Michael Wayne Ryan (August 3, 1948 – May 24, 2015) was an American convicted murderer, Christian Identity cult leader, and white supremacist.
Ryan was the leader of a small, racist, anti-government group that occupied a compound near Rulo, Nebraska in the early 1980s. The group had loose ties to the Posse Comitatus, with links to the Christian Identity movement. Some of the main teachings within the group revolved around supremacy of the white race, antisemitism, homophobia, the downfall and hatred of "race traitors", drug addicts and non-European-descended American citizens, and a general distrust of all established earthly authority, especially governments and law enforcement. One of the group's core messages was, more or less, that the white race was "chosen" by God and all other human beings are the children of Satan, via the so-called “serpent seed” theory. Many of the recruited followers were disillusioned farmers from the local area with seemingly nothing to lose, who were easily influenced after having had lost money or property due to economic strains at the time.
For months, he and his followers committed burglaries under the cover of night reselling the items to financially support the group. They stockpiled weapons and supplies believing they would be needed during an imminent battle of Armageddon, assumed to occur in the form of a race war.
Ryan was arrested in 1985 after reports and a criminal investigation indicated that he had abused and killed five-year-old Luke Stice and later killed fellow group member James Thimm (age 25) after he had tortured the latter for several days, beating him, whipping him, then shooting off his fingertips, skinning him alive, breaking his legs, and raping him with a shovel and pickaxe before finally stomping him to death.[1]
Ryan was tried to a jury in Omaha, Nebraska after a change of venue. The jury convicted him of first degree murder and the court sentenced Ryan to death on April 10, 1986, and October 16, 1986, respectively. He claimed to be in direct contact with God and vowed to spend his days in prison rewriting the Bible, but he later recanted both statements.
Michael Ryan died of cancer while on death row in Tecumseh State Correctional Institution on May 24th, 2015.[2]