the lies, they're attacks...

After about a
month, I texted Kevin from college.

Just saying, "I love
you and I miss you."

And I saw that he
hearted the message,

and then a minute
later he un-hearted it.

I just said like,
"What are you doing?"

Like, "Pull your head out of
your ass" and, like, "Come back."

And I think I got blocked after that
so I stopped sending text messages.

Why didn't you stand
up to say, "This is nonsense"?

- You know what I mean?
- I know, and...

and if I dwell on that
question, it eats me alive.

It was very clear that
Kevin's really not coming back.

And I was really uncomfortable with
every new video that was coming out.

It was getting worse and worse.

Very harsh and
just no compassion.

"I love principles
more than my child."

- Yikes!
- That's a really...

- And... And that is the truth.
- Truth! That is the truth.

Don't let the child control
and dictate what goes on.

We started seeing less
of her around the neighborhood.

We started seeing more of her
being filmed in St. George,

which is four hours away.

We are beyond Band-Aids.

We're beyond

putting a little bit of
ointment on the wounds.

We're beyond that!

It got to
the point where

Ruby's car seemed
to be gone for days.

These kids were home alone.

You would see little faces peering
out the window when you walked by,

and that same face would be
peering out the window hours later

when you walked by again.

Shari and I
would text often.

I asked her how she was doing

and she just said, "I'm, I'm
kind of getting nervous."

And I said, "Yeah,
I can see why."

911. Emergency.

The first thing I remember
is getting a text from Lisa...

and I responded "yes."

And she said, "Shari called
the police for a welfare check.

Can you come talk to the
police? We need more witnesses."

And at that point, nobody
would answer the door.

Why couldn't
the police just go in?

- They needed to get...
- A warrant.

...a warrant by the judge.

And the officer said that the
judge would not sign off on it.

I text
Kevin, I'm like, "Hey, man,

"cops are outside your house.

Hope things are okay.
What's going on?"

No response.

I tried to text
Kevin and I was blocked.

And that was shocking.

The guy's totally
brainwashed at this point.

Just gone.

If your kid
came to you on fire,

you throw them on the ground
and you start rolling them.

Our
intuition's going nuts.

They're putting out
these culty videos,

she's neglecting her kids,

the kids are, you know,
quiet and evasive.

They're gonna say, "You're hurting
me. You're... You're beating me.

You're controlling."
It's like, "No, dear.

Hold still. I'm
getting the fire out."

There were so many of
our neighbors that all contacted

the Division of Child
and Family Services.

So I remember
one conversation with a DCFS worker

and she asked me, "Well, do
you see any signs of abuse?"

And I said, "No. I, I didn't... I
didn't see any physical signs of abuse."

She just said we... they needed
to see some physical evidence

for them to be able to step in.

I got a call
from the case worker

who just said, "I'm so sorry.
We have to close this case."

Um, she said, "Personally, I just want
you to know, like, I'm really concerned.

But there's, like,
nothing that we can do."

And from that point on, I never
saw the kids play outside again.

Never. Just like lockdown.

You need to get
a surgical knife.

You... You
need to put the kid out

and surgically go in
and find the infection.

I realized
I should have lied

and told them that the kids were
being harmed and I could see it.

I really regret not saying that.

I didn't know.

Yeah, I wish I had lied.

911. Emergency.

I heard over the radio that there was
a young boy that showed up to a house

that had, uh, duct tape, uh,
on his ankles and wrists.

The ambulance was already
there, backed into the driveway.

So I grabbed my camera out
of the back of my vehicle,

went up into the ambulance to get a
few pictures before they take off.

Hey, I'm Sergeant Tobler.

I here to just get a few
pictures. Are you okay with that?

I'd say my first impression was
just how extremely emaciated he was.

Just nothing but skin and bones.

And I just recall being
able to see the tendons

on the upper part of his ankle
in that Achilles tendon area,

front and back.

Had you seen
anything like that before?

No.

He said that he had been tied up

and that he had
handcuffs on him.

And he said, "I have a
younger sister in the home."

And I was like, "When
did you see her last?"

And he said, "It's
been over a month."

He said he had heard her in the home,
but they had been kept totally separate.

