All language subtitles for Law and order S15E19 - Sects

NARRATOR:
In the criminal justice system

the people are represented by two
separate yet equally important groups,

the police
who investigate crime

and the district attorneys
who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

Freezing my ass off for a
nicotine hit, it's pathetic.

(LAUGHS)

Come over to my place.

Uh-uh. Too dangerous.

What are you afraid of,
one drink?

(SIGHS) I really think
we ought to take it slow.

I won't put the moves on you, promise.
Unless you want me to.

You see, that's exactly...
(GASPS)

Oh, my God,
that man shot himself!

OFFICER: Kids that saw it happen
said they were on a first date.

Dinner and a show?

Not exactly
what they had in mind.

What about the victim?
On his way to Bellevue.

No, is he likely?

EMS said
he was still breathing.

If he's not DOA,
he's a house plant.

FONTANA: 9mm.

There's the shell casing.

What time did
this go down?

Witnesses said
just after 11:00.

He called somebody
at 10:59.

Get this stuff vouchered,
will you? Have any ID?

Richard Ranson.
Twenty-eight years old.

Hello? Hi, ma'am, I'm sorry
to call you so late,

this is Detective Green, New
York City Police Department.

Yeah, may I ask who I'm speaking to?
Okay, do you know a Richard Ranson?

Ah, yeah, I understand.

Wife?

Yeah, they're separated.

That figures. Family trouble.

He's on his way
to Bellevue, ma'am.

Self-inflicted
gunshot wound.

We don't know, we don't know.
We're on our way there now.

Excuse me?

Do you have an address?

She thinks he may have
killed somebody else.

You're kidding me. Where?

Uh-huh.

Over there.

ED: I'm assuming those are
his prints on the knife.

And assuming he dies,
it'd be a murder-suicide.

He shot himself in the head
and kept breathing?

He must've flinched.

Room's registered to a Richard Ranson.
Thank you.

New York license.

Maryann Miller. Sullivan Street.
She's... 29?

It's a hard 29.
Looks more like 39 to me.

Look at the left side of
her arm and face.

Yeah, she's got a suntan
like she'd been driving.

Not in New York.
Not this time of the year.

He's a lucky man.

Bullet creased his skull,
exited the scalp.

That's because
he wasn't fully committed.

Excuse me?
To dying.

A wound like that
means that

you turned the gun away
at the last possible second.

I see. But he has a concussion,
hairline skull fracture.

But it sounds like
he's gonna make it.

Barring unforeseen complications,
he should end up with no more than

a bad headache, temporary double vision.
Down the road,

maybe a little
cosmetic surgery.

Well, we're gonna need to
talk to him at some point.

Just give me a day or two,
I'll let you know.

She's in here.
Thanks.

Mrs. Ranson?

Detective Green. This is my
partner Detective Fontana.

Hi. Did you
go to the hotel?

Oh, my God.

Richard,
what have you done?

Who? Do you know?

Well, we were hoping
that you might be

able to help us with that.

The victim was in her 30s,
pretty, brunette.

Her 30s?

Maryann Miller, no,
I don't know her.

FONTANA: Probably
from out of town.

Well, you have her license,
can't you just...

It's a fake. There's no such
person, no such address.

Mrs. Ranson, what made you send
us to your husband's hotel room?

MRS. RANSON:
He'd left me a message.

What was the message?

He said he had finally done what
he needed to do his whole life.

And it was the hardest thing
he'd ever done.

And why would that mean
he would kill somebody?

He'd been talking about it
for months.

FONTANA: About
killing someone?

Anyone in particular?

His mother.

Richard grew up in a cult.

I didn't know
they still had cults.

His mother, Mrs. Shelby,
is the leader.

The founder.
She's the queen bee.

Even the members
call her "Mother."

She live in the city?

They have branches in Mexico, in Asia,
and she's usually out of the country.

What about his father?

Oh, who knows?

The Children
of the Divine...

Wait, that's what
they call this thing?

It was founded in the '60s.

They believed in
free love, drugs,

salvation through sex,
enlightenment through ecstasy.

Well, there was a lot of that
going on back then.

Richard was a product of what
they call the "soul seduction."

The female members would go out and try
to seduce men to get them to join.

So Richard's father took the sample,
but he didn't buy the package.

It was a one-night stand.
I don't think he ever met him.

I can understand why Richard resents
his mother, but why kill her?

