Religious murder in Kansas City (homeschooling and IHOP)

[Anxious Girl]

You're not. On a similar note, I'd imagine there was a similar letdown for people who got dragged there, completely ignorant of what it was.

"Uh, Sam? This was not what I was expecting when you asked if I wanted to go to IHOP..."

I just started to watch Supernatural on netflix, and I love it!

[lilwriter85]

This story sends chills up my spine. Extra creep factors include:

1) I graduated from high school in 2005, like Tyler, and seriously considered attending Southwestern for college.

2) Some of my in-laws have been/are currently involved in IHOP. Second/third-hand knowledge, but here goes…In the 90s, my husband's grandfather remarried to a woman who as far as I can tell, has not met a conspiracy theory she didn't like. She was really into astrology when they first met, then went gung-ho on fundamentalist Christianity. Fast forward about 20 years and three kids later, the two oldest kids have attended private Christian schools, Bob Jones University and one has worked as an IHOP youth counselor. They are now both staunch atheists. The one who had volunteered with IHOP had a sudden realization one summer that they were essentially brainwashing the children and no longer wanted any part of it. In addition to these two kids, there is still an elementary-aged child at home with my husband's grandparents. My mother-in-law was going to go visit them a few months back, but step-grandma suddenly decided that she was not welcome to stay in their home because my MIL worked for the government and would spy on them or something. This type of thinking seems to be encouraged among the IHOP crowd. Step-grandma also once anointed my MIL with holy oil without her permission and covered up a Harry Potter poster at my MIL's house because she believed the Latin on the poster was a satanic incantation. She semi-recently decided that she wants to become a professional faith healer. :shock: I'm glad the oldest kids got out, but I am worried about the youngest. Thankfully, my grandfather-in-law doesn't seem to be as into the religious craziness as his wife is, so maybe he'll grow some cojones and put his foot down if things get out of hand.

TL;DR? IHOP be CRAZY. I also want to go check in on my little half-aunt in-law (don't bother trying to keep up with this family tree, haha…)

I'm glad the older ones got out. I can see why that story sent chills down your spine.

[carson]

Oh my god. I went to Southwestern. I remember kids taking weekend trips to IHOP. I never really knew much about it though and I attended SU long after Tyler et al would have graduated, but... holy eff. Gonna email some old professors now and see what the word is down there.

EDIT: Just read the article. They graduated my freshmen year. It's a super small school so I probably knew them. This is seriously creepy.

[lilwriter85]

I found a blog posting from a former intern/staff member of IHOP. She gives a good breakdown about why she feels that IHOP is a cult.

http://gospelmasquerade.blogspot.com/20 ... t.html(not breaking link because the blogger no longer uses blogspot)

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

I found a very interesting article on this which mentions some new information, including that Deaton identified as "ex-gay".

http://fcnp.com/2012/11/20/the-internat ... rror-ihop/

"I warned in May that something was seriously amiss at Mike Bickle’s International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Grandview, MO, an exurb of Kansas City. Part of my job is monitoring extremist organizations, which brought me to the IHOP’s worship center at midnight, a time I expected the cavernous hall to be practically empty. Instead, I found a far more disconcerting scene.

Here is what I wrote on May 4:

There was a gigantic 24/7 prayer room filled mostly with teenagers, many of whom appeared to be of high school or college age. A band played hypnotic Christian music while the audience of 100 or so youth engaged in a diverse set of worship rituals. Some were seated, as if they were in a traditional church setting. Others danced and skipped, like they were in some sort of fundie rave. One youth twirled a purple fan, as if he were at a gay circuit party. About a quarter of the participants walked in a trance-like state through the aisles muttering to themselves — a practice that I had not seen before. Some of these youths walked non-stop for over an hour, with no signs of stopping to rest.

Beware Grandview and Kansas City. You have an aggressive, militant, angry, fundie cult growing under your nose. It’s time to wake up before you become the next Colorado Springs. Don’t be caught flat footed wondering, “How did this happen?†Consider this your first warning."

[lilwriter85]

I messed up the link in a previous post.

http://gospelmasquerade.blogspot.com/20 ... -cult.html

[loveandwar]

I messed up the link in a previous post.

http://gospelmasquerade.blogspot.com/20 ... -cult.html

This is FASCINATING. My old church used to talk so positively about the IHOP program. Hearing the news story and reading these links gives me chills now. I'm even more thankful that I'm out of that church! :shock:

[lilwriter85]

I was thinking about IHOP earlier and decide to look through some links. A former IHOPPer gave audio testimony of her experiences.

[shesinsane]

If you've tried talking about IHOP (the non pancake type) and your sources are dismissed as too liberal, Faux News has a quick story with all the gross details.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/28/ka ... up-sexual/

[lilwriter85]

I'm bumping up this thread to give updates. I just read the Sarah Goes to Church thread and she visited IHOP and I remembered about this case.