We decided we
were gonna do a sweep of the house

and try to locate whatever
other children were in the home.

Police officers. Open up!

Open the door!

Jodi? I need you to step out.

That's great. Step
out of the house.

- No, I'm not gonna step out of the house.
- Step out of the house.

- Step outta the house.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Wait a minute! How do
you come in my house?

- Right there.
- They're going into my house.

- Have a seat right there.
- Do you have a search warrant?

- Do you have a search warrant?
- Have a seat right there.

But don't you have
to have a warrant?

We ended up working
our way through the entire house.

And you're just looking
through each door or closet.

You go downstairs, there's like a
basement that's all concrete walls,

concrete floors,
concrete ceiling.

We found a... looked
like to be a safe,

that could have been just a
safe for guns or a safe room.

- I have a question for you.
- Yeah?

You have a room downstairs that
has a safe wheel on the front.

- Uh-huh.
- How do we get access to that

to ensure that there's
no one else in this home?

I don't know if I
have the code, whatever it...

'Kay. Is that a
panic room or a room where...

It's a room with a
toilet, with a sink.

Toilet and a sink.
And you don't know the code?

- I haven't used it.
- Okay.

Coming
upstairs, went into one room

that had an attached bathroom
and an attached closet.

I cleared the bedroom

and then Sergeant Hallman
cleared that bathroom.

And I heard him
talk to somebody.

Hi. I'm a police officer.

Hey, you okay?

I'm Sergeant Tobler.
What's your name?

The girl looked like a
young boy sitting there.

Shaved head, real skinny,
didn't talk to us.

Kinda looked scared to me.

You doing okay?

Are you scared?

Yeah?

I'm not here to hurt you. I just
wanna make sure you're okay.

And I get it if you're
scared. I would be too.

I've seen two children at this point,
young children, in a bad situation

and it's hard not
to personalize it.

I was kinda getting
a little choked up.

So, Sergeant Hallman continued
to clear the room and I said,

"You know, I'm just
gonna stay here."

What kinda person does
this to these two children?

How did
that day begin for you?

I don't even remember.

I don't remember
a lot of that day.

It's just a blur.

I had had no
communication with the family

in over a year.

My phone started ringing
and I looked at it.

It was Ruby and then
the heart emoji.

She was calling me out of
the blue, so I answered it.

I was so emotional.

For the first time
in over a year,

I was having a conversation
with the woman that I loved,

with my wife.

She was talking to me again!

She was in a panic and she said,
"I have some explaining to do."

And she started to share with me

that the two younger children
were demonically possessed.

I remember asking, "How... Well...
Well, how... how do you know?"

And she said, "Well,
they've confessed to it."

And one of the younger kids,

he'd gotten out.

He'd gotten to the police.

And, and she said, "I can only imagine the
lies he's telling the police right now.

"You need to go pick up our
children from the police station.

This is your chance
to redeem yourself."

I was going to go
get those kids.

And I was going to
bring them back home.

The only place
that hadn't been accounted for

was the safe room downstairs.

So our lieutenant went to the code
and kind of just messed around

and he's like, "I'm
gonna try 123456."

And click, it opens.

That's when we found rope and
handcuffs in the bottom drawer.

Gauze, like the medical
dressing for wounds.

He mentioned, like, a cayenne
pepper and honey paste,

which was made to
put on his wounds.

And duct tape.

At that point, we still
had two outstanding girls.

It was the two middle children.
We didn't know where they were.

We had other agencies throughout
the state looking for them.

Ruby, it's the police department!
Open the door! Do it now!

Police department!

Alright, let's go.

We had local police
search the Franke home...

Police department!
Make yourself known!

But there
was no one there.

It was empty.

The two middle girls were eventually
found close to the Franke home

at the house of a
friend of Ruby's.

They were physically fine,

but at that point, Ruby was the
person we really wanted to speak to.

We were
searching the house

and out of nowhere,
Ruby just pulls up.

And then...

right now, I can put a finger
in each of these, 'kay?

Um, you don't have anything on you
that I should know about, correct?

Any weapons, anything
that we're gonna find...

She didn't ask questions.
She didn't ask how the kids were.

Just nothing.

And then if you wanna go into
the interview room downstairs.