The Children of the Divine practice what
they call the "sexualization of children."

That doesn't sound good.

Adults had sex with the children, the
children had sex with each other,

while their parents watched.

They said it was natural.

It's what God intended
in the Garden of Eden.

And all this happened
to Richard?

Big time.
He was the Crown Prince.

The Chosen One.
Mother's successor.

Richard didn't
buy into that.

He hated it.

Couldn't wait to get out.

He left when he was 19.
He escaped, really.

How long you two been married?

A year and a half.

He thought
we were gonna make it.

ED: What happened?

About six months ago, he got
really angry and depressed.

Went into
a complete tailspin.

You know why?

He wouldn't tell me.

Then two weeks ago,
he hit rock bottom.

He moved out, and he said it'd
be the best for both of us.

RICHARD ON TAPE: Taking a human fife
was the hardest thing I've ever done.

Not that it made any difference.
I'll never escape the past.

I know that now.

Thanks for trying.
I love you.

And he shot himself.

"I'll never escape the past."

There's a website for survivors,
cult members who've walked away,

and they all tell the same story.
Physical abuse,sexualabuse.

Drug overdoses, suicide.

Mmm. Parents who'd do this
to their own children.

And the kids who rebel? They
get sent to the Philippines to

these "victory camps," where
they're disciplined, punished,

until they get
their heads straight.

Do we have any idea why
he killed this Maryann Miller?

We're thinking because of the phony
identification that she has some

connection with the cult. They're
into fake names, passports.

So they could stay one step ahead
of the law. What about Mr. Ranson?

We won't be able to get a crack at
him for the next couple of days.

He worked at a travel agency. We
were gonna go check out his office.

All right.

Rich was always easy
to get along with,

and then, I don't know,
last six months or so,

he just stopped talking,

stopped going out for lunch with
the rest of us. It was dramatic.

What about the last couple
of weeks or so?

Beyond blue.

His wife said
he moved out.

Oh, my God,
that explains it.

I thought it was
the phone call.

What phone call?

Some woman, uh,
Richie picked up...

I swear he turned white,
he heard who it was,

like he was talking
to a ghost.

He say anything about it?

Just rushed outta here. Came
back a couple of hours later,

he was a wreck.
Nervous, twitchy.

Hey, when did that phone call
happen, do you remember?

Couple weeks ago, maybe. The day
after this really complicated

charter to Lithuania, that was a
Monday, so it wasn't last Tuesday,

but the Tuesday before that.

Hey.

Look at this. Look how it's written.
That's the day of that phone call.

Looks a little shaky. "Empire
S-T." Empire Street?

We're gonna borrow this stuff.

Yeah, I seen him a couple
of times. Came by to see her.

Who's her?
Miss Porter.

Miss Porter have
a first name?

Sunny. Real California
hiPPv-dippvivpe-

Blonde hair, always complaining about
the heat, as in not enough of it.

If you find her, let us know, she still
owes us for her last three days.

Do you have her address?

Yeah, but I assume it's phony.

Phone number was. We still have her bag.
Suitcase.

And being the good
citizen that you are,

you're gonna turn over
this suitcase to us

as found property,
am I correct, sir?

Yeah, the tag on the back says
she flew in from San Francisco.

Oh, it looks like Sunny and
Richard were more than friends.

Oh.
"Christmas '92, Manzanillo."

That's Mexico.
Yeah?

Uh-huh.

Okay. Thank you. Sunshine
Porter flew one way from

San Francisco to Newark. She got here the
day after Richard got that phone call,

and she checked in the same day
at the Empire State Hotel.

Sunshine? This whole thing
is starting to sound like

a bad acid flashback
from the '60s.

And guess who
sold her the ticket?

The Travel Planet.

Richard Ranson.

ED: You're sure
you don't recognize her?

No, I'm positive.

Well, this photo would've been
taken, like, 10 or 12 years ago.

What was her connection
to Richard?

FONTANA: We don't know yet.

What makes you think
there was one?

Well, Richard was in the picture with her.
We cropped him out.

Why?

We wanted to show
them separately.

What were they doing
in the photograph?

Oh, this must've been
before he left the cult, so...

Was she a member, too?
We don't know.

She looks about 13, 14.

They were just kids.
It wasn't their fault.

Yeah, we know.

(PHONE RINGING)

Not again.

Are you gonna answer it?

Hello? These hang-ups
are driving me crazy.

