Face of Nation : Infamous cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne has died aged 98,and the man who investigated her says he hopes she “rots”.Lex De Man, the Victorian detective who spearheaded police investigations into the cult group “the Family”, said Hamilton-Byrne was one of “Australia’s worst evil criminals”.
“You wouldn’t normally say that about a 98-year-old woman … From my perspective upon hearing the news of her death, no-one is sad,” Mr De Man “Those who survived, some justice has been served. She’s the most evil person I ever came across.
“Today is not a sad day but a day to celebrate … may she rot.
Mr De Man said the only sadness he felt stemmed from regrets that Hamilton-Byrne and her husband never faced justice on several allegations due to legal technicalities.
“I hope that today can really start the next chapter for the survivors,” he said.
“They deserve something for the trauma they went through.”
A family member of Hamilton-Byrne confirmed to Mr De Man earlier today that the cult leader had died.
Hamilton-Byrne was supposedly living in Royal Freemasons Centennial Lodge in the Melbourne suburb of Wantirna South. When contacted by 9News.com.au, the aged care facility would neither confirm nor deny Hamilton-Byrne’s death.
A child of “The Family” Adam Lancaster also posted photos of Anne to his Facebook with the words “RIP. Anne Hamilton-Byrne”.
Mr De Man worked for five years on Operation Forest and confirmed he had also received messages from a couple of ‘the children’ confirming Ms Hamilton-Byrne’s death.
Founded in the 1960s by Hamilton-Byrne, a yoga teacher, and Melbourne University academic, physicist Raynor Johnson, ‘The Family’, blended elements of the 1960s counterculture – such as yoga and meditation, drug-taking and Eastern mysticism – with Christianity.
The 98-year-old was diagnosed with dementia in 2007, and today passed away after entering palliative care in 2017.
Mr De Man first met Hamilton-Byrne when he travelled to execute an extradition order on the cult leader from the United States.
“The first time I met her, I saw a little old lady in prison chains … I thought how could evil look like that?”
“The first words she said to me when I introduced myself were: “You’re Mr De Man, you’re a lot younger than I thought you were”.
What initially began as lessons in yoga to wealthy housewives, the group soon morphed into a cult that centred around the charismatic and mysterious Hamilton-Byne. She believed she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, and was beholden to the task of raising a “master race”.
Along with her husband, Bill, they were able to collect numerous children – some through adoption scams, some born to cult members and others handed over by single mothers – to raise as their own.
The children, who were made to wear identical outfits, were told by Hamilton-Byrne that they were going to help save the world after an impending apocalypse. A vision which had come to Hamilton-Byrne under the influence of LSD.
Hamilton-Byrne was born Evelyn Edwards in Sale – east of Melbourne – in 1921. Her mother was mentally ill and her father itinerant.