Sounds good.

Going down? Or I'm going down?

I went straight to
the Ivins Police Department

and I walked in and I walked
right up to the receptionist

and I said, "I'm Kevin Franke, and
I'm here to pick up my two children.

I understand that they're
here waiting for me."

And she said, "Oh, okay. Um...

"A couple of officers, uh,
they have your children.

They wanna speak with
you about some things."

We're just gonna kind of ask you a
few questions about your involvement.

'Kay?

I remember just
thinking to myself,

"I just want my kids
and I want to go."

So you really thought
you'd just pick them up, yeah?

Yeah.

And how many
kids do you have, Kevin?

So, are they
all living with you or...?

Any of them?

I just remember thinking,
like, "This is crazy for a dad

to not have seen his
kids in over a year."

I was very
suspicious. I was nervous.

I... I mean, I was terrified

because, in my
mind, they were...

they were the wolves wanting
to tear my family apart.

And who
was that message from?

Why did you not
tell them who had called you?

Uh, I was afraid to do anything
that would point them towards Ruby.

Why?

Because I was trying
to protect her.

I couldn't
comprehend it.

I could understand it.
Didn't make sense to me.

I... I truly believed that
they were lying to me.

They even offered to show me some
pictures, and, and I refused.

Wh-Why?

Because, oh, I didn't
wanna be manipulated.

I didn't
know what to do.

I just was lost.

Going
into that interview,

I wanted to find out
more about the dynamic,

what had led to this.

And then I just pretty much
heard, "I support my wife.

I support Jodi and her teachings. And
I haven't seen my kids in a year."

I'm like, "Great.
So... not very helpful, but

you're also not really a
suspect anymore at this point."

So, I know I introduced
myself to you earlier,

but my name's Detective Bate
and this is Sergeant Tobler.

We're just here to talk to you about
kind of a few things involving your kids.

Do you live down here, or...?

She said nothing.

Wouldn't give me anything.

Just, like, the long blinks.

Do you wanna talk to
me about where you live

or how many kids you have?

I just remember thinking,

"This is the most awkward
interview of my life."

I can wait all day,

so it's up to you if you wanna
talk to us about what's going on.

Okay.

So, if you just kind of wanna
share a little about yourself

and what brought you
down here, and...

So, I trust my attorney. He
said, "Don't say anything."

And I said, "I have nothing to
hide." He's like, "I know that,

but just let me be there
with you when you talk."

So, I... You guys
seem nice people.

I... I'd like to just tell you, but
I don't, I don't know who you are.

I don't know if you're gonna
flip my words. I... I don't know!

And that's the
good thing about cameras,

everything, it's pretty much
double recorded, audio, video.

And it's for the safety of
y... for you and for us,

'cause we don't wanna
flip your words.

I'm a psychologist.

I've watched people flip
things all the time!

So I get it.

I, I, I sit on your
side. I get it.

I wish people didn't
do that, but they do.

She's clearly trying
to manipulate us in that moment.

"I'm a therapist. I'm
with you guys on this.

"I would love to share, but my
attorney has told me not to.

But I want to! I
wanna be forthcoming."

And it's like, okay.

Clearly!

Clearly, that's not the case.

At this point, I
had no contact with my mom.

I was just isolated
for a whole year.

I was at work and just was sitting
in my guard chair in Springville

and my boss came out to
me and, uh, she just said,

"Hey, I'm so sorry.
It's all over the news.

Anything you need,
just let us know."

And, uh, I had no idea
what she was talking about.

So, I, I get on my break
and I go on my phone

and instantly look up
"Ruby Franke today."

And, uh, there... there it was.

YouTube parenting
influencer Ruby Franke...

...sometimes
controversial parenting influencer...

Tonight, she is under arrest.

Franke and her
business partner Jodi Hildebrandt...

Charged with child abuse...

...aggravated
child abuse. Open wounds...

...malnourished,
bound, and covered in wounds...

Had to be taken to the hospital.

Police found
another minor inside...

... Franke's
malnourished 10-year-old daughter.

I was being fed all this information,
and I remember my thought process was,

"This is... this is not real."
And I really believed that.

Like, this is... This
has to be a setup.

At this point, I really believed Jodi
and my mom were God's chosen people.