When did they start?

Since everything happened.

When that happens, hang up,

pick up again, dial star-57.
We can trace the call.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Open up, it's the police!
MAN: Who is it?

I said
it's the police!

MAN: How do I know
you're really the police?

Read the badge, Einstein,
what's it say?

MAN: Could be fake.

Yeah, it could be,
but it's not.

Now open up, or we're
gonna kick the door in!

Where's Sunshine Porter?
She's not here.

Where'd she go?
I don't know.

FONTANA: What's your name?

Jared. Jared Weston.

All right, come on, give me your ID.
Give me some ID. Come on!

Can I ask you a question?
FONTANA: It depends.

Is he gonna be okay?
Who?

Daniel.
Who's Daniel?

You know, Richard Ranson. The guy who
shot himself and killed that lady.

That's why you're here,
isn't it?

Why do you call him Daniel?

That's how we knew him.
Whoa.

Growing up, that was
his name before he left

Children of the Divine.

Are you Sunshine Porter?

Yes.

She wasn't hiding from you.

We thought Mother sent you.

Mrs. Shelby?

Why are you afraid of her?

We just don't want her
to know where we are.

Were you in this cult
with Daniel?

After Daniel left, we left.

What was your relationship
with Daniel?

I'm his sister.

Why did you call your
brother's house and hang up?

I wanted to apologize
to his wife.

But I didn't know
what to say.

And the woman he killed?

Dolores.

She was our nanny.

The nannies were these girls who
took care of us most of the time.

They had sex with us, and got
us to have sex with each other.

And your mother
condoned all of this?

She believed in it. It's
written in the teachings.

God is love,

and the purest form
of love is sex.

So...

It's all in
the Book of Daniel.

What's the Book of Daniel?

Mother wrote it. It tells
you how to raise a child.

By having sex with them?

A couple of weeks ago,
you called your brother.

I heard Mother was gonna be in New York for
a meeting with some of the American Elders.

I thought if Daniel could just confront her
about what happened when he was a kid,

maybe he could move on
and get over it.

So you told him
about the meeting?

Yeah, but I didn't know where it
was gonna be, so he asked me to

put him in touch
with Dolores.

He thought he could get to
your mother through Dolores?

I guess Dolores wouldn't
tell him where Mother was.

I was just trying to help.

I didn't know he would
do what he did.

Dolores Diamond, 40, been living in
Mexico City, FBl's had a file on her

for more than a decade. Along
with her boss, Mrs. Shelby,

and the rest of
her inner circle.

What is the Feds' interest
in these people?

International investigation. Child abuse.
Argentina, Mexico, Belgium...

FONTANA: Any luck? A few arrests,
a few trials, no convictions.

Well, you'd think with all those
survivor testimonies on the website,

they'd be able to prosecute.

Well, they claim
they cleaned up their act

a long time ago, but no one's been
able to find the cult leaders

long enough to
prosecute them.

Well, I'd like to spend an hour
with one of the little creeps,

and teach 'em a whole new meaning
to the expression, "See the light."

Hospital called. Said your
boy's well enough to talk.

I did it.
I killed Dolores.

Not that you need
my confession.

FONTANA: We'll read
you your rights.

I waive my rights.

Let 'em do whatever
they want to me,

throw away the key,
lethal injection.

If you're looking for help from the
State of New York to finish the job,

you're outta luck. You should
have done her in Texas.

Whatever.

Why did you kill Dolores?

She deserved it.
They all do.

You know how many suicides
there have been?

Among the children
who grew up in this...

Abomination? How many drug overdoses?
And that's not counting the addicts,

and the alcoholics, the walking
wounded and the living dead.

We know what went on
in the cult, Daniel.

Then you know why I did it.

You know what
the worst thing was?

Even as she was about to die,

she still didn't get it.

Dolores?

She's dying.
She's bleeding to death.

She looks me in the eye,
and says, "Why?

"Why, Daniel, why?"

She still doesn't understand
she's ever done anything wrong.

Does he really
deserve murder two?

I could live with man one.

What if we could use Richard
to get at his mother?

She's really
the culpable party here.

I agree, but for what?

I've been going over his file,
his grandparents were awarded

custody of Richard
when he was a toddler.

They were
his legal guardians?

He was living with them
when Mrs. Shelby abducted him.

Did they file a complaint?
They did.

But she took him to Mexico
and they never saw him again.