Tyler Deaton went back to Texas and got a teaching job and is now suspended.

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/15/41 ... ching.html

[lilwriter85]

A mention about IHOP in another thread made me wonder about this case. I did some searching and Rolling Stone has an article about it.

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/new ... r-20140121

[DrPusey]

It is deeply, deeply disturbing that Tyler Deaton was hired as a teacher. Apparently school districts really are that desperate to find people who can teach math.

[salex]

Starting in November, The Murder Trial that involves IHOP, Harry Potter wanna bes, sex, prophecy, more sex, exorcism,sexualizing Christ, and mind control, likely real and imagined.

Remember, Perry and my Gov. Brownback both have ties to IHOP. Others may as well.

pitch.com/FastPitch/archives/2014/10/27/micah-moore-confessed-to-bethany-deatons-death-after-participating-in-an-exorcism-his-lawyers-say

rollingstone.com/culture/news/love-and-death-in-the-house-of-prayer-20140121?page=4

[salex]

I guess he convinced them his was a false confession....

Micah Moore cleared of all criminal charges in the death of IHOP adherent Bethany Deaton

Posted By Steve Vockrodt on Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 4:57 PM

click to enlarge

Micah Moore no longer faces a trial for the death of Bethany Deaton.

Micah Moore is a free man now that a criminal case against him fell apart because his recanted confession to killing Bethany Deaton did not square with evidence surrounding her death.

All charges against Moore, a Texas man who moved to Kansas City to join the International House of Prayer, were dropped by Jackson County prosecutors on Friday afternoon, less than a week before he faced trial on accusations that he killed the 27-year-old Deaton.

The move also comes weeks after Moore's lawyers presented a detailed argument that Deaton had committed suicide and that Moore confessed to killing her in the fog of acute mental illness.

Deaton, also a member of IHOP, was found dead near Longview Lake in October 2012 with a plastic bag over her head, alongside an empty bottle of pills and a note.

Moore told authorities that he killed his friend Deaton on the instruction of her husband, Tyler Deaton. Moore recanted the confession later that day.

Tyler Deaton was a member of IHOP, but was also described as the charismatic leader of a bizarre offshoot of the Grandview-based prayer ministry.

Earlier this month, Moore's attorneys buttressed the case for Moore's innocence with a legal filing that sought to exclude his confession from a trial, which was scheduled to start on November 6. In it, Moore's lawyers pointed out a lack of evidence to otherwise support the details of his retracted confession.

Confessions alone aren't enough to bring criminal charges; at least some corroborating evidence should be present.

Moore told police that Deaton was given a strong prescription antipsychotic drug called Seroquel, but an investigation found no traces of it in her body. An FBI analysis of the handwriting found on a note left with Deaton's body indicated the writing was hers, not someone else's. No traces of Moore's DNA showed up on an analysis of a plastic bag that suffocated Deaton.

The same motion detailed Moore's involvement in a group called Prisoners of Hope, made up of other IHOP members. That group was led by Tyler Deaton and culminated into a troubling exorcism-style session on the evening of November 8, 2012, that Moore's lawyers said led to the false confession.

Melanie Morgan, the lead attorney representing Moore, said Deaton's death triggered a reactive psychotic episode, leading to his statement to police.

"Micah, in his delusional state, he said so many things but not a single one of them was true," Morgan said in an interview.

The Moore case demonstrates that defendants can and often do make false confessions. The Innocence Project says in about 30 percent of DNA exoneration cases, defendants were charged because they made false statements about their involvement in a crime. Such confessions are often made under duress, coercion or, as in Moore's case, during periods of emotional anguish or mental impairment.

"Certainly false confessions happen more often than people realize," Morgan said.

Prosecutors said in a statement that "the religious practices of those involved raised questions regarding their credibility and veracity." A spokesman for Peters-Baker's office would not elaborate on the statement in a follow-up e-mail.

In a statement, Peters-Baker's office said Deaton's death remains an open investigation.

IHOP maintains that Prisoners of Hope was an offshoot of the larger religious organization and condemns its beliefs and practices.

Moore was out on bond and had returned to Texas, where he lived along with the Deatons before they traveled to Kansas City to join IHOP. Tyler Deaton moved back to Texas, as well.

"He's thrilled, of course, that this is now behind him and he can actually move forward with his life," Morgan says of Moore.

Tags: Micah Moore, International House of Prayer, IHOP, Jean Peters-Baker, Bethany Deaton, Tyler Deaton, Image

pitch.com/FastPitch/archives/2014/10/31/micah-moore-cleared-of-all-criminal-charges-in-the-death-of-ihop-adherent-bethany-deaton