Sinners are often people who believe they deserve every little thing they desire, and hurting others along the way…well that’s just road kill. On a small scale it’s scary, but on the scale these people have done it it’s down right evil. Preachers, church, your faith are your most trusted source of comfort…but what happens when that world is shattered… Season 1 of Seven Deadly Sinners took on the world of Televangelists and cultish child sexual predator, Warren Jeffs. Seasons 2 and 3 of Seven Deadly Sinners, we’re traveling to the depths of hell, expanding our realm and covering Preachers, Cult Leaders and Religious Organizations linked to horrific crimes...and some of these cases involve leaders who kidnap, rape and murder the ones who trust them the most. What if, after leading you in prayer, he lures to the bedroom. What it the same preacher who captures your heart, kidnaps your child. What if, the priest serving you communion used those same hands to dispose of a corpse. These Preachers committed heinous crimes - right under …your…. nose.. - with a bible next to their bed - and a cross around their neck. Rachael O’Brien is the host of Seven Deadly Sinners, and she guides you on this hellish journey of deception all under the guise of Faith. Subscribe and listen on @applepodcasts Now Let’s close our eyes, bow our heads and buckle up.
In Part 2 of Seven Deadly Sinners, we follow Aravindan Balakrishnan, once known to his followers as “Comrade Bala,” as decades of control finally begin to unravel.
After years of secrecy inside a South London commune, the walls begin to close in. Survivors step forward, authorities take notice, and the carefully constructed mythology— complete with fear tactics like “Jackie”— starts to crumble under scrutiny. What was once dismissed as radical politics is exposed for what it truly was: sustained psychological abuse, coercion, and modern-day slavery.
This episode traces the investigation, the bravery of those who escaped, and the courtroom reckoning that followed. As the truth comes to light, we examine how the authorities built their case—and how a man who claimed absolute power was ultimately stripped of it.
From arrest to conviction, Part 2 reveals the long-overdue collapse of a decades-long nightmare—and the fight for justice that brought it to an end.
In this disturbing episode of Seven Deadly Sinners, we unravel the psychological grip behind the Lambeth Slavery Case and the cult built by Aravindan Balakrishnan, known to his followers as "Comrade Bala"
Operating from a Maoist commune in Lambeth, England - Balakrishnan fashioned himself as a revolutionary visionary. But behind the rhetoric of class struggle and liberation lay decades of coercion, isolation, and absolute control over vulnerable women who believed he held the key to their survival.
At the center of his manipulation was a bizarre invention he called “Jackie” — a supposed high-tech monitoring system he claimed could track thoughts, movements, and even disloyalty. In reality, Jackie wasn’t a machine at all, but a psychological weapon. By convincing his followers that he possessed near-omnipotent surveillance powers, Balakrishnan reinforced paranoia, obedience, and fear, turning imagination into shackles.
How does a man weaponize belief itself? How can captivity last nearly 30 years in plain sight? This episode explores the dangerous alchemy of ideology, narcissism, and manufactured omniscience — and how one man’s delusion became a prison without bars.
In 1977, inside a quiet mortgage office in Indianapolis, Tony Kiritsis strapped a shotgun to his mortgage broker's neck, rigged it to a dead-man’s switch, and turned a personal grievance into one of the most disturbing standoffs in American history. For hours, police, negotiators, and a stunned public watched as Kiritsis dared anyone to make the wrong move.
This week on Seven Deadly Sinners, we dissect the anatomy of obsession, grievance, and pride — how a financial dispute metastasized into a public spectacle fueled by paranoia and control. When a bank takes advantage of a customer, they never expect to end up on the other end of the barrel.
From the psychological unraveling to the media circus that amplified every second, this episode explores wrath at its most theatrical—and most tragic.