That could be construed
as kidnapping.

I thought so.

It could also be construed
as a custody dispute.

Not to mention
the statute of limitations.

If he was taken for the purpose
of performing a sexual act,

that's a Class A felony,
no statute of limitations.

Kidnapping involving
a parent is tricky.

Under New York law, it's an affirmative
defense if the defendant's a relative

and the reason for the abduction
is simply to assume control.

So we have to prove Richard was
abducted for sexual purposes.

Without corroboration.

We'd have
his sister's testimony.

We'd have to
find Mrs. Shelby first.

I'm just ajourneyman lawyer on retainer.
I handle the more mundane

legal matters
for Mrs. Shelby.

Why does the District
Attorney need to

know where Mrs. Shelby is?

Dolores Diamond
was her assistant.

We'd like to ask some questions
concerning the case.

Well, I can assure you Mrs. Shelby knows
nothing about this tragic incident.

Are you familiar with the
website run by ex-cult members?

"Cult" is such
a negative word.

What would
you call it?

A religion. One person's cult
is another person's way to God.

A religion? The
Children of the Divine?

The IRS thinks so,
and so do the courts.

The people who post to this website
seem to think that Mrs. Shelby

had a lot to do
with this incident.

That in some real way,
she was responsible.

Bitter apostates
who bear a grudge.

Can you blame them?

No, not if their claims are credible.
They're not?

Any misdeeds you may be referring to
were perpetrated by a very small faction

of the group, who were dealt
with and expelled years ago.

The cult no longer
practices sex with children?

The Children of the Divine never did.
Only a few renegades who

misinterpreted the teachings. I can
get you a set of press releases

if you like, and transcripts of the trials
abroad, which absolutely exonerated

the organization.
Maybe you could just show us

a copy of the Book of Daniel. Or tell
us where we can get out hands on one.

We wouldn't have
to bother Mrs. Shelby.

There is no such book.

That's not what Daniel,
Richard Ranson, tells us.

Is he well enough
to speak to you?

Because I know that Mrs.
Shelby would like to call him,

just to see how he's doing.

He's in jail.
He isn't going anywhere.

All she has to do is
come and visit.

I'm afraid that would be
highly unlikely.

You think that lawyer's in
touch with Mrs. Shelby?

I definitely got that feeling.

Maybe he can help us
find her.

How? If Sunshine
sends her a message

through him.

I'll call Fontana and Green.

Sunshine,
you can do this.

Yeah, she scares me.

We'll be right there
with you.

I don't know how to get
in touch with her.

You call her lawyer, you tell him
that you wanna meet up with her.

Yeah, she won't wanna see me.

She will if you tell her that
you have a message from Daniel.

I am so happy to
see you, darling!

I missed you so much.

You and your brother.

Hi, Mother.

Have you talked to Daniel?

Yes, Mother.
I went to visit him once.

Mr. Jackson said you have a
message to give me from Daniel?

Yes.

Well, what is it?
What did he say?

ED: He said
you're under arrest.

Under arrest for what?

Kidnapping him
20 years ago.

ED: You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.

My client is a religious leader
with an international reputation.

International indeed,
Your Honor.

She's been investigated in a number
of countries on a variety of charges.

Spurious, trumped up,
discredited, and dismissed.

Thank God we still live in a country
where one is allowed to worship

as he or she chooses.

Mr. Granger, please.

Save the First Amendment for your
closing, should you get that far.

Given Mrs. Shelby's international
connections and resources,

we're asking that
she be remanded.

GRANGER: Mrs. Shelby
has no intention of fleeing.

The Children of the Divine have
consistentlyjumped bail when facing trial.

Sweeping generalization, Your Honor,
and what others may or may not

have done is irrelevant.

It is not irrelevant,
any more than

it would be with the leader of
any other criminal organization.

The Children of the Divine have a long
record of dealing deceptively with

civil and
judicial authorities,

part of their standard
operating procedure,

promulgated by Mrs. Shelby.

You've convinced me,
Ms. Borgia.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Bail is set at $2 million.

Your Honor.

Defendant will
surrender her passport.

Your Honor.
Happy? No? Good.

This isn't kidnapping, it's a
twenty-five-year-old custody dispute.

Your client took her son
from his legal guardians.

Her parents,
the boy's grandparents.

JACK: For sexual purposes.

That's a lie.

