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The Dateline episode titled "Angels and Demons," which aired on 7th August 2020, covered the crimes committed by Daniel Perez and the cult that he had started in the early 2000s called Angel’s Landing in Kansas. Daniel created this pseudo-religious group by claiming he was an angel with powers beyond human explanation.
However, this was not just a case of religious fraud. Daniel manipulated his followers and committed murder, rape and fraud. In 2015, he was charged with first-degree premeditated murder of twenty-six-year-old Patricia Hughes, who had died in the cult's compound in 2003 by drowning. Presently, Daniel Perez is serving his life sentence in Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas.
Who is the culprit from Dateline’s "Angels and Demons"?
The Dateline episode follows Daniel Perez, also known as "Lou Castro," who claimed to be an angel, a seer, and often an immortal. He increased his following by claiming that he had supernatural powers and could predict death. Perez built a group of loyal followers, comprising mostly women and children, and convinced them to live with him in a private compound he called Angel’s Landing.
What was Angel’s Landing?
As shown in this Dateline episode, Angel's Landing was the compound where Daniel Perez lived with his cult. It was revealed Perez was a controlling man who manipulated his followers into believing he could talk to angels and was one himself. He made up rules and convinced many women to have sexual relationships for better spiritual enlightenment. According to this episode, he also forced them to give him control over their money and insurance policies.
Truth behind the Dateline episode Angels and Demons
Things started to go wrong when many members of the cult started to die in a series of unnatural deaths, including by drowning and car crashes. It was revealed that Perez would kill them and then claim their insurance money.
As the Dateline episode reports, Detective Ron Goodwin looked into Daniel Perez, intrigued by the unusual incidents happening at Angel's Landing. Besides, Perez had amassed a suspiciously huge amount of wealth despite being unemployed since 2003. The detective started investigating the con man, but even years of investigation did not lead to anything concrete. Perez would evade capture every time.
However, there was finally a break in the case when two sisters, Emily and Sarah, who were raised in the cult, came out and spoke about their harrowing experiences. The sisters revealed how Daniel manipulated them into thinking he was an angel and then assaulted them sexually. Daniel threatened to harm their family if they did not listen.
Additionally, an unnamed witness who lived in the cult at the time of Patricia Hughes' death came out and reported to the police that Perez had killed Hughes, but staged it as a suicide. Twenty-six-year-old Patricia, mother of a two-year-old, had died by drowning in the cult's compound pool in the Wichita suburb of Valley Center.
In 2015, at the age of fifty-five, Daniel Perez was found guilty of 28 counts, including murder, rape, sexual abuse of women and children, and fraud. He was sentenced to life in prison with ineligibility to claim parole before 80 years. Today, Daniel Perez is incarcerated at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas.
New Dateline episodes air on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
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