California cult ruled by ‘master manipulator’ committed murders on Elm Street

Detective Gary Deckard and his team encounter a real-life nightmare on Elm Street.

Just after midnight on May 21, 1990, police entered a home at 5223 Elm Street in the small rural town of Salida, California. Inside the house were the bodies of Dennis Colwell, Darlene “Emmy” Parris, Franklin Raper, and Richard Ritchie. All of the victims had suffered blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds. Parris had been nearly decapitated.

“When I got there, the first 911 call was answered by two deputies,” lead investigator Deckard told Fox News Digital. “They were all terrified by what they saw, and they were very large deputies…. When I got on scene, I could see why.”

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“When they came to kill these people, they turned off the lights,” Deckard explained, “so it was pitch black inside. It was a horrific crime scene. One of the female officers said it looked like Freddy Krueger coming out of the closet. There were bodies lying around this tiny house.”

The quadruple murder is the subject of Investigation Discovery's true crime docuseries, “True Murders on Elm Street,” which highlights horrific Elm Street crimes across the country and features interviews with family members, investigators, and more.

“People have always wanted to know why someone would go into a house and brutally kill someone,” Deckard said. “Was it the act of an individual or the act of a group leader?”

Detective Gary Deckard was the lead investigator on the case. (Research and discovery)

The police will have an answer soon.

One woman, Donna, managed to escape the attack and described how the murders were carried out by several masked men in camouflage uniforms.

“I tried to get as much information out of her as I could,” Deckard said. “What I learned was that Donna had come to the house. She had nowhere to go that night. She had come with another individual who ended up being one of the victims. She was in one of the bedrooms when the killings began. One of the suspects had his mask off, so Donna was able to see his face.”

“As everyone was being killed, Donna ran out to the garage,” Deckard continued. “There were no lights in there, but she found a pile of clothes. She hid underneath the clothes so the suspects didn't see her… She took her chance and ran down Elm Street knocking on people's doors, hoping someone would hear her screaming. Finally, someone did, and that's when the 911 call came in.”

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Police later learned that Gerardo Cruz had given the order to kill everyone in the home. (Research and discovery)

Many people from the town gathered outside the crime scene, and after Donna described the suspect she had seen (a white man with an afro), one local resident said, “He looks like a guy named Jason. He lives in 'the camp.'”

Police were familiar with the residential areas known to locals as “the camps,” where people lived in isolation.

Police responded to the scene, where they found pieces of camouflage clothing hanging from a clothesline, and then went to a nearby mobile home owned by Gerald Cruz, who denied knowing anything about the murders but named several members of the community where he lived.

Police quickly identified Jason LaMarsh from “The Camp,” who matched the description of the suspect Donna saw that night. As the investigation progressed, police learned that Cruz was a leader of “The Cause,” a group “dedicated to the advancement of humanity,” with whom LaMarsh was associated, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.

Richard Vieira, pictured, claimed that Gerald Cruz ordered him to kill Darlene Paris. (Research and discovery)

“Gerald Cruz was a man of action,” Deckard said. “He helped people on the streets who were maybe unemployed or didn't have money. And he became a father figure to them and promised to provide for them. They were so inspired that they would do anything for him.”

Investigators obtained a search warrant for Cruz's home. Inside, they found masks, bomb-making materials, receipts for knives and satanic literature. Cruz's diary contained signatures and fingerprints of his alleged followers, according to court documents.

There was also a “punishment ring,” a device Deckard said was used to torture Cruz's supporters if they did not comply. Punishments included eating on the floor, beatings and having sex in front of the group.

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On May 20, 1990, Gerald Cruz gathered James Beck (pictured), Richard Viera and Jason LaMarche. Cruz gave them missions and dressed them in camouflage uniforms. (Research and discovery)

“When we found it at this facility, we didn't know what the wheel was,” Deckard said, “I interviewed members of the group that Gerald Cruz supervised, and they explained that a 'wheel of punishment' was used if you got in trouble, and Gerald ruled with an iron fist. If you got in trouble, you had to throw the wheel up. Depending on where your thumb landed on the wheel, that was the punishment.”

“There were all kinds of punishments,” Deckard said, “but the strangest punishment would be to have sex with someone of the same sex. But it could be a beating or some other punishment.”

According to court documents, Cruz was arrested on suspicion of possessing explosives and other members were also taken into custody.

Ronald Willey, pictured, was one of those ordered to raid Franklin Raper's home. (Research and discovery)

“What we learned was that they were meeting at the 'camp' where they primarily lived,” Deckard explained. “During that meeting, they were getting into gear to prepare to kill Franklin Raper. That was the motive. They did not know that anyone else was in the house, but Gerald Cruz's instructions were to make sure there were no witnesses.”

According to court documents, Raper, then 50, moved the trailer into the “camp” in January 1990. He later developed a “laborable relationship” with Cruise.

Cruz later told an acquaintance that he wanted to catch Raper before the murders. After one argument, Raper's car was set on fire.

The episode makes it clear that Raper is in no way afraid of Cruise and will not hesitate to stand up to him.

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According to court documents, Michelle Evans took a plea deal and received a one-year sentence in exchange for her testimony. (Research and discovery)

The series also revealed that Rapah was known as someone who brought in people who had nowhere else to go.

Deckard said Raper was targeted by Cruz and his group — the other victims were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

According to the story, Cruz and his supporters ambushed Raper at his home and gathered all of his victims in the living room, where, according to court documents, Raper was beaten so badly with a bat that his head and face were “distorted,” he was also stabbed and his arm was broken.

From left to right, James David Beck, Ronald Wayne Willey, Gerald Dean Cruz, Michelle Lee Evans and Richard John Viera in a Stanislaus County courtroom. (Research and discovery)

Deckard said that as Paris was screaming and begging for her life, Cruz told Vieira to “shut up.”

“Gerald Cruz had a lot of power over him,” Deckard said.

The episode reported that LaMarche and Ronald Willey were found guilty of four counts of second-degree murder. Both were sentenced to 62 years in prison. Vieira is on death row at San Quentin with Cruz and James Beck. Michelle Evans pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder. She was sentenced to one year in prison in exchange for her testimony at trial, and served six months.

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Detective Gary Deckard admitted that the case still haunts him, decades later. (Research and discovery)

To this day, Deckard still has questions.

“Why would someone sacrifice their life to please one manipulator,” he said. “Why would that man have so much power, who controls the whole camp as the father and provider of all? Why would someone sacrifice their whole life to kill people they don't even know? People who have done nothing to them? It's absolutely horrifying. I don't have the answer.”