Lights Out · Episode 281 · January 26, 2026 · 1 hr 51 min

281: A Mother's Descent Into Darkness | How A Cult Leader Destroyed a Family

In 2001, a Texas woman drowned five of her children one by one. The horrors shocked the nation. Some ridiculed her and called her a “beast,” but the case wasn’t as clear-cut as it first appeared. Not only had Andrea Yates been diagnosed with post-partum depression and postpartum psychosis, but she also may have been strongly influenced by a violent, misogynistic doomsday Christian cult leader. Through letters, cassettes, and VHS tapes, Michael Woroniecki spiritually manipulated his followers into thinking that if they didn’t change their ways, especially their children’s ways, their entrance to Hell was fast approaching. Did Andrea brutally murder her children in cold blood because of post partum psychosis, or had she been convinced she was saving her children from eternal damnation?