To rectify an erroneous
court decision and

reunite a son and his mother.

The abuse Richard Ranson suffered as a child
at the hands of his mother and others

led directly to the murder
of Dolores Diamond.

That's his self-serving
justification.

He wasn't abused.

On the contrary, Daniel was the most
pampered little prince. He was royalty.

As for the sex acts.

We have his sister's
corroborating testimony.

My daughter is
a disturbed young woman.

And your son is a murderer
and a would-be suicide.

Your point?

Your revolutionary
child-rearing techniques

seem to have fallen
a little short of the mark.

I am not saying that I was
the best mother that ever was.

But these allegations,

they're unbearable.

GRANGER: Not to
mention incredible.

And as you say,
look who's making them.

Then you're not interested
in a plea?

What would I plead to, Mr. Mo Coy? Trying
to bring my children closer to God?

Making them aware of the divine
spark that burns within?

And now I'm being
persecuted for it? Hmm?

I'm afraid Granger's right.
Nojury's gonna put much stock

in a murderer's sordid fantasy about
his mother and his babysitter.

Or the sister he had
an incestuous affair with.

We could use a witness
who wasn't a member.

Not much chance of that.

We could use
a copy of that book.

According to Richard Ranson,
as soon as

the authorities got on to
what they were up to,

Mrs. Shelby ordered
every copy burned.

We'll just have to make
do with what we got.

Facing her mother would be hard for
Sunshine Porter on her best day.

I'll do what I can to
shore her up.

Nobody forced us to have sex.

Isn't that a direct contradiction
of what you told the police?

It's just the way things
were in our world.

You were expected to,
and you did. Everybody did.

What if you'd said no?

Mother would
have been angry.

Okay, then. That's pressure. It's coercive.
You were a child.

I guess.

What about the victory camps?

I never had to
go to one of those.

What about Daniel?

When he was 17, he had to go
to the Philippines for a year.

Did he ever
tell you about it?

Mmm, he didn't wanna
talk about it, really.

Said it was no big deal.

The website testimonies
make it sound...

Brutal.

Beatings, isolation.

Daniel was the Chosen One, there was
only so much they could do to him.

Other kids had
a harder time of it?

I know our brother David did.

I didn't know you had another brother.
I'd like to talk to him.

You know how I can
get in touch with him?

Mmm, he died last year.

HOW?

Drug overdose.

They found him convulsing on
the floor of his hotel room.

Never had a chance.

His death coincides with
the onset of your depression.

So?

It could be used to
undermine your testimony.

You blame your mother
for David's death?

I do.

You look vindictive.

I am!

You fabricate these fantastic tales of
childhood abuse in order to get back at her.

I'm telling the truth!

Wish we had
a copy of that book.

So do I.

The book is gone.

What about Sunshine?

I'm cautiously optimistic.

You don't know
what you're up against.

SUNSHINE: Dolores would,

you know, sex him up.

JACK: How old
was he when this started?

Six or seven.

How old were you?

I'm three years younger
than Daniel.

So you would have been three or four.
And you remember this? Really?

Oh, yes.

I remember Mother

bringing me into
the room to watch.

By Mother,

you mean the defendant,
Mrs. Shelby?

Yes.

She was aware of
what was going on?

It was part of the teachings.
Her teachings.

She condoned it?

It was her idea.

JACK: How long
did this relationship

between your brother
and Ms. Diamond go on?

SUNSHINE: Until
he was about 17.

How do you know?

I'd watch.
Sometimes I'd participate.

You'd have sex with
your brother and Ms. Diamond?

Yes.

Was your mother
aware of this, too?

She encouraged it.

Your mother

encouraged you to have an incestuous
relationship with your brother?

Yes.

She did.

(SNIFFLES)

How long did
this incest go on?

SUNSHINE: Till Daniel left.

Why did he leave?

He told Mother
he didn't believe in

the teachings anymore
and he wanted a normal life.

And what was her reaction?

She was upset! She sent Daniel to
victory camp in the Philippines.

Victory camp, what's that?

A place where
you studied the teachings

until you understood
them better.

Where they punished you?

Yes.
How long was he there?

A year.
And when he returned?

He was angry.

Bitter.

Was this, uh, anger directed
at anyone in particular?

SUNSHINE: Our mother.

Is that when he left?

Moved to New York.

And changed his name
to Richard Ranson?

Yes.
What about you?

Were you upset when your, uh,
brother left the community?

