Swindles and Sacraments: A Story of Deception and Belief

Swindles and Sacraments: A Story of Deception and Belief

The Buddha said, "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and common sense." Ignore that advice, and you might find that you're clouding your vision--that instead of seeing what's really in front of you, you're filtering everything so it fits in with your beliefs. An unwavering, unquestioned belief in anything--a philosophy, an institution, or a person--can lend us strength sometimes, but it can also make us vulnerable. And there are plenty of people out there just waiting to exploit that vulnerability. This story is about two of them, each with a very different MO, and the havoc they wreaked in the lives of the people around them.SourcesThe German newspaper BZ (translated from German to English): Blackmail Sect: Now Former Members Speak Out by Romeo Regenass, Nov. 12, 2008Documentary "Seduced and Blackmailed" by Aldo Gugolz and Romeo RegenassTime: https://time.com/archive/6945942/the-swiss-gigolo-and-the-german-billionaire/NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29594154The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/09/bmw-blackmailer-jailedTelegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5051613/Religious-leader-denies-blackmailing-woman-in-Swiss-gigolo-case.htmlForbes:https://www.forbes.com/2009/03/09/scarbi-klatten-bmw-markets-faces-celebrity-blackmail.htmlThe Standard: https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/gigolo-who-seduced-bmw-heiress-boasted-he-read-women-like-a-map-6824827.htmlFollow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=enTwitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.comMERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episoder(385)

Lions and Tigers and Bears: The Zanesville Exotic Animal Massacre

Lions and Tigers and Bears: The Zanesville Exotic Animal Massacre

Legendary Conservationist Steve Irwin said, “We don’t own the planet Earth, we belong to it. And we must share it with our wildlife.” It’s such a lovely sentiment. We have a responsibility to protect ...

13 Feb 44min

BIG Announcement!

BIG Announcement!

Come join us for CrimeWave 2.0, February 8-12, 2027 on Royal Caribbean's beautiful Oasis of the Seas. We're going to the Bahamas! See Katie and Whitney, plus Casefile, Last Podcast on the Left, True C...

10 Feb 4min

Lost: The Story of Salvador Alvarenga

Lost: The Story of Salvador Alvarenga

In a lot of ways, the world is smaller now than it ever has been. With a few clicks of the mouse, I can watch a live camera feed of Sydney harbor, or read a newspaper from any country I can think of. ...

6 Feb 57min

Whoopsie-Doodle: A Grab Bag of Epic F**kups

Whoopsie-Doodle: A Grab Bag of Epic F**kups

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.” That’s a nice sentiment—I mean, by and large it’s good to let failure be a learning experience, to...

30 Jan 44min

The Poisoned Chalice: The Crimes of Blanche Taylor Moore

The Poisoned Chalice: The Crimes of Blanche Taylor Moore

On the surface, Blanche Taylor Moore looked like a model of small-town virtue: a devoted caregiver, a churchgoing woman, a trusted neighbor. But behind that carefully maintained image lay a wild heart...

16 Jan 56min

Into Darkness: The Murder of Denise Huber

Into Darkness: The Murder of Denise Huber

A lot of the murder cases we cover feature slow-boiling resentments, or criminal schemes hatched with an explicit target in mind. Killings by strangers are rare—and terrifying. You can just be going a...

9 Jan 56min

Chasing a Shadow: The Stalking of Joanne Chambers

Chasing a Shadow: The Stalking of Joanne Chambers

In the early 1990s, a beloved first-grade teacher in Pennsylvania began receiving harassing, threatening letters from an anonymous sender. Her school principal, fellow teachers, and the parents of som...

2 Jan 38min

For the Love of Money: The Crimes of Randy Roth, FINALE

For the Love of Money: The Crimes of Randy Roth, FINALE

In Part Two of this story last week, we learned how serial husband and waste of DNA Randy Roth seduced, married, and almost certainly murdered his second wife Jan for a life-insurance payout, and trie...

26 Des 202553min

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