I really believed these
were the last days.

The prison would crumble,
they would walk out,

and they would be
standing with God.

That's what I truly believed.

We met
with both of the kids

for the second
interview in Provo.

At this point, the young boy
was particularly forthcoming,

and what he
described... was bad.

How he would be forced to
stand in the sun all day long.

Being tied down to weights.

He would have to jump
on a trampoline all day.

He had mentioned going
out to Hell Hole Road,

it's just in the
middle of the desert,

and they were forced to run.

We were able to
articulate the need

to go back in the home for
evidence a second time.

I just remember going into the room
where the boy was staying with his mom

and on the nightstand,
there's this blue folder.

This is everything.

Like, she's literally
written down everything.

It's the day-to-day
recollection of events.

I just remember as
we went line by line

that we were just in shock.

"July 10th, 2023,

"I told the boy he
emulates a snake.

"If he wants to
emulate the savior,

"he needs to be 100%
obedient with exactness.

"The body must
engage in good work

"and the good works
need to be painful.

I have the power of
God and he must obey."

In the journal, you
can see that she genuinely believed

that her children
were possessed.

And in the LDS religion,

there's a belief that no unclean
thing can enter the kingdom of God.

So her anxiety about
being righteous

and getting to a
certain place in heaven

actually turned to
abusing her children.

But she thought she was
doing what was good.

That creating pain is
what gets you to God.

"I push
him into the sun.

"He comes back. I come
back with a cactus poker.

"When I poke his back to get in
the sun, he doesn't even flinch.

"I told him, 'Give your demon
friend a message for me.'

"'I will not rest. I will
not stop. I will not leave.

I will fight him until
the day you die.'"

There's absolutely no doubt...

...what that young boy did that day
saved his and his sister's life.

Franke and her
business partner Jodi Hildebrandt

seen giving advice in this video

a re charged with
aggravated child abuse

after police say
Franke's 12-year-old...

I called
Jodi, no response.

I even tried to call my
mom, which was a big no-no,

because I'm not supposed
to contact my mom at all,

and, uh, I got no response
from my mom either.

So far, there's been no
comment from either of the women.

Franke's family...

So, I did the impossible
and the unthinkable

and I messaged my dad.

Who I hadn't messaged
in over a year.

And I got a message from my dad that said,
"Hey, this evening I'm going to the house.

I'd like to check on it and
you are welcome to come."

I pull up and I see this
man in the front yard

and I think, "Who is that?"

And then he stands up and

it was just this
skinny, scrawny man.

Chad looked
so much older.

And he asked, "What's going on?
What is all this I'm hearing about?"

And I told him

about the children being under
the influence of evil spirits

and the things that they
were purportedly doing.

This is the hardest part.

I accepted the abuse
as something truthful.

And that's really
hard for me to say

because my mom explained
it to my dad in a way,

and my dad explained
it to me in a way,

of it was the right thing to do.

I walked into the
house for the first time

in over a year.

And it was just a mess.

Things were littered
all over the floor

in bins and buckets.

And I opened the drawers and
the drawers were all empty.

Everything was empty.

My mind was just
racing by this point.

The things I was believing

weren't compatible with the facts
that were sitting in front of me.

I walk in and Kevin
is sitting on the ottoman

with his head down and he
stands up and we hugged

and he just sobbed
and he apologized.

He said, "I apologize
for the mess."

And we said, "Well, you know it's messy
because they were packing up to leave.

They were moving."

And he said, "Wait. No...
No. W... Where? Why?

"This is their home!
This is where they live!

W... Why would
they go anywhere?"

And we started to explain to him
and... and he said, "No. Stop.

Just listen. I need to talk."

And we went over and into his
living room and sat down and talked.

And we talked for six hours.

And so, I started asking
questions for the first time.

"Did Ruby really
move to St. George?

True or false?"

"True."

"What was going on at my house?"

And they shared.

He just kept grabbing
his head and he would cry

and he was so angry.

And he just said, "I just
feel like I'm going crazy.

None of this makes
sense. I feel like..."

He says, "I think everything...
everything has been a lie."

He was just realizing
that he had been brainwashed.

- Yeah.
- And he was just starting

to come out of it.