Of course. That's natural.
He was your lover.

That's not why.
It isn't?

Isn't it true that for many years,
your mother had no idea what

you and your brother
were doing?

She knew from the beginning.

Do you know
how preposterous that is?

That any mother would condone, let
alone encourage, such a thing between

her young children?

In our community
it was normal.

That's what parents did.

You and your brother were lovers as
teenagers, after puberty, were you not?

(LAUGHS)
Yes.

For several years, until
Daniel called a halt to it.

(SIGHS)
Yes.

Isn't it a fact that that's when this
incestuous relationship started,

when you were teenagers, living in an
isolated, self-contained community

in a foreign country?
No.

It was before that.

And when your mother
discovered that

you and your brothers were lovers, isn't
that why she sent him away for a year?

No! Far from condoning
this illicit relationship,

wasn't she horrified?

She wanted us to be together.

And that upon his return, didn't you and
your brother concoct this outlandish story

to get your revenge on her?

Objection, Your Honor,

what is the foundation
for all this?

I'm getting to that,
Your Honor.

See that you do.

This is a transcript of
a sworn statement

you made to
the Mexican authorities

investigating similar
allegations

you and your brother
made against

Mrs. Shelby and
the Children of the Divine.

Would you please read
the highlighted section?

"Miss Porter: Daniel
and I made that up.

"Investigator: Made it up?
Which part?

"Miss Porter: All of it.

"Investigator: Why?

"Miss Porter: We were mad at
Mother for sending Daniel away.

"Investigator: Then these
allegations are false?

"Miss Porter: Yes,
they are. Completely."

GRANGER: Which
is it, Miss Porter?

Were you lying under oath then,
or are you lying under oath

HOW?

Judge Huse had no choice but
to dismiss the charges.

Sunshine was doing so well, too, even
with her mother giving her the Death Ray.

I'm going after her for murder.
Mrs. Shelby?

For the death
of her son David.

Where do we start?

Talk to the FBI,
they have a cult task force.

See what they've got on
the Children of the Divine.

I'll get on it right away.

Before she leaves
the country again.

There are ongoing
investigations against

Mrs. Shelby and
the Children of the Divine

in Argentina,
the Philippines.

They claim they've
cleaned up their act.

Well, it's maybe not as egregious as it
once was, but sex abuse still goes on.

Do you have any idea where we could
find a copy of Mrs. Shelby's book?

The legendary Book of Daniel?

We're trying to build a murder
case against Mrs. Shelby

for the death
of her son David.

It would help corroborate
Richard and Sunshine's

testimony against
their mother.

We can't find it.

I can get you a copy.

You can?

I've got a photocopy of a manuscript
that was seized in a raid years ago

on Mrs. Shelby's compound
in Buenos Aires.

A photocopy. Can the
original be authenticated?

It's in her handwriting.

The book is explicit, Arthur.

It's not just doctrine or some crazy
how-to manual for child rearing.

It documents specific instances, many
of them involving Richard Ranson.

It can help us establish
a clear pattern of abuse.

They gave them drugs as well?

How else do you
get a 10-year-old to

have sex with a 40-year-old
and claim it's consensual?

I wanna go back to the Grand Jury
and get an indictment for murder

against Mrs. Shelby for
the death of her son David.

Walk me through it.

Immigration says
Mrs. Shelby was in

New York at the time
of David's death.

She and David had flown
in from Mexico City.

During their visit, David Shelby
died of an overdose of Quaaludes.

An empty prescription bottle belonging
to Mrs. Shelby was found at the scene.

If she smuggled them in and gave
them to her minor son David

while he was in her care...

For the purposes
of sexual exploitation.

Depraved indifference,
murder two.

Let's re-arrest Mrs. Shelby.

David was my half-brother.
We have the same mother.

JACK: When was the last time
you saw your brother?

About ten years ago,
when I left the cult.

How old were you?

RICHARD: 18.
David was five.

Do you recognize this?

It's the Book of Daniel.

It's a book describing
how I was raised.

It's also a book of
my mother's teachings.

Who wrote
the Book of Daniel?

She did.

Does it accurately describe
how you were raised?

Yes, it does.

The Book of Daniel claims that you
were initiated into sexual activity

at a very early age,
is that true?

Yes.

Who was the first person
you ever had sex with?

My nanny, Dolores Diamond.

How old were you?

Six.

