Anne Hamilton-Byrne was a charismatic and dangerous cult leader who convinced followers she was Jesus Christ reincarnated. She had an obsession with raising children as her own, isolated from the outside world.
The group dubbed The Family lived in a secluded property outside Melbourne Victoria and was prominent in the 1960s and 70s.
Former detective Lex de Man investigated The Family for more than four years and helped rescue dozens of children.
Lex de Man unpacks his investigation of The Family on Crime Insiders:
“Under the drug LSD. They were indoctrinated that they were seeing the Messiah. They were seeing Anne Hamilton-Byrne,” Man said.
Hamilton-Byrne was obsessed with the Von Trapp family from The Sound of Music. She acquired children through adoption scams, dressed them in matching outfits and dyed their hair peroxide blonde.
The children, after suffering years of abuse at the hands of Hamilton Bryne and her followers, were eventually rescued after a police raid in the mid-80s.
Lex de Man came face to face with Hamilton-Byrne on the tarmac at JFK airport, New York while extraditing her back to Australia.
Crime Insiders: Detectives host Brent Sanders asked, “That first time that you saw Anne Hamilton-Byrne, you described as looking into the eyes of the devil?”
“She’s the most evil person that I’ve ever come across in my personal and professional life, and I stand by that,” Man said.
Hear what Hamilton-Byrne said to Lex de Man next on this episode of Crime Insiders.
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