All of a sudden, two
plus two equaled four

and things made sense.

He just said, "Chad, we've... we've
been lied to this... this whole time.

"No child is possessed.

No kid or child has done the things
that your mom has said they have done."

My dad was in
tears. He hugged me.

He was sobbing on my shoulder.

And I was battling
with myself in my head

like, "Everything you've
been learning is a lie."

And I just remember,
I closed my eyes

and I just remember all the
blood rushing to my head,

and I realized I couldn't
really defend her anymore.

Little by little,
I was accepting the idea

that Ruby and Jodi had
done something awful.

I feel angry when
I think about that.

Do
you feel guilty?

Absolutely.

I was the last line of
defense for these children

and I packed my bags
and walked away.

All rise!

Fifth District Court in Washington
County, State of Utah is now in session.

The Honorable John
J. Walton presiding.

You may be seated.

Ms. Hildebrandt,
how do you plead to count one,

aggravated child abuse,
a second-degree felony?

Guilty.

And to count
three, aggravated child abuse,

a second-degree felony?

Guilty.

Jodi convinced Ruby that there
was a cause worth fighting.

And in that process,

Ruby's cause became to
eliminate her children of evil

when there was never
any evil to eliminate.

To count
five, aggravated child abuse,

- a second-degree felony?
- Guilty.

I think she received
a great deal of satisfaction

taking revenge on
anyone that is happy.

Ms. Hildebrandt...

Jodi
was very gifted.

Part of the gift
was to be able to

get people to
believe things that

don't even make sense,
but they believe 'em.

Thank you, Your Honor.

If you're like
me, you've had pain in your life.

Connexions
is the solution.

My brush with evil

only led me to Jesus Christ.

Before, I thought that
these teachings were of him.

And I saw so thoroughly that

no part of it embodied him.

Ms.
Franke is now here.

Alright, I've been
handed a plea agreement

and it appears to be
signed by Ms. Franke.

- Ms. Franke, did you sign this agreement?
- Yes.

I found it very
difficult to look at Ruby

and so I, I chose not to.

Ms. Franke,
how do you plead to count one,

aggravated child abuse,
a second-degree felony?

Guilty.

To count
three, aggravated child abuse,

a second-degree felony?

Guilty.

To hear this woman
that I have worshiped

just admit to
destroying our family,

that hurt.

There
is a factual basis...

It really was
heartbreaking seeing her

in ankle chains and, um,
and... and handcuffs.

Before I went to the sentencing,
I said, "I'm not gonna look at Ruby."

Like, "I... I don't
care to see her."

And so, I, I just stared at
the judge the entire time.

I personally have seen too
many crocodile tears from her.

And so, I can't say
whether she is sorry.

What are we doing?

So, we're gonna find out if
it's pink or if it's blue.

It's pink!

It's gonna be a girl!

- Oh!
- Oh!

Yay!

I knew it!

Chad? What do you think?

Staring at it won't
make it turn blue, pal.

Where are
you at with Ruby now?

I will never talk to her again.

Like, whether she's the most
apologetic person in the world or not.

Like, that doesn't
change anything for me.

We have one childhood
and one mom...

...and that was mine.

Do you miss her?

I miss a mother figure.

I, I miss how she was
when I was very young.

But I think what she's
going through is deserved.

I don't think she should get out

at least until the kids, all
the kids, turn 18 years old.

But that doesn't mean that
I don't have love for her.

Do
you still love her?

Definitely.

I... I've always loved her.

Even though
she abused the kids,

you still love her?

Oh, yeah.

The actions that she
did are atrocious,

but I still feel a longing.

I... I miss her.

All of the delivery rooms,

all of the moments
holding our children...

It is easy for the world
to hate that woman,

and so many people want
me to join in that chorus,

and I cannot turn off all
of those other memories.

This is heaven!

I live for being in the kitchen
with my kids and good food.

Daddy!

How do you
make sense of all this?

Of what's happened to you all?

This really
is a story of love,

of hope...

...of family.

But this is also a
story of deception...

...of control.

And ultimately, it's
a story of faith.

If you put your faith
in the wrong hands,

you can lose everything.

Thanks, you guys.
Happy scheduling.