The Cult Leader’s Resume
Roch Thériault was born in 1947 in Quebec, Canada, to a strict Catholic household. From an early age, he exhibited signs of deep intelligence and charm—but also manipulation. He dropped out of school in the 7th grade, claiming to have received divine visions. As a young man, Thériault became obsessed with the Old Testament and developed a fascination with apocalyptic prophecies. He joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1970s, where his charisma quickly earned him a following. However, his radical interpretations and authoritarian control caused friction. After being disfellowshipped, he created his own religious group, which would later be known as the Ant Hill Kids.
The Prophet of Pain
Thériault positioned himself as a prophet, claiming God spoke directly to him. He gathered a small group of followers—mostly young women and a few men—who believed he had divine powers. In 1978, he led them to a remote area in the wilderness of Ontario, where they built a commune. Thériault named it the “Ant Hill” because he believed the group should work like ants, tirelessly and without question. Life in the commune was anything but holy. He began enforcing brutal punishments, controlling every aspect of his followers’ lives—food, sleep, relationships—and claiming that physical suffering brought spiritual salvation.
A Family of Followers
Over the years, Thériault fathered over 20 children with multiple women in the commune, many of them underage. He practiced “spiritual marriages,” conducting his own twisted wedding ceremonies to unite himself with female members. He enforced loyalty through fear, beating and torturing members who disobeyed him. The children in the commune were not spared either. They were raised to see Thériault as a godlike figure and were subjected to neglect, hunger, and psychological abuse.
The Butcher in the Woods
By the mid-1980s, the abuse turned into something darker and more medically grotesque. Thériault began performing makeshift surgeries on his followers without anesthesia—pulling teeth with pliers, amputating limbs, and even removing parts of intestines. One follower, Solange Boilard, died after Thériault attempted surgery to relieve a stomach ache. He drilled a hole into her skull, poured in ethanol, and performed a crude procedure with his bare hands. After she died, he claimed God would resurrect her. He preserved her body and continued performing rituals around it, insisting she wasn’t truly gone.
The End of the Commune
The downfall of the Ant Hill Kids began when a follower, Gabrielle Lavallée, escaped the commune in 1989 after enduring a horrifying mutilation: Thériault had cut off parts of her breast and smashed her hand with a hammer before amputating her arm with a chainsaw. She managed to survive and alert authorities. Police raided the commune and arrested Thériault. The remaining children and followers were taken into custody and treated for physical and psychological trauma. In 1993, Thériault was sentenced to life in prison for murder, among other charges.
The Last Days
Thériault remained in prison until 2011. He was killed by his cellmate, who later claimed that even inside prison walls, Thériault’s presence was “evil.” At the time of his death, Thériault had written letters filled with religious ramblings and had never expressed true remorse. Some of his followers, even decades later, still spoke of him with reverence, unable to fully escape the grip of his manipulation.
Motif
Roch Thériault’s crimes weren’t just about control or power—they revealed a pattern of delusion rooted in religious fanaticism and psychopathy. Experts who studied his writings and behavior found a man who believed he was divinely chosen, but whose actions were driven by sadism and a need to dominate. His upbringing in a repressive and highly religious environment, combined with narcissistic traits and delusions of grandeur, created a cocktail of cruelty disguised as divine purpose.
Sources: CBC Archives / Maclean’s / Psychology Today / The Canadian Encyclopedia / “Savage Messiah” by Paul Kaihla and Ross Laver