She would have been
about 17 or 18.

Would you tell the court what
crime you have been convicted of,

and are presently
awaiting sentencing for?

RICHARD: Manslaughter.

Who did you kill?

Dolores Diamond.

Your nanny. Why?

I hated her for what she did
to me when I was a kid.

It's all in the book.

Was that the only reason
that you killed her?

I wanted her to tell me where
my mother was. She wouldn't.

Why did you
wanna know that?

I was hoping to kill her, too.

After you killed Dolores
Diamond, what did you do?

I shot myself.
Why?

I felt guilty.

For killing her?

For my brother, David.

I should have
taken him with me.

But I left him behind,

with her.

She was doing to him
what she did to me.

Giving him drugs,

and making him have sex
while she watched!

Did your mother
give you drugs?

Phenobarbital, Quaaludes,
Ecstasy.

The adults,

our parents,

always gave us drugs before
they had sex with us.

JACK: Do you know
how your brother died?

An overdose of Quaaludes.

You were so angry with your
mother, you wanted to kill her?

RICHARD: Yes.

So you killed another
woman instead?

Dolores was
as close as I could get.

Ah, that makes
a lot of sense.

How did you kill
Dolores Diamond?

With a knife.

How many times
did you stab her?

I don't know.

I can help you with that. According
to the Medical Examiner's report,

you stabbed her five times,

and then slit her throat.

Each wound was a fatal one.

If that's what it says.

You invited Ms. Diamond to dinner,
asked her back to your room,

and then you stabbed her to death with a
weapon you had purchased earlier that day.

Yes.

A premeditated, violent,
vicious slaying,

and you're serving
a term for manslaughter?

Objection.
Sustained.

Dolores Diamond molested you
when you were a child.

Dolores Diamond gave you drugs.
You were so angry with her,

you lured her back to your
hotel room to kill her.

Your Honor, does counsel
intend to ask a question?

Mr. Granger?

Isn't it true, Mr. Ranson, in
return for a manslaughter plea,

you concocted this story

against your mother in order to
please the District Attorney?

No.

It's the truth.

Nothing further.

You didn't write
the Book of Daniel?

I did not.

The People's expert witness testified
that the manuscript was in your hand.

It's a forgery.

Did you ever believe
in what it advocates?

When I finally obtained
a copy of it

and read the book,
I was distressed.

I ordered the book destroyed, and
anyone who believed or practiced

its precepts expelled.

Why would someone
go to all the trouble

to forge this document?

To discredit me
and our community.

Why?

We're a threat to
the established social order.

To governments and churches.

A threat? How so?

We believe in God's laws,
not man's.

Your own son and daughter
testified against you.

I feel so sorry for them.

Are any of the things
they said about you true?

Not at all.

Are they lying?

I think they believe
what they're saying.

They've been manipulated.

They have false memories.

They feel guilty
about what they did.

About their relationship.

And...

That's why
I feel sorry for them.

I think...

I think they're victims, too.

Thank you.

Did you ever give
your children drugs?

No, never.

You never gave your son, David, Quaaludes?
You had a prescription for them.

He may have taken them from me without
my knowledge, but I... I don't know.

And you never encouraged any of your
children to have sex with each other,

or with adults?

Of course not.

And all of the testimony
we've heard from ex-members

which contradicts
what you're saying?

I have a lot of enemies.

Because you're such a threat to
the established order of things.

Yes.

How many followers
do you have, Mrs. Shelby?

We're flourishing in
a number of countries.

According to the FBI,
you have less than 10,000.

That's a gross
underestimation.

With many of the younger ones
leaving as soon as they're able.

That's not true.
They want to diminish us.

And charging you
and your cult

with sexual and
physical abuse.

This campaign
against us has

been going on for decades.

This conspiracy against you.

All lies.

There may have been a few
instances, a few excesses early on,

but we dealt with them.

Why, Mrs. Shelby?

Why would all these people,
these agencies

and governments,
your own children,

conspire against you?

Every great spiritual and religious
leader throughout history

has been mocked,
scorned, persecuted.

You should know that.

For instance?

Jesus. Muhammad.
The Buddha.

Joseph Smith. Galileo.
Saint Francis.

Mary, Queen of Scots.

And you put yourself
in their company?

I do.

How do you find?

We find the defendant guilty.

Let's go.

Mother Shelby.
Her performance.

"Smile and smile
and be a villain."