San Francisco Bay area stockbroker Taylor Helzer was young, handsome, and-to all outward appearances-normal. But that was before a three-day self-awareness seminar left him convinced he was a new Messiah. In the interest of funding his own church and 'saving' America from Satan, Helzer began making and selling Ecstasy and convinced girlfriend Kerri Furman to pose for Playboy. She eventually left him, only to be replaced by naive, gullible Dawn Godman.
Helzer, his younger brother Justin, and Dawn formed an unholy alliance called the Children of Thunder. They wanted to score big. The brothers abducted Taylor's former clients Ivan and Annette Stineman, inducing them to sign over checks totaling $100,000. The elderly couple was beaten and stabbed to death, then dismembered in a bathtub.
Selina Bishop, 22, daughter of blues great Elvin Bishop, was ensnared in the money scam-before Justin Helzer killed her with a hammer. Bishop's mother was next, shot dead along with her boyfriend by Taylor.
